My Russian science fiction is always very optimistic. Tarkovsky’s Solaris and Stalker are not at all about people lost all hope wondering something philosophical. Roadside Picnic had people living next to alien landing site changing them into something else. This time it is world after apocalyptic war and last survivors who live in Moscow metro network. I have seen couple Soviet era movies which were closer to Star Trek but those seem to be harder to come by than books or movies where almost all hope is lost.
Book follows 24 old Artyom’s journey from one metro station through metro network and ultimately to confrontation against threat his station introduced at the beginning. Sounds like hero’s journey but this isn’t your western story. This is closer to those role playing games where you don’t necessary get the good ending. Artyom is like bad player who game needs to hand hold towards ending. This makes middle third bit drag. Book spends lot of time building world. It gets really good on last third when they go above ground first time and real plot starts. First two thirds are spent to getting to metro station where the story really starts.
Metro 2033 suffers from phasing issues. It spends too much time building the world while getting to metro station where the story really begins. World building doesn’t end there. It gets more interesting when we learn how apocalypse has changed the world and more interesting aspects of this world are introduced. Last third is really good. It makes listening or reading Metro 2033 worth it. Won’t go into spoilers but Metro 2033 has one of the best twists I have experienced.