Guardian novels

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The Guardian novels are a fantastic series of novels by the Russian author Sergei Lukjanenko . It depicts the struggle between the forces of light and darkness, which has reignited after a long armistice and is mainly fought in today's Russia . The main actors in the novel are the members of the warring day and night watch , who originally monitored compliance with the ceasefire.

The novels served as the basis for the most successful Russian films to date, Watcher of the Night - Nochnoi Dozor (2004) and his successor Watcher of the Day - Dnevnoi Dozor (2006).

Publication history

The first volume in the series, Guardians of the Night ( Russian original title: Ночной дозор; transcription : Notschnoj dosor ), appeared for the first time in 1998 and quickly became a bestseller in Russia , especially during the successful film adaptation. Sergej Lukjanenko then had two sequels follow the novel: Guardian of the day ( Russian original title: Дневной дозор; transcription : Dnewnoj dosor ) in 2000 and Guardian of the Twilight ( Russian original title: Сумеречный дозор; transcription : 2005 doseretschny . In April 2007 the fourth volume was published under the title Guardian of Eternity ( Russian original title: Последний дозор Transcription : Poslednij dosor , literally "The Last Guard"). A sequel, the short story The Short Guardians ( transcription : Melkij dosor ), was published by Sergei Lukjanenko in the summer of 2007 in a Russian anthology called "Mify megapolisa" (Мифы Meгaпoлиca). In December 2012 part 5 Wächter des Morgen appeared ( Russian original title: Новый дозор transcription : Novyj dosor , literally "The New Guardians") and in March 2015 the last part of the series The Last Guardians appeared .

The novels were marketed internationally and translated into many languages. The German they were from the year 2005 by Heyne Verlag in a translation by Christiane Pöhlmann published.

A new series of novels Die Wächter started in September 2015 with light and darkness ( Russian original title: Школьный надзор Transcription : Schkol'nyi Nadsor , literally "The school supervisory authority"). In March 2016, the second volume was published with the title Dark Conspiracy ( russ. Original title: Печать сумрака transcription : Petschat 'sumraka , literally "seal of Twilight") followed by Night of the Inquisition ( russ. Original title: Участковый transcription : Utschastkowyi , literally "The Section Agents ”) in July of the same year.

The co-author of Guardian of the Day , Vladimir Wassiljew , published 2003 "Keeper of Chaos", another work from the Guardian universe. The book was published in German-speaking countries at the beginning of 2009, also by Heyne Verlag in a translation by Christiane Pöhlmann.

action

Undetected among normal humanity are the others , supernaturally gifted men and women, magicians, shapeshifters and vampires. The others are divided into light and dark, which differ in their way of life. At first it seems that light ones are doing good and sacrificing themselves for people or a higher purpose, while dark ones think only of themselves. From the second volume, in which the dark ones are the main characters, it becomes apparent that the different views and approaches of the two groups cannot be clearly identified with 'good' and 'bad'.

Long before the Night Watch began , a great battle broke out between the two sides. However, since both armies were equally strong and the struggle threatened to destroy both light and dark, a truce was agreed: From now on every person who has the potential of someone else (and thus belongs to this group of particularly talented people) should have his own Free choice of side. This decision is made once and is irreversible. This armistice is regulated by the Great Treaty , in which all relevant principles of this trade are laid down. The representatives of light form the guardians of the night , the representatives of darkness the guardians of the day . The light monitors the activities of the dark at night, while the dark watches over the lights during the day. Activities of others who violate the Great Treaty will be registered and sanctioned. Only the Inquisition watches over these two sides , an organization made up of both light and dark representatives. The task of this third group is to monitor the watchmen of the night and the watchmen of the day and to arbitrate and judge in contentious situations.

