A summary of "Vision Catcher" by Sergei Lukyanenko Automatic translate

"Vision Catcher" is a novel by Sergey Lukyanenko, published in 2021 by AST Publishing House. Work on it lasted over ten years. The action takes place in Dreamland — a parallel world where every sleeper enters, but only a few are conscious of their existence and can act within it. These individuals are called Dreamwalkers; one step higher are the Dreammakers — demiurges capable of shaping dream reality according to their will. A distinctive feature of the novel is that the Dreammakers are based on great writers of the past: H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula Le Guin, Hans Christian Andersen, and others.

The outskirts and introduction to the world

The protagonist is Grig (Grigoriy), an experienced Dreamwalker who earns his living as a messenger: for a fee, he seeks out anyone in Dreams and delivers packages. He possesses a rare ability — the ability to consciously alter his own appearance, transforming into animals or changing his age and appearance. The novel opens with a chase scene in the Outskirts, a gloomy district of Dreamland inhabited by archetypal urban nightmares. The black troll Krech pursues Grig because he unknowingly delivered a package containing fire scorpions. A chance dream helps him escape: a stoned addict sees a rainbow dragon, and Grig, riding it, escapes pursuit.

On his way home, at the Three Stars café by the ocean, Grig meets Anna, a young woman consciously entering Dreamland for the first time. He explains the rules of the world to her, but she awakens, hearing the cries of her children. In his native Summer Sea quarter, Grig visits his neighbor, Cliff, an elderly man in a plaid shirt who lives with his wife, Agnes, and leads a measured life, seemingly unremarkable among the Dreamwalkers.

Fight and exposure

The idyll is shattered: Robert the Dreammaker, the grim ruler of the Eternal War Quarter, bursts into the courtyard, a localized snowstorm at his back. He demands that Cliff fulfill some obligation in a long-standing dispute and, receiving no answer, lunges with a knife. Cliff responds, and flexible roots burst from the ground and cling to Robert’s legs. Grig intervenes, transforming into a polar bear and leaping at Robert the Dreammaker. Robert plunges the knife into the bear’s forehead, Agnes leaps forward, knocking over a flask of liquid onto him — and Grig awakens.

Waking up in the real world, he falls asleep again and finds himself in Cliff’s house. It turns out his neighbor is also a Dreammaker, only one who lives alone. Elderly Cliff pours a glass of bourbon and explains to Grig the nature of the threat: an Artifact exists in Dreamland that can destroy the entire dream world. Only one specific Dreammaker can destroy it, and to do so, the Artifact must be delivered to him.

Selecting a method and assembling a team

The Dreamweavers are divided over tactics. Robert and his supporters want to send a large armed detachment, while Cliff is against it: the column will be immediately spotted, and other Demiurges, tempted by the Artifact, will engage in continuous combat. A courier with a small team is needed. The choice falls on Grig.

The task: gather five partners. The first must be Kretsch — the same troll who had just been chasing him. Cliff explains the logic: if Grig can talk sense into the enraged troll, then he really is the right man. After a brief escape to the Bodily Joy Quarter (where Grig instinctively darted to avoid the task), he finally takes on the task. Negotiations with Kretsch are successful — the troll is angry, but agrees.

Journey and Wasteland

The team assembles: in addition to Grig and Kretsch, they are joined by Lina, Maria, August-Robert, and the mysterious Second — a silent man who appeared at a snow-covered house in the dead forest of the Wasteland, his face white as chalk and bullet holes on his body. The route leads through the Infinite Library, where Grig learns details about the Artifact, and through a cemetery of forgotten dreams of nonexistent people.

At the cemetery, it turns out that several team members are accompanied by simulacra — exact doubles. One of the companions is trapped in a burning crypt. When the simulacrum, named Lee, burns, his double, Lina, in grief and rage, curses the entire dream world and the gods that inhabit it. In response, fiery drops begin to fall from the clear sky, and the simulacrum Lina stands beneath them with outstretched arms until the flames consume her. The team flees, finding themselves in a dead forest: pale, waxy, where every branch crumbles to dust at the touch.

Consequences and ending

The second part of the novel examines the aftermath of the journey — loss, betrayal, and a rethinking of the relationships between living people and their doubles. In the third part, events unfold like an avalanche: it becomes clear that the threat of the Artifact is far more serious than initially thought. The Artifact is ultimately destroyed, and the Dreamland shakes, but remains standing. Grig, having endured trials that repeatedly challenged reality and illusion, returns to his familiar life as a Dreamwalker — with a changed understanding of who the Dreamwalkers are and the true worth of a world where "everyone is there every night."