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kashydo's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
carried9711's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
willrefuge's review
3.0
5 / 10 ✪
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2024/02/10/metro-2035-by-dmitry-glukhovsky-review/
Following the events of the previous two years, Metro 2035 begins with a trip out of the metro. Artyom, risking mutation and worse, ascends daily to check the radio waves, and locate other survivors. After all, Moscow cannot be all that survived.
But instead of people, he hears rumors, rumors that will take him all across the metro—up onto the surface and then back again—through the well-maintained tunnels of the Reich, to the cramped and dimly-lit hovels of the Red Line, to Hazna where people are just people, and everywhere in between. Artyom is no stranger to the metro, having walked it all before, but the tunnels are darker than he remembers. War is looming just over the horizon—an all-out war that may just consume the remainder of humanity.
Yet this is not what drives Artyom. Instead it is the rumor of visitors, from outside of Moscow, that fuels him. He will go to hell to meet these new people, and back if it means the salvation of all those still stuck in the tunnels.
For humanity wasn’t meant to squat in tunnels like rats, eating mushrooms and nibbling upon their own dead, but in the open air of the surface, where a man can see the sun and feel the rain and taste the undoctored breeze.
Artyom is the savior of the Metro—and this time he won’t fuck it up.
—
When he went first, dashing up the abandoned steps of the escalator—how could he explain it? It was because he wanted to see his mother. The mother from that day, with the ducks and the ice cream. He was on his way to meet her because he had missed her so badly. The others had trudged up, following Artyom’s lead, simply because it was frightening to be alone. And the Dark One; the Dark Ones didn’t see him from the outside. They saw him immediately from the inside—a solitary orphan who had gotten lost in their world. They saw him… and adopted him.
—
After the train-wreck that was Metro 2034, 2035 aims to send the series off on a high note by taking inspiration from the popular video-game franchise (originally based on the books). Unfortunately, due to a completely fucking bleak tone and the decided lack of any horrors beyond that of humanity itself, this one falls a bit short of what the author was probably going for.
Now, let’s get off on the right foot first. I actually really enjoyed my time with Metro 2035—to a point. In the beginning, it’s a welcome return to the universe: the tunnels that made the series what it is. The cramped, claustrophobic feel to everything, of humanity huddling in the dark, hoping the radiation-ravaged world ignores them. The opening reminds much of the beginning to Exodus (the 3rd game), with Artyom making trip after trip to the surface in search of other humans.
From here, however, it takes on a decidedly darker tone, with tensions in the metro reaching a breaking point, and fissures between the Reich, the Order, the Reds, and Hanza all stretching wide enough to be filled with lead and bodies. A war is coming, and Artyom’s chasing a rumor through it all; a rumor hinting at a massive cover-up surrounding the extinction of humanity. It was even a compelling story—part-mystery part-mission, tag-line conspiracy theory worthy of Mel Gibson. A shame that it was only one thread in the grander scheme.
It wasn’t til Chapter 14 (“Strangers”)—which was told completely in unasigned dialogue for some unfathomable reason—that I lost immersion enough to realize something was missing. Something that wouldn’t appear in the book at all. That being, the horribly mutated monsters that, in addition to the whole premise of humanity surviving only in the metro tunnels, made Metro what it was. There are none in the tunnels. Fully eradicated, it seems. There are none on the surface either, with humans running around like they own the place (which, if you’ve played the games, you know they very much DO NOT). They haven’t been written out of the lore altogether, being routinely brought up by Artyom or Sasha in reference to previous books. They just… it’s like the author just... forgot them.
Along with the author’s mind-boggling choice to leave out the monsters, he makes an equally bad decision to reintroduce Sasha, MC from 2034. Sasha… is just a terrible character, and no less pathetic than in her previous appearance. The sexism isn’t quite so strong in this—with the addition of Anya (from the games), and the inclusion of women fighting alongside men to keep the metro safe—but it’s still there, especially in the Reich and Red chapters, where I guess we’re just asked to expect it, because that’s what communism and fascism are for?
Keeping all of that in mind, the ending… really could’ve been worse. It all ties together very nicely—although we went on quite the killing spree to rid ourselves of loose ends—and ends in a way hinted at throughout the entire story. If you’ve come this far in the series and want more—this is a no-brainer. If you’re literally anyone else—go and play the games. That’s all I want to do now, to erase this ending from my mind and replace it with the (canonical) video-game one.
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2024/02/10/metro-2035-by-dmitry-glukhovsky-review/
Following the events of the previous two years, Metro 2035 begins with a trip out of the metro. Artyom, risking mutation and worse, ascends daily to check the radio waves, and locate other survivors. After all, Moscow cannot be all that survived.