Volume 1: Guardians of the Night

In the first story, "The Own Fate" , night watch investigator Anton Gorodetsky becomes aware of a poaching pair of vampires who have been roaming around Moscow for a week. Anton is given the task of finding and arresting her. On his foray he meets a woman who has been cursed with a powerful curse. Anton decides to help her and tries to lift the curse with his amulet, but does not succeed. He remembers the woman's aura and continues on the hunt for the vampires. Finally he hears their "call" and follows their victim, a boy. When he comes across the vampires, a fight ensues. The vampire is killed, the vampire escapes injured. Boris Ignatevich, his boss, explains his next assignment to him in a dream: First, to find the boy, who turns out to be an uninitiated other, and to protect him from the vampire. Second, to find and protect the cursed woman. Because the curse that weighs on it is so strong that if it breaks through, not only would the whole of Moscow be destroyed, but a catastrophe of global proportions would occur. This woman later becomes Anton's lover and is to be trained as a great sorceress.

In the second part, "The Own Circle" , murders of the dark are committed by a non-initiated other . Anton Gorodetsky is suspected by the guards of the day of having committed the murders. Boris Ignatevich, the head of the Moscow Night Watch, swaps Anton's body for that of the sorceress Olga in order to protect Anton from alleged intrigue. But when Anton becomes too careless, the day watch finds him alone in front of a murdered dark man. Anton has to find the "savage" to save his life. First he and Olga swap their bodies back. Then Anton meets a guard of the day who wants to arrest him. But Anton overwhelms and forces him to betray his assignment. This commission includes the death of Anton. Thereupon Anton shoots the dark one. Shortly afterwards, in the twilight, he meets a "fallen" other. He refers him to the Ostankino television tower in Moscow . Anton goes there and has to kill another guard of the day. There he learns who is the key to it all: Egor, the little boy. He goes looking for him and finds him just in time. Because the savage has already drawn his magic dagger. Anton stops him and engages him in a conversation. But the savage does not allow himself to be dissuaded from his plan. A fight ensues. The savage, whose name is Maxim, thrusts his dagger into Anton's chest. Contrary to expectations, Anton does not die, because the dagger only works against dark others. Boris Ignatievich, the chief of the night watch, appears and offers Maxim to become an inquisitor - another who oversees the Great Treaty and punishes any violations against it.

In the last story "In Your Own Juice" , Svetlana Nasarova, Anton's lover, receives the fate chalk - an artifact that can be used to change a person's fate. Everything starts harmlessly at first. The chief Boris Ignatievich, also called Geser, sends almost all of the night watch workers from Moscow. They all drive to the dacha of Tiger Cub, an animal woman. After Anton realizes that Geser is planning an operation, in which Svetlana is supposed to play an important role, he drives back to Moscow. In his apartment he meets Zebulon, the chief of the Moscow vigil. This tells him about the fate chalk. Anton talks to Gesar and tries in vain to convince him that he does not want to accept Svetlana leaving him. Because whoever uses the fate chalk loses part of his personality. Anton breaks with the bond that had existed with his mentor Boris Ignatjewitsch and wanders through Moscow to gather strength from the people. He catches Alissa Donnikowa, a dark witch, using a power prism and thus a third-degree intervention. Anton arrests her. In desperation, Alissa summons Zebulun. He offers Anton a horse trade: the guards of the day will tolerate an intervention up to and including the second degree by Anton if he does not hand Alissa over to the Inquisition. Anton reluctantly agrees to the deal. After gaining enough strength, he enters the house of the boy Yegor, on whose roof the Gezers operation is to take place. Up there Anton finds next to Geser, Swetlana, Sebulon and the inquisitor Maxim also the boys. So it looks like Svetlana is rewriting Jegor's fate. At that moment a storm comes up. Geser advises Anton to stop the storm with his intervention. But Anton uses the intervention to create a remoralization. Gesar introduces himself to Svetlana and Zebulon sees himself as the winner when, contrary to expectations, Anton brings his hands to him to direct the remoralization on himself. So Gesar seems to be the winner of the "game". But Svetlana changes Jegor's book of fate only slightly. Zebulun laughs and goes away. Only later does he find out that he was set up: While everyone was watching Svetlana, Olga had rewritten Svetlana's own book of fate with the other half of the fate chalk. Geser's plan has thus worked.

