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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is absolutely not what I was expecting coming off the back of the first book and after making it cover to cover, I'm left more confused as to why this book is the way it is.
If you have read the first book you will know it's a hero's journey with everyone's favourite boy, Artyom. His journey takes you all over the metro meeting lots of interesting characters and holds strong to a satisfactory sequel bait ending. Well the second book is a bait and switch.
Metro 2034 does not follow on from the events of the previous book. It is technically a year later and a small amount of fan service is played in reference to the first book but we are starting again. New stations. New characters (for the most part).
So there has to be some mental gear changes with the approach to this book. It's a year later and what happened happened. But these characters don't know about that, we are just picking up and dropping into new lives and new tales from the Metro... Ok. I can get on board that but are we really not going to talk about or address the fallout of the previous events?
It's hard to get out of that mind set and sadly this book is constantly in the shadow of what came before. Try as you might to reframe your mind and just focus on the new, it's hard as one of our main characters is Hunter... The guy who is single handedly responsible for setting Artyom on his hero's journey... He's also meant to be dead so when he reintroduced at the end of the first chapter I was hooked back in. How? When? Where? Why is he still alive?
It's a good opening and I refer back to the "bait and switch". It worked in the opening. We follow Hunter, Homer and Sasha as their stories make headway onto a collision course and an unlikely threesome tale is born.
The story here is fine. Not as strong as what we have seen before but we know the metro by this point and that allows the writing to really improve its pacing. The writing here is much sharper and faster paced than before with the writer really steering his hand from the over indulgence waffle that came before and it's greatly appreciated. But sadly these improvements can't help but again be compared to what came before and the plot, as entertaining as it is, never quite reaches the same levels of intrigue and mystery that the book's older brother is able to achieve.
Now if you think I am comparing the book too much to the previous book that's fair enough but the writer is doing just the same. My issues with this book don't come from the bait and switch, but from the total lack to answer any questions asked.
The book starts a fresh but by the half way mark we get a name drop. Artyom is here, he's stuck in Tula...wait what!? Okay, a double bait and switch.
But now, the real meat and potatoes... Gluhovski has his cake and eats it. Artyom is never aware of our leading party. Our main characters never interact with him directly in a meaningful way. Events just happen and then poof, the end. And it's this ending that really soured it for me. It's baits out that deaths may or may not have happened which... Although I understand that the writer is trying to sequel bait into Metro 2035, it just doesn't land. By the end of this book we have been taught that unless the character is ripped apart in front of a witness then death ultimately means nothing. Anyone can come back as and when it is appropriate.
That might be a little harsher than it needs to be but I'm just confused as to this being the direction the Metro Franchise took. It is not bad by any means and I enjoyed being back in the tunnels but it certainly feels like the wrong story was told.
It's mostly fine although unless you are desperate for more Metro, I think you could probably skip this and just savour the first book.
If you have read the first book you will know it's a hero's journey with everyone's favourite boy, Artyom. His journey takes you all over the metro meeting lots of interesting characters and holds strong to a satisfactory sequel bait ending. Well the second book is a bait and switch.
Metro 2034 does not follow on from the events of the previous book. It is technically a year later and a small amount of fan service is played in reference to the first book but we are starting again. New stations. New characters (for the most part).
So there has to be some mental gear changes with the approach to this book. It's a year later and what happened happened. But these characters don't know about that, we are just picking up and dropping into new lives and new tales from the Metro... Ok. I can get on board that but are we really not going to talk about or address the fallout of the previous events?
It's hard to get out of that mind set and sadly this book is constantly in the shadow of what came before. Try as you might to reframe your mind and just focus on the new, it's hard as one of our main characters is Hunter... The guy who is single handedly responsible for setting Artyom on his hero's journey... He's also meant to be dead so when he reintroduced at the end of the first chapter I was hooked back in. How? When? Where? Why is he still alive?
It's a good opening and I refer back to the "bait and switch". It worked in the opening. We follow Hunter, Homer and Sasha as their stories make headway onto a collision course and an unlikely threesome tale is born.
The story here is fine. Not as strong as what we have seen before but we know the metro by this point and that allows the writing to really improve its pacing. The writing here is much sharper and faster paced than before with the writer really steering his hand from the over indulgence waffle that came before and it's greatly appreciated. But sadly these improvements can't help but again be compared to what came before and the plot, as entertaining as it is, never quite reaches the same levels of intrigue and mystery that the book's older brother is able to achieve.
Now if you think I am comparing the book too much to the previous book that's fair enough but the writer is doing just the same. My issues with this book don't come from the bait and switch, but from the total lack to answer any questions asked.
The book starts a fresh but by the half way mark we get a name drop. Artyom is here, he's stuck in Tula...wait what!? Okay, a double bait and switch.
But now, the real meat and potatoes... Gluhovski has his cake and eats it. Artyom is never aware of our leading party. Our main characters never interact with him directly in a meaningful way. Events just happen and then poof, the end. And it's this ending that really soured it for me. It's baits out that deaths may or may not have happened which... Although I understand that the writer is trying to sequel bait into Metro 2035, it just doesn't land. By the end of this book we have been taught that unless the character is ripped apart in front of a witness then death ultimately means nothing. Anyone can come back as and when it is appropriate.
That might be a little harsher than it needs to be but I'm just confused as to this being the direction the Metro Franchise took. It is not bad by any means and I enjoyed being back in the tunnels but it certainly feels like the wrong story was told.
It's mostly fine although unless you are desperate for more Metro, I think you could probably skip this and just savour the first book.
Mocno średnie, zdecydowanie słabsze od pierwszej części. Namęczyłam się trochę słuchając tego. Postacie mnie irytowały, w szczególności Sasza. Wolałam, kiedy nie było żadnej kobiecej postaci, bo ta dziewucha była naprawdę denerwująca. Brakowało mi napięcia i wyczekiwania z Metro 2033.
Waham się między 2,5 a 3.
Waham się między 2,5 a 3.
Review written about half a year after reading: in retrospective Metro might be one of my favorite fanatsy series. I enjoyed it massively and quickly ended up picking up books two n three. Worth it.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No