Book Review: Metro 2035 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

Metro 2035 is the third book in the series, following Metro 2033 and 2034, and it’s the perfect ending to the trilogy.

Metro 2033 is a philosophical journey both physically through the Moscow Metro and mentally through Artyom’s mind and his experiences in this desolate future world. Metro 2034 is the polar opposite, an action-filled horror story where much more seems to be more doing and less thinking. Metro 2035 is the love-child of these two different kinds of novels and it’s amazing.

Again, we follow Artyom. Two years after the events of book one, Artyom has settled down in the metro. But though he has stopped wandering physically, his mind has not. He longs to understand what’s out there, to learn more about the world he inhabits, and when he happens to meet Homer (whom we know from Metro 2034), he sees his chance. The journey they undertake is fantastic, horrifying, gruesome, uplifting and wonderful.

I really feel like this is the perfect book to follow the two first ones. I was surprised at Glukhovsky’s change in tone and vibe when I read Metro 2034, because Metro 2033 has such a distinct philosophical atmosphere. In the last book, the two different styles merge together and Glukhovsky’s writing really shines. Oh how it shines.

Also – the plot, the ending, the… well, I’m not going to say it, but it surprised me. It surprised me SO MUCH. I would never have expected it. It’s the kind of thing that wants me to start from the beginning, with book one, and read through it all again while knowing… well, what I know.

I love reading post-apocalyptic, dystopian books. I love the worlds, the conflicts, the people. Justin Cronin’s The Passage series is one of my absolute favorites, but this one comes damn close. Recommended to everyone who’s fascinated by the end of the world.