Volume 2: Guardians of the Day

This book illuminates the dark side of the other , the antagonists in the previous novel become main characters, so it becomes clear to the reader that this is not a primitive good-versus-evil fight, but two fundamentally different philosophies.

Alissa Donnikova, a member of the day watch, loses her magical energy during an operation on the night watch. Zebulon sends her on a vacation trip to regenerate her energy. In the Artek , where she is supposed to work during her stay, she meets Igor, a guardian of the night, who stays in the Artek for reasons similar to Alissa and falls in love with him. Both lack the ability (due to lack of strength and the resulting inability to peer into the twilight) to sense the presence of others and their origin. After both have realized that they are a Dark Witch and Igor a Light Mage, a confrontation eventually ensues, in the course of which Alissa dies. This story is told from the point of view of Alissa Donnikova, the supporting character from Watcher of the Night becomes a main character in Watcher of the Day . The night watch is almost completely removed from the story and is only introduced later in the second novel.

The second story takes place again in Moscow, the capital of the two organizations of dark and light. It begins with a stranger showing up in a suburb of Moscow and taking a train to the capital. He lacks any memory of his past and all he knows is that he is carrying a suitcase full of money and that he has supernatural powers, which he does not know where they come from. He uses them purely intuitively and through tragic coincidences draws the attention of the two guards, who also puzzled throughout the story about who or what he is, not suspecting that Witali Rohosa, as the unknown other is called, is a so-called mirror, brought about by the twilight to restore balance between the two guards. His powers always adapt to those of his opponent. Eventually, however, when equilibrium is restored, he collapses.

The third part of the book takes place in Prague, where the case told in the first story between Igor and Alissa and the case dealt with in the second story with Vitali Rohosa are to be tried by an Inquisition tribunal. One of the main characters here is the dark magician Edgar, who is said to represent the side of the dark in prosecution and defense. The Guardian of the Night Anton, the main character from the first volume, represents the Light Others as the accuser. In the course of history, there are increasing indications that Zebulun is trying to bring back to life the dragon Fafnir from the Nibelungenlied , who was a dark one in Lukianenko's world. Zebulun can refute the allegations, however, by presenting the steps necessary for resuscitation as individual acts that are in no way related to one another. Whether this is true remains unclear. One consequence, however, is that his student Edgar, who in the event of Fafnir's revival would have had to be sacrificed to the twilight , leaves the vigil and joins the Inquisition.

Furthermore, it comes out what exactly Olga wrote in Svetlana's book of fate at the end of the first volume: Svetlana was predetermined to give birth to a powerful other. On Geser's instruction, Olga made sure that this other person becomes the most powerful light of all, the Messiah . He had Igor as the teacher for Svetlana's child, which led Zebulun to let him meet Alissa. Gesar did not expect that Igor would actually genuinely love the witch. Igor goes into the twilight voluntarily because he does not want to go on living without Alissa, and Zebulun can at least achieve this small triumph. When the trial is over, those present leave the hall except for Anton, who has Geser confirm the plan to turn Svetlana's child into a messiah. When he asks who will be the child's father, the answer is that he can become one if he doesn't hesitate any longer and follows Svetlana, whereupon he hastily leaves the hall.

Volume 3: Guardians of Twilight

As in the previous books, there are three stories in "Guardians of Twilight". In the first story hints appear that a man one others blackmailed to turn it also into others. This behavior endangers the balance between light and darkness secured by the “Great Treaty”, which is why both night and day watch and even the Inquisition are investigating the case.

