The novel that gave birth to the video games ‘Metro 2033’ and ‘Metro: Last Light’The breathtaking original story that inspired both the METRO 2033 and METRO: LAST LIGHT video games! An international bestseller, translated into 35 languages.Set in the shattered subway of a post apocalyptic Moscow, Metro 2033 is a story of intensive underground survival where the fate of mankind rests in your hands. rests in your hands.
In 2013 the world was devastated by an apocalyptic event, annihilating almost all mankind and turning the earth’s surface into a poisonous wasteland. A handful of survivors took refuge in the depths of the Moscow underground, and human civilization entered a new Dark Age.
The year is 2033. An entire generation has been born and raised underground, and their besieged Metro Station-Cities struggle for survival, with each other, and the mutant horrors that await outside.
Artyom was born in the last days before the fire. Having never ventured beyond his Metro Station-City limits, one fateful event sparks a desperate mission to the heart of the Metro system, to warn the remnants of mankind of a terrible impending threat. His journey takes him from the forgotten catacombs beneath the subway to the desolate wastelands above, where his actions will determine the fate of mankind.
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After reading Dmitry Glukhovsky’s Metro 2033, I felt compelled to offer a review. Frankly it is the best post-apocalyptic sci-fi I have ever read. While some things may get lost in translation, and it has a lot of typos, for me it did not detract from Artyom’s epic struggle to reach Polis from the subway station of VDNKh and deliver the message that the dark ones are invading the station and the future of the entire metro population is at risk.
Set in the year 2033, it depicts mankind’s struggle to survive in a Moscow subway system after nuclear bombs have destroyed the surface and contaminated the air, resulting in the birth of a multitude of mutant monsters, creating a life of constant fear and terror for the metro human population. There is a new species, more adapted to the radiation-filled atmosphere, intent on replacing mankind.
The story operates on a number of different levels, is tightly plotted, very descriptive and real. Lead protagonist Artyom is very believable as he analyzes the politics at work during his journey to try and save the future of mankind.
Glukhovsky criticizes Communism, institutionalized religion, cult worship, man’s inabilty to get along with his neighbors, the futility of capitalism, and the hopelessness of war (I’m sure I’m missing a few). Inside the small states organized at different metro stations, the different control groups become a microcosm of our society, almost an allegory of how, as George Orwell put it, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
The ending is a twist and a shocker that left me feeling empty and hollow for a few days afterwards.
This is a well-written, poignant, and riveting work destined to become a timeless piece of literature that will be studied, admired, and critiqued for many years to come.
Really the best book i’ve ever seen so far
Wow. I want more of this!
Roadside Picnic gave me a taste for Russian sci-fi, so I jumped straight into «Metro 2033». What I got was a mix of sci-fi and horror, which for me is a 2-for-1!
Twenty-something years ago, the world ended in a nuclear holocaust. A thousand score inhabitants of Moscow managed to survive by going down to the Moscow metro system… and never coming back up again. The dim-lighted stations of the metro became a microcosm of the world we left behind. All our struggles for survival (sometimes as basic as uncontaminated water) still didn’t unify humanity. We’re divided by ideology and by place of birth as much as we were before the nuclear war. Only, this time, we also have to deal with ionizing radiation, dwindling supplies, rat deluges— and whatever mutated horrors dwell in the inky black darkness of the tunnels between stations.
In «Metro 2033» we follow Artyom, a young and somewhat naïve inhabitant of VDNKh (pronounced Vid-Ee-Ank-A) station, the first line of defense of the whole metro against the horrific Dark Ones, nearly invincible humanoids from the aboveground, post-nuclear world. Artyom goes on a quest throughout the metro to fulfill a mission and find help for his doomed station. In his quest, he encounters the oddest characters and goes through the strangest events, some seemingly supernatural, others just plain terrible.
It is through Artyom and the tales of the people he meets that we get to know this new, decrepit, utterly fascinating world, filled to the brim with its own rules and factions, folklore and myths. I would never want to live in such a world, but I want to read more about it; it’s an utterly mesmerizing creation, a phantasmagoria on par with the best near-future sci-fi out there.
Oh! Don’t forget that this book is 50/50 sci-fi and horror. So read it at night, when the house is quiet and you’re alone. The darkness in the book will seep into the darkness around you, and at moments you won’t be sure if you’re alone at home — or with Artyom in one of the most frightful metro tunnels there are.
A fairytale set in a post apocalyptic dystopia. Our main character’s journey from one station or another is a nightmare version of the “jack” tales. Dark, depressing, and nightmarish at times. You never know what is psychological, supernatural, or scientific and it’s beautiful that way.
My only real complaint is that since this was originally told in a series of blog posts by the author, the narrative isn’t as tight as I would like, and often I felt like the author made stuff up just to get our main character out of the jams he wrote him in. Also, the main character really isn’t defined as a person until the third act.
If you are a fan of post apocalyptic stories, FallOut, and survival tales you will love this.