But instead of people, he hears rumors, rumors that will take him all across the metro—up onto the surface and then back again—through the well-maintained tunnels of the Reich, to the cramped and dimly-lit hovels of the Red Line, to Hazna where people are just people, and everywhere in between. Artyom is no stranger to the metro, having walked it all before, but the tunnels are darker than he remembers. War is looming just over the horizon—an all-out war that may just consume the remainder of humanity.
Yet this is not what drives Artyom. Instead it is the rumor of visitors, from outside of Moscow, that fuels him. He will go to hell to meet these new people, and back if it means the salvation of all those still stuck in the tunnels.
For humanity wasn’t meant to squat in tunnels like rats, eating mushrooms and nibbling upon their own dead, but in the open air of the surface, where a man can see the sun and feel the rain and taste the undoctored breeze.
Artyom is the savior of the Metro—and this time he won’t fuck it up.
—
When he went first, dashing up the abandoned steps of the escalator—how could he explain it? It was because he wanted to see his mother. The mother from that day, with the ducks and the ice cream. He was on his way to meet her because he had missed her so badly. The others had trudged up, following Artyom’s lead, simply because it was frightening to be alone. And the Dark One; the Dark Ones didn’t see him from the outside. They saw him immediately from the inside—a solitary orphan who had gotten lost in their world. They saw him… and adopted him.
—
After the train-wreck that was Metro 2034, 2035 aims to send the series off on a high note by taking inspiration from the popular video-game franchise (originally based on the books). Unfortunately, due to a completely fucking bleak tone and the decided lack of any horrors beyond that of humanity itself, this one falls a bit short of what the author was probably going for.
Now, let’s get off on the right foot first. I actually really enjoyed my time with Metro 2035—to a point. In the beginning, it’s a welcome return to the universe: the tunnels that made the series what it is. The cramped, claustrophobic feel to everything, of humanity huddling in the dark, hoping the radiation-ravaged world ignores them. The opening reminds much of the beginning to Exodus (the 3rd game), with Artyom making trip after trip to the surface in search of other humans.
From here, however, it takes on a decidedly darker tone, with tensions in the metro reaching a breaking point, and fissures between the Reich, the Order, the Reds, and Hanza all stretching wide enough to be filled with lead and bodies. A war is coming, and Artyom’s chasing a rumor through it all; a rumor hinting at a massive cover-up surrounding the extinction of humanity. It was even a compelling story—part-mystery part-mission, tag-line conspiracy theory worthy of Mel Gibson. A shame that it was only one thread in the grander scheme.
It wasn’t til Chapter 14 (“Strangers”)—which was told completely in unasigned dialogue for some unfathomable reason—that I lost immersion enough to realize something was missing. Something that wouldn’t appear in the book at all. That being, the horribly mutated monsters that, in addition to the whole premise of humanity surviving only in the metro tunnels, made Metro what it was. There are none in the tunnels. Fully eradicated, it seems. There are none on the surface either, with humans running around like they own the place (which, if you’ve played the games, you know they very much DO NOT). They haven’t been written out of the lore altogether, being routinely brought up by Artyom or Sasha in reference to previous books. They just… it’s like the author just... forgot them.
Along with the author’s mind-boggling choice to leave out the monsters, he makes an equally bad decision to reintroduce Sasha, MC from 2034. Sasha… is just a terrible character, and no less pathetic than in her previous appearance. The sexism isn’t quite so strong in this—with the addition of Anya (from the games), and the inclusion of women fighting alongside men to keep the metro safe—but it’s still there, especially in the Reich and Red chapters, where I guess we’re just asked to expect it, because that’s what communism and fascism are for?
Keeping all of that in mind, the ending… really could’ve been worse. It all ties together very nicely—although we went on quite the killing spree to rid ourselves of loose ends—and ends in a way hinted at throughout the entire story. If you’ve come this far in the series and want more—this is a no-brainer. If you’re literally anyone else—go and play the games. That’s all I want to do now, to erase this ending from my mind and replace it with the (canonical) video-game one.
psoglav's review against another edition
4.0
UKUPNA OCENA (overall rating) - 7/10
Radnja (story) - 7/10
Likovi (characters) - 7/10
Pripovedanje (writing style) - 7/10
Okruženje (setting) - 7/10
Nažalost Metro 2035 nije ispunio moja očekivanja. Kako se radnja razvija, knjiga obećava mnogo, posebno odgovore na pregršt neodgovorenih pitanja iz Metro univerzuma, ali na kraju sam imao utisak kao da sam čitao neku drugačiju Životinjsku farmu ili gledao novi serijal "The Walking Dead". Sam pisac je rekao da se u trećem delu fokusirao samo na ljude, da nema ni trunke natprirodnog, i to je ujedno i najveća slabost romana. Politika, manipulacija masama i hronični nedostatak morala kod likova je tema koja je isuviše puta obrađena, a ovaj put je samo smeštena u drugačije okruženje tj. u postnuklearni ruski metro. Kraj ostavlja gorku plilulu u ustima, kako zbog nekoliko neodgovorenih pitanja, tako i zbog same radnje.
