The Twilight Watch

by George MacDonald

Like Lukyanenko, Addison builds her fantasy world through institutional politics and competing factions rather than just magic systems—here, a half-goblin outsider navigates court intrigue among multiple power structures. The detective-work element you enjoyed in Twilight Watch appears here too, as the protagonist must uncover conspiracies while learning the rules of a world designed to exclude him.

by China Miéville

This is my surprise pick for you—it reads like a hardboiled detective novel first, fantasy second. Miéville takes the 'two opposing forces' concept from your trilogy and makes it architectural and psychological rather than supernatural, creating a noir mystery where the real puzzle is understanding the rules of reality itself, much like how Lukyanenko gradually reveals what the Watch actually is.

by Scott Lynch

Lynch shares Lukyanenko's gift for weaving humor into dark material and creating morally ambiguous characters who operate within hidden societies. Where Twilight Watch has the Watch's secret hierarchy, this has the Gentleman Bastard crew navigating a city's underworld—both feature protagonists who must outthink opponents rather than simply overpower them.

by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman does something similar to Lukyanenko's premise—ancient supernatural beings hiding in plain sight, bound by rules most humans don't understand—but sets it in contemporary America rather than Moscow. The road-trip structure gives it a different pace than Twilight Watch, but you'll recognize that same blend of mythology, modern-day grittiness, and the question of what loyalty to your faction actually costs.

by Joe Abercrombie

Published in 2006, just before Twilight Watch, this shares that same late-2000s sensibility of grimdark fantasy where nobody's really a hero. Abercrombie's multiple POV structure lets you see how different factions interpret the same events—similar to how Lukyanenko shows you both Light and Dark perspectives—and his cynical tone about power and loyalty will feel familiar after the Watch trilogy.