The main plot runs through all three parts of the book and deals with whether it is possible to transform normal people without predisposition into "higher" others, not just lower dark ones like vampires or beastmen. A fabulous book called Fuaran is said to exist on this subject. At the center of the action are again the night watchman Anton Gorodezki and Edgar, who has meanwhile left the day watch and has switched to the Inquisition. The vampire Konstantin (called Kostja), Anton's former neighbor and now a high-ranking vampire, also plays a key role. In the course of the plot it becomes clear that the Fuaran actually exists and that it has been in the possession of the witch Arina for a long time. In a secondary line of the plot it is also described that communism was actually an invention of the bright others who wanted to create a better form of society, but which was willingly overthrown by Gesar when he realized that through this the people would ultimately have learned about the others . Anton, Kostja and Edgar are given the task of finding the stolen Fuaran. But then Anton finds out who stole it and gets into big trouble.

The thief is his former friend and current opponent Kostja, who through the Fuaran has become the most powerful of all others. Because of this, he can read Anton's mind and realizes that his cover has been exposed. A fight ensues, but Kostja cannot bring herself to kill Anton. Instead he flees. Anton is sent off to find and kill him, with all the rest of Russia supplying him with magical power. At the Saratov airport he arrives at Kostja, who explains his plan to him: He suffers from his parasitic existence as a vampire and wants to transform all people in the world into others. Since the others get their magical power from the people who are constantly releasing energy into the twilight , the others would lose their magic through Kostja's plan. Kostja believes that this will make her "normal". He demonstrates the effect of the Fuaran on a person named Alexander ("Lass"), with whom Anton made friends in the first story. In fact, Lass becomes another. Kostja explains that the Fuaran transforms all people into others who are in the field of vision of the caster when it is used.

In order to transform all people into others, Kostja wants to go to Baikonur to fly from there to the International Space Station . By looking at the earth as a whole from the universe and doing the magic, he can transform all people into others at the same time. Anton attacks Kostja, who outwits him and escapes through a portal. Anton follows him and lands at the spaceport in Baikonur. In a conversation he tries to make it clear to Kostja that the guards would prevent the rocket from starting. When Kostja shows himself unreasonable, Anton realizes that the vampire doesn't even want to fly to the ISS, but wants to use a portal again. Gesar, Zebulon and Edgar ask Anton to kill Kostja with the combined strength of all the rest of Russia and telepathically impart knowledge of powerful spells to him. But Anton uses the power with which he was charged to put up a protective shield that prevents Kostja from reading his mind. He realized that there is no magical energy in space because there are no living beings. If Kostja had not become an absolute other, he would produce a certain amount of energy himself, but that way he would not be able to work magic in space. Kostja is confused about Anton's behavior, but steps through the portal because Anton does not prevent him. He doesn't manage to teleport himself on board the ISS. In the end it burns up in the atmosphere together with Fuaran .

Volume 4: Guardians of Eternity

In the first episode ( The Common Cause ) Anton Gorodetsky has risen to the position of High Magician and Gezer sends him to the previously quiet Edinburgh to unofficially solve the murder of a young Russian. His father was a potential other who had decided against initiation , but worked a lot with the night watch . So Gesar feels obliged to take matters in hand. Surprisingly, Zebulon, the chief of the day watch , also seems to have a personal interest in the case and offers Anton his support. The crime seems to be cleared up quickly, but after another murder and an attack on Anton by people equipped with magical amulets, Anton realizes that there is much more to it. A dark vampire , a light healer and a battle mage of the Inquisition , everything else high , have come together to bring the wreath of creation to them. This powerful artifact was created a long time ago by the magician Merlin . Merlin was one of the extremely rare, so-called zero magicians , who do not emit any magical energy themselves and are therefore the strongest of all others . What the wreath of creation is and what it does is not clear, all that is certain is that it was hidden in Edinburgh. Namely in the seventh and deepest layer of twilight , which only zero magicians can reach. This level is additionally protected by a powerful barrier and a strong golem . However, Merlin has left a riddle from which it can be concluded that there is a secret route to the artifact.