Metro 2033 je imao tu magiju gde je bio izmešan osećaj teskobe, natprirodnog, straha od mraka i čudovišta. Ovoga nema u Metrou 2035, a umesto toga smo dobili fokus na fašiste, komuniste, kapitaliste i generalno "svakodnevne" ljude koji gaze preko leševa za "opšte dobro" i koji prodaju ideale za šaku metaka. Tema je ok, ali mi nažalost nije legla u ovom okruženju...
Radnja (story) - 7/10
Likovi (characters) - 7/10
Pripovedanje (writing style) - 7/10
Okruženje (setting) - 7/10
Nažalost Metro 2035 nije ispunio moja očekivanja. Kako se radnja razvija, knjiga obećava mnogo, posebno odgovore na pregršt neodgovorenih pitanja iz Metro univerzuma, ali na kraju sam imao utisak kao da sam čitao neku drugačiju Životinjsku farmu ili gledao novi serijal "The Walking Dead". Sam pisac je rekao da se u trećem delu fokusirao samo na ljude, da nema ni trunke natprirodnog, i to je ujedno i najveća slabost romana. Politika, manipulacija masama i hronični nedostatak morala kod likova je tema koja je isuviše puta obrađena, a ovaj put je samo smeštena u drugačije okruženje tj. u postnuklearni ruski metro. Kraj ostavlja gorku plilulu u ustima, kako zbog nekoliko neodgovorenih pitanja, tako i zbog same radnje.
Metro 2033 je imao tu magiju gde je bio izmešan osećaj teskobe, natprirodnog, straha od mraka i čudovišta. Ovoga nema u Metrou 2035, a umesto toga smo dobili fokus na fašiste, komuniste, kapitaliste i generalno "svakodnevne" ljude koji gaze preko leševa za "opšte dobro" i koji prodaju ideale za šaku metaka. Tema je ok, ali mi nažalost nije legla u ovom okruženju...
tgreen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
tsayadel's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Doesn't reach the quality of the first book, while being a step-up from the second. Good twists, style and characters I found were more lively and fleshed out than in the first. Very suspenseful, but I would have loved to see the author lean more into the horror aspects.
luckylikesreading's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
regionalearth's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
perco_tempo's review
2.0
Este livro foi incrivelmente desapontante.
Tendo lido os dois primeiros livros desta mesma trilogia o fim algo amargo. Amargo pois o último livro não só revela uma natureza triste dos humanos que vivem num metro de um mundo pós apocalíptico nuclear, tal como o fim desta trilogia revela um autor desgastado de uma ideia.
Eu sou da opinião que Glukhovsky para lá de não dar espaço para o seu mundo pós apocalíptico respirar, também não deixou o mundo expandir-se no fim da trilogia. É claramente um livro político, uma fraca analogia ao sistema russo, e tudo usando uma ideia que tão bem tinha sido descrita no primeiro livro.
O meu conselho é ler os dois primeiros livros. O primeiro trata muito bem os temas da relação do humano com o mundo estranho do metro em que se encontra. O segundo revela como a natureza humana perde-se num mundo selvagem. O terceiro é apenas político e fraco com várias incoerências.
Tendo lido os dois primeiros livros desta mesma trilogia o fim algo amargo. Amargo pois o último livro não só revela uma natureza triste dos humanos que vivem num metro de um mundo pós apocalíptico nuclear, tal como o fim desta trilogia revela um autor desgastado de uma ideia.
Eu sou da opinião que Glukhovsky para lá de não dar espaço para o seu mundo pós apocalíptico respirar, também não deixou o mundo expandir-se no fim da trilogia. É claramente um livro político, uma fraca analogia ao sistema russo, e tudo usando uma ideia que tão bem tinha sido descrita no primeiro livro.
O meu conselho é ler os dois primeiros livros. O primeiro trata muito bem os temas da relação do humano com o mundo estranho do metro em que se encontra. O segundo revela como a natureza humana perde-se num mundo selvagem. O terceiro é apenas político e fraco com várias incoerências.