The year is 2033. The world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct. The half-destroyed cities have become uninhabitable through radiation. Beyond their boundaries, they say, lie endless burned-out deserts and the remains of splintered forests. Survivors still remember the past greatness of humankind. But the last remains of civilisation have already become a distant memory, the stuff of myth and legend. More than 20 years have passed since the last plane took off from the earth. Rusted railways lead into emptiness. The ether is void and the airwaves echo to a soulless howling where previously the frequencies were full of news from Tokyo, New York, Buenos Aires. Man has handed over stewardship of the earth to new life-forms. Mutated by radiation, they are better adapted to the new world. Man's time is over. A few score thousand survivors live on, not knowing whether they are the only ones left on earth. They live in the Moscow Metro - the biggest air-raid shelter ever built. It is humanity's last refuge. Stations have become mini-statelets, their people uniting around ideas, religions, water-filters - or the simple need to repulse an enemy incursion. It is a world without a tomorrow, with no room for dreams, plans, hopes. Feelings have given way to instinct - the most important of which is survival. Survival at any price. 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 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.
METRO 2033.
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Browse the best books of summer including blockbusters, beach reads, and editors' picks in our Summer Reading Store. |
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Dmitry Glukhovsky is a Journalism and Foreign Relations graduate of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He won THE ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD OF THE EUROPEAN SCIENCE FICTION SOCIETY in 2007. In addition to his native Russian, he speaks English, French, German, Hebrew and Spanish.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
54 of 59 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I suspect that many people will come to this book via the recently-released game. The novel contains a great deal less violence overall than 4A's shooter, and there is very little of the tense and desperate combat that marks the game's best moments. In exchange, the story of the novel is much more terrible and makes more sense. The majority of the people in the Metro of the book are so small, so petty, and so evil that one almost wishes that Artyom would tear through them with a machine gun as he can in the game. The virtue of his mission fades more with every passing station, and with every pointless death. This definitely isn't an uplifting exploration of man's potential for good.
Glukhovsky's world feels rather weak initially. There is a parade of unsurprising villains -- callous businessman, suspicious communists, cruel fascists, entitled thugs -- and a tour of different philosophies governing the Metro's people that, due to the pressure of Artyom's quest, never gets more than skin-deep. At times the intense fracturing of the world got to be a bit much to swallow. The degradation of learning, in particular the absurd superstitions of the Brahmins in Polis, felt like too much of a descent in too little time. Yet Glukhovsky is at his best when the people get their weirdest -- the twisted luddites of the Great Worm cult were more interesting than most of the other antagonists, and in a certain way they were more believable than many, too. The atmosphere of desperation and the oppressive ruin of the world are compellingly conveyed, however, and in general the story is solid and colorful.
The translation by Natasha Randall is fairly robust but would have benefited from some additional editing.
Glukhovsky's world feels rather weak initially. There is a parade of unsurprising villains -- callous businessman, suspicious communists, cruel fascists, entitled thugs -- and a tour of different philosophies governing the Metro's people that, due to the pressure of Artyom's quest, never gets more than skin-deep. At times the intense fracturing of the world got to be a bit much to swallow. The degradation of learning, in particular the absurd superstitions of the Brahmins in Polis, felt like too much of a descent in too little time. Yet Glukhovsky is at his best when the people get their weirdest -- the twisted luddites of the Great Worm cult were more interesting than most of the other antagonists, and in a certain way they were more believable than many, too. The atmosphere of desperation and the oppressive ruin of the world are compellingly conveyed, however, and in general the story is solid and colorful.
The translation by Natasha Randall is fairly robust but would have benefited from some additional editing.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By J. Rodriguez
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book was the foundation of the recently released video game Metro 2033, and it's highly accurate of how the game depicts the book. Metro 2033 makes you really wonder how life would be in a metro station that was built for survival, but in the end it separates the people to their beginning stages of ideologies. Dmitry is such an excellent writer that makes you really think about the underworld of the metro, and I praise the imagery and descriptive writing style he has, from the smallest parts as in Hunter's facial features, to the largest parts as in the nuclear winter of Moscow itself. This has been the best book I have read in the science fiction genre, and I will reread it to the extent. I received one of the few copies to be sold in America from amazon's paperback copies, which were sold out in a few hours, and I find myself lucky to have received it. I also have read the intro to my classmates, and they themselves have wanted to take the book from me! Although I HIGHLY RECOMMEND PLAYING THE GAME BEFORE BUYING AND READING THE BOOK!!!!! I am highly anticipated for the Metro 2034 release, and hopefully the next sequel game for Metro 2033. Oh, and the Hollywood movie for Metro 2033. Get this book for a friend of yours that appeals to science fiction, they will thank you. Trust me.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By EEE
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Metro 2033" - what a powerful experience! Magic and real, beautifully written, pulling you in, fast and slow, burning in your mind a horrible vision that wisely reflects all the main philosophies of the mankind... and when you think that you know how it ends it turns everything upside down with a powerful beautifully crafted twist - you could see it coming, but you didn't. A few friends of mine and their kids like the game based on this book, it has a cult status... but this book is a thing of its own. It's a must read for smart sci-fi readers and for those who want to try this genre. And don't be fooled by the genre itself - it's the smartest sci-fi roller-coaster that will keep you on the edge of your seat and will surprise you at the end. A haunting experience that you'll keep thinking about long after finishing the book...
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book
The story is good, but the copy editing is a bit lax. However, if you can put that aside, it's a good post apocalyptic romp where the Russian "voice" comes through clearly.
Published 3 hours ago by Danger Mouse
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good story, poor translation
The story is good, the translation sucks.
Feels like a bad subbed movie, when the jokes are almost funny but not really and you always feel that they left something out or are... Read more
Feels like a bad subbed movie, when the jokes are almost funny but not really and you always feel that they left something out or are... Read more
Published 2 days ago by Edgard Silva
5.0 out of 5 stars
good book
well, where do I start if you like the metro games the book has a lot of fill gaps the game does not have, it goes into more detail the game programmers couldn't put in for mere... Read more
Published 3 days ago by johnny c
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good translation with a few mistakes.
Alright i'll be brief. I'm 17 years old and when I find a good book I don't put it down. Metro 2033 urged me to keep reading and I just couldn't stop. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Madison Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
book-metro 2033
My son does not read much and this book has kept his attention
and says it it great reading.and intense
and says it it great reading.and intense
Published 6 days ago by wendy g disharoon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exactly what I expected.
Though the story line is quite a bit different from the game, it still manages to capture you with the same intensity as the game did. Read more
Published 7 days ago by Alejandro
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome Game Awesome Book
Played the game, it was awesome. Read the book, it was awesome. Yes it lacked certain elements that I typically enjoy in books, but I will not allow my personal preferences to... Read more
Published 10 days ago by ReinoEMO
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book
- very interesting so far
-it is hardbound size in paperback format (which i didn't like)
-overall though, very happy with it
-it is hardbound size in paperback format (which i didn't like)
-overall though, very happy with it
Published 12 days ago by Dzuy Tran
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing
This is a must read! It is a tough book to get through, but there is much hidden symbolism and it is a fantastic novel.
Published 15 days ago by thespoon3
4.0 out of 5 stars
Man this is a deep read
This is like Dostoyevsky decided to write science fiction or fantasy. I played the game a year before reading the book so was prepared for the environment but not for the complex... Read more
Published 16 days ago by R. Lewis
