“Metro 2033” by Dimitry Glukhovsky

posted on 2011-01-23 by Michał Burzyński

 

     Metro 2033 is a fantasy novel written by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. The book first appeared online in 2002 and has later become an interactive experiment, drawing in thousands of readers from around Russia. In 2005 it was printed by an established publisher and has become a nationwide bestseller.  A book deal was not long in coming and with a videogame adaptation soon after, Metro 2033’s extraordinary success seems fated to continue.                                                    

 After the nuclear holocaust the humanity is extinct. Only few survivors found a shelter in the Moscow subway system. About 100 stations became each one a city-state with their own ideology, alliances and wars. However, flesh-eating mutants known as Dark Ones also dwell in the tunnels making contact and travel dangerous.   VDNKh is the northernmost inhabited station on its line. It was one of the Metro’s best stations and still remains secure. But now a new and terrible threat has appeared. Artyom, a young, 24 years old man living in VDNKh, is given the task of penetrating to the heart of the Metro, to the legendary Polis, to alert everyone to the awful danger and to get help. He holds the future of his native station in his hands, the whole Metro - and maybe the whole of humanity.

It’s a great premise – essentially, Metro 2033 is a modern-day Gulliver’s Travels in which Glukhovsky comments on the socio-political landscape of Russia. The metro has Nazis, radical Christians, Communists and more – none of whom are spared sharp examination.                                                     

     Moreover, the style of writing of this Russian author is really interesting. It helps reader to associate with main character and the whole world of Moscow’s subway. Personally, I read this book so fast, that I didn’t even realize when it ended. It is very powerful book, which certainly moves our grey matter and imagination. Glukhovsky has a brilliant concept and he made it more intriguing by its disparity to a western mindset.                                                                                                              

Metro 2033 is an intellectual and fascinating novel, a five star, “must have” book for all the people who love science fiction, fantasy. I also fully recommended it for people who want to start their adventure with fantasy.

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