In the second episode ( The Common Enemy ), after Anton has returned from Edinburgh, Gezer sends him to Uzbekistan to speak to his former friend. Rustam still knew Merlin personally and could therefore know what the wreath of creation is. Meanwhile, Gezer and Zebulon deploy battle mages to protect Nadja, the six-year-old daughter of Anton and Swetlana, around the clock. She is also a null mage , if not yet initiated , and the three renegades could try to kidnap her in order to get to the artifact with her help. Geser now assumes that this could destroy the entire civilization of the earth. Shortly after Anton arrives in Samarkand , the night and day watch building there is attacked by people who, just like in Edinburgh, were equipped with magical amulets and magically influenced. Anton can only just escape with the others there . On the way to Rustam, Anton reveals the identity of one of the High Others who want to take the artifact. It's the former Dark Magician and Inquisitor Edgar. Anton finally learns more about the wreath of creation from Rustam . The artifact has the power to tear down the barriers that separate our world from the twilight layers. But what this means, whether it would cause nothing noticeable or a catastrophe of global proportions, nobody can predict.

In the last episode ( The Common Fate ), Anton returns to Moscow. He realizes who the other two apostates are. The vampire Gennadi Sauschkin, the father of Constantine, who went mad after the death of his son and his wife and who rose to a high vampire by killing over 50 people . As well as the former Dark Witch Arina (see Volume 3), who has since become a Light Healer (a change that is only open to High Others under exceptional circumstances; Merlin himself has also changed from light to dark in this way). Together with Edgar they have formed the Eternal Guard . They kidnap Anton so that he can solve Merlin's riddle for them to get to the wreath of creation . In her opinion it is possible to bring all dead others who are supposed to stay in the sixth or the seventh layer of the twilight back to life. This is how they want to bring their lost partners and children back to themselves. Edgar and Gennadi use every means to achieve this, and they do not even shrink from murder and mass murder. Anton finally solves the riddle and recognizes the analogy to Ouroboros , the eternal cycle , in the wreath of creation . However, he presents his kidnappers with a different, apparently more plausible explanation, and while they are engaged in a fight with the golem in the fifth twilight layer, he dives into the sixth, in which the souls of the deceased others are also to be found around von Merlin personally to learn the truth. Where is the wreath of creation , what is actually hidden in the seventh layer of twilight , and that there can be no resurrection without death. Anton is now so weakened by entering the sixth layer of twilight that he can only return to the "reality" of the seventh with the help of his little daughter, who despite her young age has almost unlimited strength Layer of Twilight is identical. There he brings Merlin's artifact to use, causing the dematerialized others to finally die.

Volume 5: Guardians of Tomorrow

Essential contents are Anton's personal development towards a more mature other , the nature of prophecies and prophecies, as well as the nature and quality of the twilight itself.

In the first story ( Tangled Targets ), Anton Gorodezki saves ten-year-old Innokenti Tolkow (known as Kescha) from a plane disaster. He is an uninitiated prophet . The policeman Dima Pastuchow has the gift of recognizing others as a human being and describes the light ones as dogs, the dark ones as wolves. At the time of Kescha's rescue, a man appears at the airport whom he classifies as a tiger . Dima evades a confrontation, his colleague's aura is deprived of the encounter. The entire night watch is at a loss as to how something like this can happen and what a powerful being it is. Gesar immediately calls in two other high light magicians and even asks Zebulun for help. On the way to Kescha, the group meets the tiger in the second layer of twilight and a fight ensues . When Zebulun appears late, the tiger disappears without anyone being harmed. While Kescha is being transferred to the night watch for your own safety, research shows that the tiger is a very powerful twilight creature . This occurs to prevent a prophet from uttering his main prophecy , which a prophet usually makes shortly after his initiation. This will always be fulfilled if at least one person finds out about it. Such a being was last seen about 300 years ago when it hunted down the prophet Erasmus Darwin, who was able to escape him by speaking his prophecy into a knothole. Gesar tries to save the boy by initiating him as soon as possible and trying to get him to speak his prophecy. When he is not successful himself, Anton and Nadja try. Meanwhile, the tiger forcibly gains access to the night watch . Shortly before he reaches the boy, Kescha utters his prophecy, whereupon the tiger leaves him and disappears. There is a record of the prophecy that is in Anton's possession.

