I heard that Metro 2033 was hugely popular in Russia and elsewhere, and decided to give it a read. It is not a good book. My translation was shockingly bad, which didn't help, but even allowing for a very clumsy and budget printing and translation it still was not good. Too long, too many dream sequences that do nothing to advance the plot, too many improbable rescues and too many endings. Also my book did not have a printed map in it, which is kind of bizarre for a book that is set in a real place, describes that place in great detail, and for which DETAILED MAPS ALREADY EXIST.
An aside on the subject of improbable rescues: The original Pixar team that worked on Toy Story had a rule that you could use a coincidence to get you into trouble, but you could not use a coincidence to get you out of trouble. It's lazy writing and lazy storytelling. Guess how many coincidences get the main character of Metro 2033 out of trouble? A lot! I counted three pivotal plot points that were 'solved' by coincidence. That is lame and bad. Every time the guy was about to die I knew some bullshit would happen to get him out of it. Borrrrriiinnnnng. The main character didn't solve anything. He just got lucky and failed forward. Great job, loser.
The only interesting part about the story was the fully realized world in which it occurs. The monsters are terrifying, the environment is terrifying, and the whole world is dark and brutal and miserable. That part is great. The characters? Flat and one dimensional. The dialog? A bad english translation of what was probably crap to begin with. The story? Weak.
Hopefully they will make a movie and tighten it up. I heard the video game is also good, and after seeing how well the world is described I can imagine the game being a lot of fun.
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