Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Badly written (translated? read it in French), no female characters (we're way past Asimov's times), confusing descriptions, no suspense, everything happens too easily/out of the blue.
The influence of Stalker (novel) is way too present and just makes you compare the two. And this one clearly doesn't stand the comparison.
The influence of Stalker (novel) is way too present and just makes you compare the two. And this one clearly doesn't stand the comparison.
As much as this was a fun read and a cool concept, it suffered from a variety of weaknesses. Less is sometimes more and trying to cram all possible political leanings and ideologies to be represented as guiding forces of the various station-states was a little too much. And relying on sheer coincidence as a plot device is maybe acceptable for once, but multiple times is somewhat of a stretch. Atryom is conveniently rescued from certain death a number of times, mostly by people conveniently killed shortly after, so the author does not have to deal with giving them an actual personality. Also I do not know how the Russian original was written, but the Hungarian translation is positively horrible at times. The ending is very abrupt and although I would be interested knowing what happens with Artyom after his big revelation, I have read that the second book does not have him in it at all and the third skips ahead a few years where his personality is completely altered, so I guess I will just skip the rest as well.
Faire une critique de ce roman culte de Dmitry Glukhovsky n’est pas une mince affaire. Metro 2033 est une bête complexe et unique. Je dois saluer d’abord l’immense talent de l’auteur à intégrer une atmosphère post-apocalyptique des plus glauques et réalistes que j’ai jamais lu. Les micros-sociétés bien organisées que l’auteur dépeint donne beaucoup de crédibilité et renforce l’immersion du lecteur et tout ça, avec une plume intelligente et dynamique. Cependant, la trame narrative est allé un peu en dent de scie. Si l’imprégnation du récit dans les 300 premières pages est totalement réussie, les longueurs ainsi que des détails superflus par après donnent parfois de la difficulté à rembarquer dans l’histoire. Les personnages également, sont difficilement attachants. Toutefois, de par son originalité et son atmosphère particulière, Metro 2033 demeure une référence du genre post-apocalyptique et je lui donnes quand même un 4 étoiles, tout en tenant compte d’en faire une recommandation avec attentes modérées!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I give this 5 stars because the writing is superb and the world building is excellent. Yes, I have a soft spot for Russian literature, and yes, this is hardcore post apocalyptic science fiction dystopia, with a horror story interwoven into it, but this is a fantastic read. Every dark tunnel leads to a nightmare with no respite, which is scary enough until you go to the surface, and there’s the real terror begins.
I liked the book, but it somehow failed to get a grip on me. The world building was curious and the way we explored the subway through the protagonist’s eyes were definitely strong points. However I felt the plot being too abstract at times.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
It felt long. It was interesting at the beginning. Then you get the idea that the whole crazy shit people were doing on the planet got condensed in the metro. At 50% you tend to say: OK I got it, change the theme. Then it changes but it did not get me anymore. The ending is interesting but the book feels a bit long. I remembered reading classical Russian authors.