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Review of “Metro 2035” by Dmitry Glukhovsky

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Title: Metro 2035
Author: Dmitry Glukhovsky
Translator (Swedish): Ola Wallin
Series: Metro #3
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic
Pages: 622
Published: 2017, Coltso
My Grade: 3 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

World War Three wiped out the humankind. The planet is empty now. Huge cities became dust and ashes. Railroads are being eaten by rust. Abandoned satellites hang lonely on the orbit. Radio is mute on all the frequencies.

The only survivors of the last war were those who made it into the gates of the Metro, the subway system of Moscow city. It’s there, hundreds of feet below the ground, in the vaults of what was constructed as the world’s largest air-raids shelter that people try to outlive the end of the days. It’s there that they created a new world for themselves.

The stations of Metro became city-states, and its citizens, torn apart by religions and ideologies are fighting for the now scarce commodities: air, water, and space. This tiny underground world can only remind humans of an immense world they once were the masters of.

It’s been twenty years past Doomsday, and yet the survivors refuse to give up. The most stubborn of them keep cherishing a dream: when the radiation level from nuclear bombings subsides, they will be able to return to the surface and have the life their parents once had.

But the most stubborn of the stubborn continues to search for other survivors in this huge emptiness that once was called Earth. His name is Artyom. He would give anything to lead his own people from the underground onto the surface.

And he will.

MY REVIEW

The Metro trilogy has come to an end. It started out real strong with 2033, came out flat with 2034 and ended a little confusing and complicated with 2035.

I honestly love this setting, and that alone will make me recommend this series to people. And I would probably say something like: yes, read the first one, it was amazing! The second, not so much, but if you’re anything like me, then you won’t be able to stay away because you want to know what the author has to say. The third is very similar to the first. What happened with the second, I don’t know. Probably just read them all.

But other than the really cool setting and the reality of it (except for the black ones in Metro 2033)… it was Russian, that’s for sure. One thing I found really hard to follow were all the names and nicknames every character had. I had no idea who was who. I guess that’s a cultural thing?

Some parts were very confusing, but I guess that was because Artiom was rambling in his radiation sickness? It was also confusing with what was real or theories. But that’s not a bad thing. That’s the author being very true to his character. You only get to follow Artiom and only his thoughts and ideas and perspective. So when he is certain of something, the reader gets certain of it too. But in the end?

Kind of a big reveal at the end and the reactions from everyone are not surprising, yet maybe a little. A good ending. I want to read Metro 2036 (if Dmitry ever decide to write that book) because it would be very, very different from the first three.

I recommend it, but only to get a proper ending to Metro 2033 which was incredible!

Review of “Resan till Mörkret” (Into the Darkness) by Andrey Dyakov

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Resan till Mörkret by Andrey DyakovTitle: Resan till Mörkret
Author: Andrey Dyakov
Translator (Swedish): Ola Wallin
Series: Metro Universe #2
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic
Pages: 398
Published: 2012, Coltso (translated 2015)
My Grade: 3.5 out of 5 heavens

COLTSO’S DESCRIPTION (translated to English by me)

SANKT PETERSBURG YEAR 2033.
A couple of decades after the big nuclear war the metro is threathened  by another war. People are desperately clinging to their miserable lives on the metro stations and in the underworld tunnels and labyrinths. Colonies on two islands in the Gulf of Finland was recently discovered, but when a nuclear bomb is detonated, only a few seamen survive and seek refugee in the metro. They accuse the metro inhabitants of the attack and threathens to eliminate all life on the stations. Taran, an infamous Stalker, gets the assignment of finding the guilty. But then his stepson Gleb dissapears…

The world on the surface is an unknown wilderness and faceless dangers can lurk anywhere in the city’s ruins where barely any human have set its foot in over 20 years.

MY REVIEW

This is so far the Swedish translations in this trilogy goes. I really hope the third one gets translated soon, I really want to find out what happens next. Like the first one, it is a really good book. It is slightly less good though, I only give it a 3.5 instead of a 4. And the reason for that, is because I felt that it was a bit spread out. There was a main story, but it was left behind after just a few chapters and it instead focused on so many other things. I guess you could say it was a bit messy. But, it wrapped up nicely in the end and answered almost all questions you had while reading it. One got unanswered and I doubt that it will be brought up in the third book (Beyond the Horizon), but I hope it will.

Compared to the originals by Dmitry Glukhovsky, Andrey Dyakov’s story takes place more aboveground, this one not so much as the first (Resan till Ljuset), but still more than Metro 2033. Lots of monsters and the author definitely has a lot of imagination when inventing all of them.

Something that also drags down the review by 0.5 points is that it sometimes felt like too much. Almost all the action-filled situations went to the worst case scenario, but always worked out in the end. This is sci-fi, I know, but it felt unrealistic, and yes, a bit too much. The characters doesn’t have to be on the brink of death as soon as something happens. It gets predictable after a while, “oh no, they are dead/almost dead, but it is okay, they will survive of course, because they survived everything else so far”.

But it is still a very good story! I really like the setting of it all and it was definitely worth reading even with the exxagerations. If you enjoyed the original Metro series, you will enjoy this series too.

Review of “Resan till Ljuset” (Towards the Light) by Andrey Dyakov

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metro-universum-01-resan-till-ljuset-andrey-dyakovTitle: Resan till Ljuset
Author: Andrey Dyakov
Translator (Swedish): Ola Wallin
Series: Metro Universe #1
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic
Pages: 313
Published: 2010, Coltso (translated 2012)
My Grade: 4 out of 5 cannibals

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION (translated to English by me)

SANKT PETERSBURG YEAR 2033.
The Earth is desolated and the few survivors have searched for refuge in the Metro’s deep tunnels. Isolated from the rest of the world, humans are struggling and make rare exhibitions to the ground to hunt for food, fuel, and ammunition. One day, some mysterious light signals are observed from the marine base Kronstadt, located on an island outside of the city. A group of stalkers get the mission to investigate the reason behind it. Are there more survivors, and perhaps some untouched storages in the marine base’s gigantic bunker system? Or can it be the sign that the sect of Exodus priests is preaching about?

The world on the surface is an unknown wilderness and the party gets ready to face the faceless dangers that can lurk anywhere in the city’s ruins where barely any human have set its foot in over 20 years.

 

MY REVIEW

I am so glad that Dmitry Glukhovsky opened up his world of Metro 2033 so other amazing authors could write their story. Like Andrey Dyakov and his novel “Towards the Light” which takes place in St. Petersburg. But unlike Metro 2033, this one takes place above ground when a party of stalkers are going out on a mission to find out why the lighthouse all of a sudden is lighting up the city.  It does not quite meet Metro 2033 at a 5, but it was still really good and totally worth reading. It was darker and more eventful than Metro 2033. Gross things happened every now and then (especially in the end) which made me frown and it truly kept me on edge with excitement throughout the whole book.

It doesn’t really meet a 5 and that is only because I didn’t feel as satisfied at the end of it, which I do after books like Wool (by Hugh Howey), or Metro 2033 for that matter. Resan till Ljuset was incredible, but not as amazing and I didn’t finished it with any special emotions. I don’t really know how to explain why I “only” give it a 4, because it was really good. So I definitely think you should read it, but I wasn’t speechless at the end. It was a satisfying ending and kinda predictable. And since I know there is a second one, I wasn’t really expecting such an ending as in Metro 2033. I am glad there is a sequel, because I am not done with the surface of St. Petersburg in 2033.

Anyway, with this rather poor explanation for my grade, I strongly suggest you to read it. It is like Metro, but on the surface. It is really cool! Read it!