In the second story ( Wirre Zeiten ) Anton travels to London to visit Erasmus Darwin, from whom he would like to learn more about the tiger and the nature of twilight . After talking about his encounter with the tiger , Darwin gives him a wooden cup in which his main prophecy is "stored". In the evening he meets the witch Arina, who tells him about Fan Wenyan, who had defeated the tiger at the time. They fly to Taiwan together to interview him. Wenyan killed his best friend back then, proving to the tiger that he would never utter the prophecy, regardless of whether he lives or dies. Since the tiger does not kill senselessly, he was content with that. Wenyan has his own idea of ​​the twilight . He says it is a being that feeds on people's emotions. The blue moss , the others , mirrors (see volume 2) and also the tiger only serve the purpose of keeping people in emotional movement. The Tigers So do not speaking the main prophecy prevent but speed up, so that people are "excited". On the other hand, the tiger of Kescha explicitly demanded not to utter his prophecy. So it must be such a far-reaching prophecy that it threatens the twilight itself. Arina asks Anton to hand over the prophecy and even fights him to get the information, which she finally manages. When the Inquisition appears, Arina disappears with the help of the Mionic Sphere , which she already saved in Volume 4.

The third story ( Wirre Taten ) takes place immediately after the second and is about Anton's everyday life at the night watch . Arina goes to Anton and tells him that Kescha's main prophecy is about his daughter. Gripped by his father's curiosity, he listens to his copy of the recording. The prophecy says that the twilight will run out of strength and Nadja will be able to destroy the twilight herself. After this purely informative part, the recording stops and the actual prediction of Kescha cannot be heard. Anton receives a call from Erasmus Darwin. He had heard a second copy of his own prophecy, whereupon the tiger haunted him. Shortly before his death, Darwin advises Anton never to find out about the prophecy and to bury the matter. Anton decides to burn the cup. Shortly before, however, Nadja appears with Kescha and Arina. By destroying the cup, the prophecy is set free. Arina was aware of this, she arranged the meeting at the right time. Darwin's prophecy contains the same informative part as Keschas, but also the prediction that Anton has to decide whether the twilight will die. Shortly afterwards the tiger appears. In conversation with Anton, Anton tells him that he himself is the incarnation of the living twilight and that his only wish is to live. Therefore, no one should ever find out about the prophecy, consequently Anton has to decide whether they all die (including the children) or whether he tells Nadja to destroy the tiger and thus the twilight . Anton tries to find a way out by making the children swear never to utter the prophecy. He locks Arina and himself in the inquisition spell Sarcophagus , a room in which they will be trapped forever. Nadja is of the opinion that her father will be freed from the sarcophagus if she destroys the twilight . She uses it to blackmail the tiger so that Anton can be freed.

Volume 6: The Last Guardians

In the first of the three more episodes with the title Obsessive Actions , a vampire appears who, through the selection of his victims, seems to transmit a message via their initials Anton Gorodetsky, whereupon Anton goes in search of the vampire. Anton's daughter Nadja is now 15 years old and attends a conventional school, which is protected by magic. Nadja herself is guarded by a light, a dark and an inquisitor. Made suspicious by an incident, Svetlana and Anton rush to Nadja's school because they suspect an attack by the ominous vampire. There they find the inquisitor murdered and the people asleep. However, it turns out that the attack was not carried out by the vampire, but by the two guards who attack Anton and Sweta. Although inferior to both, the attackers seem to be stronger and survive all the spells of Anton and Sweta unscathed. Shortly before the attackers can win, the vampire appears and drives them to flight. After the attack, Anton takes Sweta and Nadja to a safe apartment in St. Petersburg. Shortly afterwards, a prophecy is issued by all the prophets of the world simultaneously, which says the end of all others and people. There is also talk of a sixth guard and a powerful attacker. For the interpretation of the prophecy, Anton turns to Kescha, who is a high prophet. In Anton's apartment, through the mediation of Sebulon, Lilith, an ancient vampire, visits both of them, who answers some of her questions in exchange with Anton and Kescha's blood. It becomes clear that the strong attacker is the two-in-one , a god of others, who once made the alliance with the first others and is now trying to restore the balance between good and evil. Only through the sixth watch, which consists of the chiefs of the various others, can the alliance be terminated and the end of the world prevented. Shortly afterwards the tiger appears and kills Lilith.

