These three interconnected stories really worked for me. This is not an action heavy book which I liked. Rather, Lukyanenko uses a standard fantasy trope (the battle between the forces of light and darkness) to ruminate on the very nature of good and evil, free will vs. destiny, how to balance the rights of the individual with the rights of the community, and the desirability of status quo maintenance vs. revolutionary change. There's a lot of philosophizing on the part of protagonist Anton and the other members of the Night Watch which proved thought provoking. 
 Despite their simplistic titles, both The Night Watch and the Day Watch, working to enforce a non-aggression treaty between the light and the dark respectively, are both very morally gray institutions. So the forces of Light decry the use of power for personal gain and work to protect individuals from the malicious influence of dark magicians. Yet, in their fantastically misguided utopian zeal the Light also birthed Communism and Fascism/Nazism, and are thus responsible for an immense amount of human suffering and death. Agents of both the light and dark watch have nuanced motivations, and neither organization has a wholly positive or negative influence on the world. 
 This book simultaneously felt very grounded and authentic yet highly creative. The light and the dark have complicated bureaucracies that have constructed a complex seven degree classification scheme to measure light and dark magic which is regulated in a strict quid pro quo fashion. Any time a light magician wants to use some good (i.e. selfless) magic, it must be balanced by an equal degree of dark magic. Creatures like vampires are licensed and periodically given licenses to kill humans selected randomly, otherwise they must confine themselves to animal or donor blood. This book mixed the magical and the mundane very well. I also liked how the author could still inject wry humor into the dark subject matter. 
 There were a few important plot/character development moments that I thought were glossed over too quickly and not given enough time and explanation by the author. I also wasn't keen on the occasional interjection of song lyrics into the text. On the whole though, I would strongly recommend this book.