Dmitry Glukhovsky is the writer of the Metro book, arguably one of the greatest post-apocalyptic franchises set in a radioactive wasteland. There are three books, four games which have performed very well already, and a movie is also to be launched this year. And this sprawling franchise began with one book, “Metro 2033”

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     The book is set in Moscow, taking place almost exclusively underground, in the metro system under the Russian capital, 10 years after a nuclear weapon was fired on the Kremlin, beginning what became known as the Great War of 2013, resulting in every nation to fire its nuclear weapons, sinking the world in a nuclear apocalypse. The station of the metro formed communities, forming various groups as well, such as the “Hanza” trade coalition, the Neo-Stalinist “Red Line” and Neo Nazi “Fourth Reich”, which may at first sound like a German regime, but it is in fact comprised of Russian citizens attempting to maintain the “purity” by exterminating those with deformities, something common-place due to the radiation exposure. But even the stations which are not part of one of these factions are all unique. One station may specialize in making mushroom tea, and it exchanges with the only pig farm in the metro to be well fed, while station near Hanza station specialize in document forgery to provide people with a chance into the rich stations inside the station under the trade coalitions control. Some stations have no lights, some have installed extra lights, some maintain clocks to remind them of life before the apocalypse, in general, there is a huge amount of worldbuilding almost around every corner of the station. 

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     The characters are also pretty interesting, in their own way. We follow a man named Artyom, who was a small kid when the war happened. Through him we see the Metro, and meets a minor criminal named Bourbon, a traveling philosopher and paranormal specialist called Khan, a religious disciple named brother Timothy, a soldier named Melnik and so many more people, great and small in importance. They all help Artyom, and by extension, the audience, to better understand all aspects of the world, from the low-life criminals and average citizens to the intellectuals and philosophers of the world. 
 

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     Thematically, one of the most overarching themes is fear. Fear is what lead, according to people inside the book, to the nuclear launches. Fear is very present in many parts of the Metro, from paranormal entities in some parts, but also in other areas of the metro in physical ways, evident in things such as the Fourth Reich. The pitch-black tunnels of the Metro, between the stations, cause fear to many people throughout the story. Human fear is seen as the cause of both the reason the world is in the state is in, but also causes the elimination of the peace-seeking Dark Ones.

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     In conclusion, Metro 2033 has excellent world building, using the setting of a post-apocalyptic to its fullest potential, which it uses to explore human fear and despair in hard times, but also the attempt to hold on to hope.

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