In the second episode ( forced alliances ) the Moscow day and night watch try to bring the highest representatives of the groups of the others to Moscow. You need a dark one, a light, a witch, a vampire, a prophet and a mirror. To this end, Anton goes to Paris, where Yegor, the only potential mirror magician, lives. He then travels to New York with Olga to explain to the vampire gathering the urgency of a new lord of lords , the supreme leader of all vampires. However, they are not ready for this because it would require a life-and-death struggle. Then the unknown vampire reappears, provokes such a fight, which he wins, and becomes the lord of lords.

In the third episode ( coercive means ) Anton is tricked into looking for Sweta and Nadja, revealing their location. Shortly afterwards, the two-in-one attacks a second time. However, if the tiger intervenes, it can be put to flight again. Anton and Nadja then visit the witches' conclave in the Austrian Alps, where a new leader, an Urbabuschka, is to be elected. The old Urbabuschka Arina is still in the sarcophagus of the time and is therefore not accessible. The only candidate, however, would be Nadja, which would make her a witch. The freestyle fails, however, so the tiger's help is necessary to free Arina. Arina explains to Anton that the two-in-one is only a kind of twilight to restore balance. Shortly after this was freed, the two-in-one attacks again in the form of the two former guards. In a duel, he kills the tiger before Arina himself can run over it with a snowcat. The third attack was also thrown out. Now that all the top others have been brought together, the question arises in Moscow of how the sixth watch will be set up. What is necessary for this is that its members are connected by blood so that the possible members are limited. Anton ultimately determines that Yegor as the mirror, Arina for the witches, Kescha for the prophets, Zebulun for the dark, Nadja for the light and the vampire form the sixth watch. The unknown vampire turns out to be the "risen" Kostja Sauschkin. Shortly thereafter, the two-in-one appears and the sixth guard negotiates with him. They want to break the old alliance that guaranteed the balance between good and evil. This is the only way in which the annihilation of everyone else can be prevented. But for that a sacrifice is necessary. The guard determines what Anton has planned for this. Instead of killing him, however, the two-in-one just turns Anton into a normal human.

Short story: The short guards

The short story begins with a prologue in which some others lead a group of journalists into a disused station on the Moscow Metro and reveal their nature to them as others. But then something unexpected happens: a little half-naked boy suddenly appears and opens fire from a machine gun on those present. This boy is called Vitja Melkow, he is 15 years old and is on the night watch at the other's school. Because of his small size he is only called "Melkij" (short). Vitja receives an order from Geser and Anton Gorodetsky to reach the disused station through a narrow ventilation shaft. But Vitja is also still in the service of his father from the secret service, who has gained knowledge of the world of the others and is keen to control the guards himself. Ultimately, the story ends in the uncertain whether Vitja, as instructed, will only force the arrest of the Dark Others or shoot everyone to avoid unwanted witnesses.

Keeper of Chaos (Author: Wladimir Wassiljew)

This novel was co-authored by the second novel in the main cycle ("Guardians of the Day"), Vladimir Vasilyev. For the first time, the main story will be moved outside of Moscow. Some well-known characters have brief appearances or are mentioned.

A team of kiever Dunkler is ordered to Saint Petersburg to support the guard there. A group of non-initialized, "wild" others perform dark rituals and do not shy away from human sacrifice.

The Guardians' New Adventures

The books are set in the World of Others and are written by Schuschpanov Arkadij with Lukianenko's support.

