Author Focus: Sergei Lukyanenko (My favorite)

Author Biography(courtesy of Wikipedia):

Lukyanenko was born in Karatau, then a part of Soviet Union, to Russian-Ukrainian father and Tatar mother. After school he moved to Alma-Ata, entering Alma-Ata State Medical Institute in 1986 as a therapist. After graduation in 1992 he joined one of the Alma-Ata hospitals, specializing in child psychiatry, but soon abandoned practice, as already poor wages for physicians in Soviet times plummeted with the fall of the Soviet Union, making it virtually impossible to support a family. His writing, which he started while still a student, had just started producing funds. During this time he became an active member in Russian fandom, visiting conventions and attending seminars all around the Soviet Union.

In 1993 he was appointed deputy editor in a local Science Fiction magazine, where he worked until 1996. This was one of the hardest periods of Sergei's life, as his family struggled to make ends meet. He often attributes the rather grim tones of his works at that period to those financial and personal hardships. However, by the mid-90's the situation improved drastically, and soon his growing popularity as a writer made frequent trips to now-foreign Russia increasingly difficult. Thus in 1996 Lukyanenko moved to Moscow, where he currently resides.


Now, truthfully, I cannot say that Sergei is my favorite author, as I've only read one of his series and have yet to pick up any of his other works, but he has written what have turned out to be my favorite books on this planet earth The "Watch" series (Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch, and Last Watch)
Some of his other works include the Genome Series, and the russian cult fiction book Labyrinth of Reflections

I encourage everybody on the face of this planet (really) to read the Watch series, it changed the way I look at fiction/fantasy books forever. Yeah, it's THAT good.

Why I should (but don't) donate my books.

I have a full book shelf and a half filled with books of all shapes, sizes, topics, and genres, and I can’t seem to make myself do anything but let them sit there. Perhaps it is their lingering ephemeral attachment to the bookstore in which I got them, maybe it is the memories that I have shared with these books after so many years sitting on my shelf. I have read each and every one of the books on my shelf from front to back, most of them multiple times. Many of them carry more emotional weight than others do (you know who you are Harry Potter, Bartimaeus, and Maximum Ride) and some of them I read so fast that I barely remember the story behind their covers.

Regardless of whether I read them 6 times or whether I read them in a thunderstorm on the fourth of July while holding an umbrella in the other hand. I cannot force myself to make the critical decision to donate these books to any number of the local charities collecting books. I’ve gone over the pros over and over again in my head, I’d be sharing the memories that I had with others, I’d be bringing joy to those who don’t have books, I’d make the people running the charities feel really good about themselves, there are hundreds of reasons to donate your old books and I urge everybody to not fall into the same trap that I have. Donate your books, share your memories and the joy that comes with reading. Because really, are you ever going to read them book again? (maybe…)