Customer Reviews

Metro 2033

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

Though the story itself is quite enjoyable it's the laughably bad translation that makes this very difficult to read. It's quite a lot like reading something directly from google translate - how did this english version get published?

Sentence structure is a disgrace, for example: "And the Protagonist went to his tent and took off his shoes and then he fell asleep and had a dream." Does and really need to be used so often?

Please re translate this, it's a complete disgrace.

I loved this book, ive read quite a bit of science fiction and horror but ive never read a book where they blended so seamlesly together as Metro 2033, however i do believe somethings been lost in translation as the language sometimes seemed a bit stiff to me, but even with this issue the book will draw you in and keep you there until the ending which i found to be a refreshing break from most ordinary endings.

Absolutely fantastic book that makes the game silly in comparison... I played the game a while ago and definitely wish I read this before... Highly recommend!

This is the English Version, be sure you get this one. From UK I think. I have no idea how this book has not become bigger in the US. I read a few reviews which criticized the quality of the translation. While it is poor at times and clunky this did not take away from the story whatsoever. One of the better post apocalypse books I've ever read. You will really enjoy.

The author explores much more than the Moscow metro tunnels, he shows the deep of the human personality, exacerbated by this uncommon environment.
I resembles the book "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, not by the plot, but by the situation where people just live one day ofter the other with no perspective of a better future. And also, in this book the focus is not about the disaster that caused this situation, it's about the human behavior and relations in this new world.
The story is very deep and with a lot of details. The plot is very interesting and you aways want to know what is going to happen.

Looking back, the good things about Metro 2033 outweigh the bad. The story, outside of a few chapters, is enjoyable. At times, the atmosphere sucks you in and is thoroughly creepy. But, as you get further into the book, you see the same words used over and over again to describe stations that try to come off as different. I realize it's an underground tunnel system, but if you don't have something nice to write, don't bother. Artyom's character is difficult to relate with. Sometimes his personality or actions drive the story forward; other times he seems empty and dimwitted, which can become irritating given all the disturbing things he comes across. When he does come through, it's satisfying.

Probably the worst thing about this book is its editing. A few errors here and there aren't a big deal, but they are so fluent it may grate on your nerves by the end of the book. Typos and grammatical errors can be found every few pages, making you feel like the editor cared absolutely nothing about the final product. I'm no English major, but this is something I paid money for, and it would have been nice to see the polish this story deserves. I just wish they would've handed the book to another person to edit the translated work.

I purchased this book after playing the Metro 2033 game. I had, what I thought, was a pretty good idea of the story. I was wrong. The book gripped me on the first page, and didn't let go until the last word. I could barely put the book down for wanting to know what was going to happen to Artyom next. I highly suggest this book. It is well worth it.
The only annoying thing with the book is a few grammatical errors from translation.

Metro 2033 was by far one of the best books I read in 2011. I bought this book after playing the Metro 2033 video game, and I must say that there are a lot of differences between the book and the game. The book is more story driven, with plenty of dialogue and details describing the psychological well-being of the protagonist, as well as the dark and hopeless feeling established throughout the entire story, while the game is more of an action/stealth game that focuses on getting from one point to the other and killing anything that stands in your way. The book does suffer from quite a lot of grammatical errors due to the translation, but I was able to get past every single one of them with ease. The story itself is amazing. Dmitry Glukhovsky does a fantastic job of describing everything from the movement of the protagonist's feet, to the glowing mushrooms that no one really pays any attention to. Definitely a book I would recommend to any person looking for a great story.