Volume 1: The Guardians - Light and Darkness

The events in a boarding school run by the Inquisition for light and dark young people are described. In the center of the events stands the young magician Dmitri Drejer, who works as a teacher for other literature.

Volume 2: The Guardians - Dark Conspiracy

An unknown magician appears in the night watch whose powers far exceed those of the others. The balance between light and darkness threatens to tip.

Volume 3: The Guardians - Night of the Inquisition

An ancient and hidden power is awakening in Siberia that threatens to destroy both the watchman of the night and the watchman of the day.

Style and structure of the novels

The novels are each divided into three individual episodes, which either follow their own or a common storyline. With the exception of Guardian of the Day , the events are described from the first person perspective of the main character Anton Gorodetsky. Subplot strands are described from the authorial point of view. However, since the position of the dark magicians is to be brought closer to the reader in Guardian of the Day , this cannot be told from the position of Light Anton. Instead, the author writes in the first story from the perspective of the witch Alissa Donnikowas and in the second story from that of the mirror . Since both Anton and Edgar take center stage in the third story, the narrative perspective changes to that of an authorial narrator. The short story Die Kurz Wächter has a linear and one-piece structure due to its small size of 20 pages.

A characteristic of the course of the series is that the character of Anton not only develops further in character, but also magically rises higher and higher and ultimately becomes a high magician . This reveals ever deeper insights into the nature of magic and the way in which others use it - for the most part without even knowing it. Only against the background of this information does it gradually become understandable why it is so important for day and night watches that mankind does not learn about the existence of others .

Cinematic implementation

Lukjanenko's novels resulted in the film adaptations Watcher of the Night - Nochnoi Dozor (2004) and Watcher of the Day - Dnevnoi Dozor (2006). Both films primarily implement the content of the first book, but parts of the second novel also flowed into the film plot. In the cinematic implementation, the plot was changed in many places. For example, the Dark Witch Alissa does not die in the film and the love between her and the Light Magician Igor has been completely ignored. Instead, she falls in love with the young vampire Kostja.

Ideas from the films flow into the third and fourth volumes:

In the book Guardians of Twilight , according to Sergei Lukjanenko, the character Kostya was influenced by the portrayal of Alexei Chadov in the film.

In the book Guardians of Eternity these are z. B.

  • the idea that vampires - even if they distract people's gaze - can still be seen in the mirror,
  • Semjon's dream in which Zebulun throws him and his car overhead
  • Egor's dream that he could have been Anton’s son (Egor’s son is in the film, not in the book)

Implementation in computer games

A computer game of the same name was released on May 10, 2006 under the publisher cdv Software Entertainment for Guardians of the Night . It deals with a plot that is largely detached from the original book and takes place after the events of the first book. On September 13, 2007, a sequel was published by Atari SA under the title Guardian of the Day . Both games are a turn-based combination of role play and adventure .

Music in the Guardian series

In the course of the plot of the series, the various characters (especially Anton) hear songs that are appropriate to the situation, the text of which is quoted in excerpts. There are songs by the following artists / bands:

Guardians of the night: Piknik , Woskressenje , Splin and Blackmore's Night
Guardian of the day: Vladimir Semjonowitsch Vysotsky , Juri Burkin , Kipelov , Arija , Woskressenje and Nautilus Pompilius
Guardians of the twilight: Simowje swerej , Belomors , Belaja gwardija , Piknik, Alexander Ulyanov, Soja Jaschtenko and Kirill Komarow
Guardians of Eternity: Kirill Komarow, Soja Jaschtenko and Piknik
Guardians of the morning: Motor Roller , Piknik, Orgija Pravednikow , Sergei Kalugin and Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky

Book editions

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.literatopia.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24242:die-waechter-licht-dunkelheit-sergej-lukianenko-arkadi-schuschpanow&catid=62&Itemid=129
  2. ↑ Write as you see fit : Interview by Olga Smirnowa with Sergej Lukianenko ( Memento from April 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive )