Dmitry Glukhovsky

Lore & Background

Dmitry Glukhovsky created the Metro universe with his novel Metro 2033, first appearing online in 2002 and later printed in 2005. The story is set in the Moscow Metro after a 2013 nuclear war forced survivors to relocate underground. Factions emerged, including the neo-Stalinist Red Line, the neo-Nazi Fourth Reich, the powerful Polis, and the economic alliance Hansa. The protagonist, Artyom, journeys through the metro to deliver a warning about the Dark Ones, mysterious creatures inspiring terror.

Glukhovsky's sequels Metro 2034 (2009) and Metro 2035 continue the narrative. The video game adaptation Metro 2033, developed by Ukrainian studio 4A Games, was released worldwide in 2010, with Glukhovsky choosing a video game adaptation over a film for more artistic freedom. Two sequels, Metro: Last Light (2013) and Metro Exodus (2019), were also developed by 4A Games. A VR spinoff, Metro Awakening, was released in 2024 by Vertigo Games.

Glukhovsky was in talks with Hollywood studios for a film adaptation, but MGM's project was canceled after he refused to have the film set in Washington instead of Moscow. In 2019, a Russian film adaptation was announced for a 2022 release, directed by Egor Baranov, but was canceled indefinitely after Glukhovsky was blacklisted by the Russian government and charged with spreading 'fake news' about the Russian military related to the war in Ukraine.

Reader's Guide

4A Games, a Ukrainian studio, developed the first-person shooter video game Metro 2033, released worldwide in 2010. Glukhovsky said he chose a video game adaptation over a film as it gave him more artistic freedom. Two sequels also developed by 4A Games, Metro: Last Light (2013) and Metro Exodus (2019), were released. A VR exclusive spinoff, Metro Awakening, was released in 2024 developed by Vertigo Games. By 2010, over 500,000 copies of Metro 2033 had been sold in Russia alone, and over 2 million had read the book on its official site before it was published in print. Foreign book rights have been sold to dozens of countries. Glukhovsky was awarded the Encouragement Award of the European Science Fiction Society at the Eurocon for Metro 2033 in 2007.

Did You Know?

• The English edition of Metro 2033 was released on 18 March 2010 specifically to coincide with the video game adaptation.
• A film adaptation was canceled after Glukhovsky refused to have the story moved from Moscow to Washington, D.C., saying 'In Washington DC, Nazis don't work, Communists don't work at all, and the Dark Ones don't work.'

Career and Publication History

Dmitry Glukhovsky's novel Metro 2033 first appeared online in 2002 and later became an interactive experiment, drawing in thousands of readers from around Russia and abroad. In 2005, it was printed by Eksmo and became a nationwide and worldwide bestseller. The English edition was released on 18 March 2010 to coincide with the release of the video game adaptation. By 2010, over 500,000 copies had been sold in Russia alone, and over 2 million had read the book on its official site before print publication. Foreign book rights have been sold to dozens of countries. In 2007, Glukhovsky was awarded the Encouragement Award of the European Science Fiction Society at the Eurocon for Metro 2033. The novel has been followed by two sequels, Metro 2034 (2009) and Metro 2035, and spawned the Metro media franchise.

World Building and Setting

The narrative is set within the Moscow Metro after a 2013 nuclear war forced a large amount of Moscow's surviving population to relocate to the city's Metro system. Communities settled within underground train stations and developed into independent states over time. Factions emerged: the independent peacekeepers the 'Rangers of the Order', the neo-Stalinist Red Line, the neo-Nazi Fourth Reich, Polis (which contained the greatest military power and most knowledge of the past), and the Commonwealth of Ring Stations (Hansa), which controlled the main ring through economic power. The Red Line and Fourth Reich entered a state of war. Stations that refused to join were demolished, merged into Hansa, raided by bandits, or formed independent states. Some stations were destroyed by animals mutated by nuclear fallout. The station VDNKh is where the events of Metro 2033 unfold.

Narrative Arc and Protagonist

The protagonist is a 24-year-old man named Artyom, born before the nuclear war. He was saved from carnivorous rats that killed his mother by Sukhoi, a military officer who raised him as his son. Artyom meets Hunter, who discusses the threat of the Dark Ones attacking VDNKh. Artyom confesses that 10 years earlier, he and a friend went to the surface at Botanical Gardens and failed to seal the exit, allowing the Dark Ones to enter.

Hunter tasks Artyom with delivering a message to Melnik at Polis if he does not return. Artyom journeys through the metro, facing dangers including the death of his companion Bourbon by a psychic force, guidance from a mystic named Khan, capture by the Fourth Reich, and rescue by revolutionary fighters. He reaches Polis and delivers his message. The Brahmins offer a solution in exchange for help recovering a sacred book.

Artyom travels to the surface with Melnik and Daniel, entering a library attacked by 'librarians' (mutated creatures). Daniel is mortally wounded but gives Artyom directions to a missile silo. Artyom and Melnik later become involved in a search for a missing child, Oleg, and are abducted by cannibals worshipping 'The Great Worm'. They escape into Metro-2, a secret tunnel system leading to the missile site.

The team passes through a station containing a mutated bio-weapon that kills several, including Oleg. Artyom reaches Ostankino Tower to provide targeting coordinates. As missiles fall, Artyom has a vision realizing the Dark Ones were trying to make peaceful contact, and he tears off his mask in tears, heading back home.