Metro 2034
 Original Russian edition cover | |
| Author | Dmitry Glukhovsky |
|---|---|
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian (Original) |
| Genre | Post-apocalyptic |
Publication date |
Paperback March 16, 2009 (Russia) November 10, 2010 (Poland) November 13, 2014 (United Kingdom) E-book February 20, 2014 (United States & United Kingdom) |
| Media type |
Print (Hardcover and Paperback) E-book Audiobook |
| Pages |
448 (Russian edition) 487 (Polish edition) 320 (English edition) |
| Preceded by | Metro 2033 |
| Followed by | Metro 2035 |
Metro 2034 (Russian: Метро 2034) is a novel written by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky and is a sequel to his novel Metro 2033. Although Metro 2034 is the official continuation of the Metro 2033 storyline, the 2013 video game Metro: Last Light – the sequel to the video game adaptation of the original novel – has no similarities to the novel in its plot. Metro: Last Light has been adapted into the novel Metro 2035.
Plot
It is the year 2034. Less than a year has passed since the events of Metro 2033. The Dark Ones, once considered a deadly threat to the Metro, are gone for good, killed by Artyom and his allies. On the south side of the Metro, the inhabitants of Sevastopolskaya Station are fighting for survival against new threats that constantly assail them. The fate of the station depends on weapon supplies from further up the line, which are suddenly cut off along with all communications with the rest of the Metro system.
A group of three is sent to investigate, including old, unfulfilled chronicler Homer and antisocial mercenary Hunter – a character featured in Metro 2033 but now mentally and emotionally damaged after the events of that book.
The expedition sparks a violent confrontation at Tulskaya Station which seals its hermetic door, cutting Sevastopolskaya off from the rest of the Metro system. During their return Homer recovers a diary, the contents of which lead him to doubt Hunter's claim that Tulskaya has been taken over by bandits and must be taken by force.
Back at Sevastopolskaya, Hunter volunteers to attempt to make contact with the rest of the Metro via the extremely hazardous Kakhovskaya Line. He insists that Homer accompany him and on their journey Homer begins to see Hunter as a model for the hero of the epic he has been attempting to compose for many years.
At Kolomenskaya Station they encounter and rescue Sasha, the teenaged daughter of the exiled former Avtozavodskaya Station Master. Homer decides that she will be the heroine of his epic, and Hunter permits her to join them.
They find the outer hermetic door of Avtozavodskaya sealed, and as Hunter scouts for a way in Homer examines the diary, discovering that Tulskaya has been struck with a deadly plague – proving Hunter's claim of bandits to be a lie. The increasingly violent Hunter forces their way through Avtozavodskaya and they arrive at Paveletskaya Station which suffers a mutant attack shortly after. Hunter saves Sasha from a mutant, but is critically injured.
Sasha's growing feelings for Hunter are shattered when he states that he saved her simply because he wanted to kill the mutant. She leaves the station for the surface and is rescued from mutants by a stalker who she initially mistakes for Hunter. Hunter's acceptance of a knife she buys him leads her to give him another chance.
The barely recovered Hunter insists on heading to Polis – the four stations at the heart of the Metro – to collect troops for his attack on Tulskaya, explaining to Homer that wiping out the station is the only way to prevent the plague from spreading. Unwilling to wait for his companions, he departs for Dobryninskaya Station on his own. Meanwhile Sasha meets Leonid, a charismatic and skilled flautist who suggests that he knows of a cure for the plague. Homer, Sasha and Leonid follow Hunter to Dobryninskaya where they are reunited. Hunter confronts the cowardly Dobryninskaya station master who admits that the plague has spread to the connected Serpukhovskaya Station but he has been covering it up. Homer then accompanies Hunter – who is increasingly unstable and begs for his assistance to control himself – to Polis, while Sasha leaves with Leonid who promises to take her to the scientists he says can provide the cure, despite Homer's misgivings about the young man's motives.
Meanwhile what authorities remain at Tulskaya are finding it harder to control and quarantine the infected who are attempting to break out to Serpukhovskaya.
At Polis Hunter and Homer make contact with Miller (referred to as 'Melnik' in Metro 2033), the leader of "The Order" – a paramilitary group dedicated to defending the Metro. Meanwhile Leonid reveals to Sasha that he is taking her to the semi-mythical Emerald City, a community of scientists at the old Moscow University. They travel to the south end of the Red Line – the rumoured access point for the Emerald City – where he eventually confesses that he was lying in an attempt to seduce her. He does reveal however that the plague can be cured by exposure to radiation.
Order completely breaks down at Tulskaya and the infected spread out into the Serpukhovskaya tunnel. The station master reveals that he has mined the tunnel roof as a last resort, allowing the station to be flooded with groundwater, but that the hermetic doors at both ends must be sealed to prevent flooding the greater Metro. The guards at the northern door however cannot be reached.
Sasha and Leonid race to Polis in an attempt to intercept Hunter's attack. They reconnect with Homer at Dobryninskaya but before they can take any action an armoured train full of heavily armed Order troops – including Hunter – arrives and begin their assault on Serpukhovskaya. Sasha and Leonid place themselves between the Order and the infected and attempt to defuse the situation with Leonid's flute playing and news of the cure, however the clearly tortured Hunter is unwilling to place his trust in Leonid's claims. As the assault resumes the mines are detonated, and a wave of water rushes into the tunnel. The Order troops close the hermetic door on the flood as Hunter makes a last attempt to save Sasha.
In an epilogue several weeks later Homer and Hunter are back at Sevastopolskaya. The flooded stations have been pumped dry and contact with the rest of the Metro reestablished. Survivors are being taken into the irradiated Kakhovskaya Line to cure their infection. Homer has attempted to find Sasha's body among the dead, but has failed leaving her ultimate fate ambiguous. He continues to work on his novel. The perhaps even more broken Hunter continues to guard the station while attempting to recall Leonid's music.
Editions
Metro 2034 has already been translated to some European languages, such as: German, Dutch, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Italian, Greek, Czech, Polish, Serbian, Swedish, Finnish, Slovak, Bulgarian and Turkish. There was no news of an English version and discussions from officials regarding an English translation were rarely published to the public, until very recently. On December 9, 2012, the official Metro 2033 Facebook page revealed that an English translation would be coming out "soon". Fan translations in English already exist online, but are not very accurate. There is a Korean version of this book.
The novel was released as an E-book by Gollancz in English on February 20, 2014.[1][2][3] The paperback edition was published in United Kingdom on November 13, 2014.[4][5]
Reception
The novel was well received by critics and audiences alike. The book was widely popular in Russia where it has sold some 300,000 copies in just six months, making it Russia's biggest local bestseller in 2009. The book has also been published online for free on the Metro 2034 Official Web Site, where over a million visitors have read the text.[6]
Art Project
Glukhovsky has turned a book into an art-project, inviting famous Russian electronic performer and hip-hop star Dolphin to write an original soundtrack for the novel, while artist Anton Gretchko worked on the oil-painted images gallery. [7]
References
- ↑ http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2014/02/metro-2034-and-you-think-the-northern-lines-bad/
- ↑ https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781473204287
- ↑ http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IRQIY98?ie=UTF8&redirectFromSS=1&pc_redir=T1&noEncodingTag=1&fp=1
- ↑ http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2014/11/happy-publication-day-november-13th-2014/
- ↑ http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781473204300
- ↑ Metro 2034 Official Web Site
- ↑ "Bio of Dmitry A. Glukhovsky".
External links
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