Metro 2035 by Dmitry Glukhovsky, summary

This dystopian novel was written in 2015. This book is the finale of a post-apocalyptic trilogy about the survival of Muscovites underground after a nuclear war. The author abandons the mystical elements of the previous installments. The plot focuses on the search for surviving cities and the exposure of a government structure deliberately keeping people trapped in the tunnels using powerful radio interference.

The path to the surface

The protagonist, Artyom, lives at the VDNKh station with his wife, Anya. Every day, he ascends to the contaminated surface of Moscow. The young man climbs to the roof of a high-rise building housing a heavy military radio station. Artyom cranks the crank of a dynamo, trying to hear the call signs of other surviving cities through the white noise. Radiation levels are destroying his health, and his relationship with his wife is crumbling. Anya toils all day in the mushroom fields, suffering from her husband’s coldness and her inability to have healthy children. The station’s residents consider him crazy and treat him with open contempt. His stepfather, Sukhoi, tries in vain to stop his stepson from committing suicide. People have become accustomed to pedaling generators and eating pork.

The tranquility of everyday life is interrupted by the arrival of Homer. The elderly man has arrived from Sevastopolskaya station to gather material for his historical book.

Homer tells Artyom some encouraging news. At the Teatralnaya station, a radio operator allegedly managed to intercept a stable signal from the city of Polyarnye Zori. The station on the Kola Peninsula still has electricity and clean air. This news compels Artyom to immediately pack his things. The old man sets off with him.

The travelers reach Rizhskaya station. There, they meet the cynical businessman Lyokha. Local merchants earn a living selling pig manure to neighbors to fertilize their mushrooms. Lyokha helps the heroes, in exchange for a bribe, pass through the quarantine cordon onto Prospekt Mira. The rich territory of the Circle Line Commonwealth is closed due to a dry rot epidemic affecting agricultural crops. After crossing the border, the heroes are arrested by security service Major Svinolup.

The major harshly interrogates the detainees in his office. The officer suspects them of plotting sabotage for the Red Line. Artyom denies the accusations, citing his status as a stalker. Artyom’s attention is drawn to fresh bloody scratches on the major’s face and women’s slippers under the table. Svinolup releases the prisoners but roughly escorts them out of the ring.

The group finds itself at the flooded Mendeleevskaya station. People survive on metal scaffolding over stagnant, dirty water, deteriorating from severe illnesses. A local resident named Oleg commits suicide after accidentally breaking a chicken egg. Artyom narrowly escapes a stray bullet from border guards trying to kill the fugitives. The heroes escape on a raft made of plastic bottles, along with armed fanatics of the Fourth Reich.

Other people’s wars

Tsvetnoy Bulvar station is home to a vast labyrinth of brothels. There, Artyom accidentally encounters Sasha, the girl Homer believed to have died during the long-ago flood on Tulskaya. Sasha makes a living as a prostitute, catering to the local elite. Artyom gets drunk on low-quality alcohol. The stalker clashes with neo-Nazis and nearly loses his life in a beating. He is saved by a Reich officer named Dietmar.

In exchange for sparing Homer’s life, Dietmar forces Artem to perform a deadly mission. Reich groups plan to seize the neutral Teatralnaya station. Artem is tasked with infiltrating the station via the surface and mining the upper concourse. The explosives are intended to cut off the Red Line forces’ approach. Climbing up without a protective suit, the stalker spots a strange, heavily armored SUV. Unknown soldiers are methodically shooting a group of Nazi saboteurs on Tverskaya Street. Artem manages to escape into the theater building.

At Teatralnaya, Artyom finds radio operator Umbach. The engineer is immediately arrested by Red Line security officers on the tip-off of fellow performers. Artyom follows them to Okhotny Ryad station. In the KGB dungeons, he encounters Svinolup again. The major turns out to be a high-ranking communist officer. Svinolup cold-bloodedly murders Umbach right before Artyom’s eyes. With no witness, the stalker remotely detonates a mine. The vaults collapse, and Artyom escapes.

In the tunnels, Artyom reunites with his old comrades. He is joined by Homer, Lyokha, and a loyal Order fighter nicknamed Flying Squirrel. They find themselves in a dense stream of exhausted people. A huge crowd of starving Red Line citizens is heading toward Komsomolskaya station. Due to the destruction of their crops, they have absolutely nothing to eat. They chant prayers and demand passage to their neighbors’ well-fed territory.

A brutal, bloody massacre unfolds on Komsomolskaya Street. Svinolup personally commands the blocking detachments. Guards machine-gun the unarmed crowd. The crowd marches straight toward the red-hot tree trunks, hoping to break through the cordon. Artyom tries in vain to reason with the crowd, urging them to leave the underground and return to the surface. A woman hands him her young son, Kolya, and is immediately killed by a bullet. The boy also dies in Artyom’s arms. Escaping death and the horrific crush, Artyom’s group hides in the ventilation shafts.

Secrets of the Radio Center

Realizing the scale of the political manipulation, Artyom leads his companions to the surface. They find an abandoned Japanese car and drive far beyond the Moscow Ring Road. Rows of dead cars containing the mummified remains of Muscovites stretch along Entuziastov Highway. Reaching Balashikha, the stalker discovers a gigantic military radio center.

Dozens of homemade wind generators have been erected nearby. The area is dotted with massive mass graves of workers forcibly brought here from the metro. The guards at the secret facility open heavy fire on the car. During a fierce firefight, the heroes capture the radio center. Artyom, with Lyokha’s help, disables the power to the enormous antennas. The towers turn out to be super-powerful jamming generators.

Immediately after they are switched off, the radio airwaves come alive. The speakers fill with voices from Paris, Yekaterinburg, Vladivostok. A chilling truth is revealed. The planet is not destroyed, many cities remain intact, and Moscow’s radio isolation has been artificially maintained for years. Three random travelers from Murom approach the gates, but are mercilessly killed by Letyaga.

The radio center’s positions are attacked by elite Order fighters under the command of Colonel Melnik. Letyaga betrays Artyom completely, forcing him to surrender to his former comrades. Melnik orders the jammers’ power to be restored immediately. The Colonel takes Artyom back to the dungeons.

The illusion of salvation

The prisoner is brought to the secret Bunker-42 on Taganka Street. There, Artyom meets with Bessolov, the top leader of the Invisible Observers faction. Bessolov gives his guest a detailed tour of the luxurious halls, stylized to resemble the Soviet era. There’s a wax figure of Stalin and sumptuous tables set there.

It turns out that the leaders of all the warring factions in the metro are secretly coordinating their actions. Artificial shortages, localized bloody conflicts, and constant radio interference are used to keep people in fear and obedience. Bessolov cynically asserts that freedom on the surface will lead humanity to degradation. The self-proclaimed elite is obliged to cruelly shepherd the people underground, giving them no hope.

Artyom is beaten and returned to a regular subway. He finds Homer at Borovitskaya station. The young man desperately urges the old man to describe the crimes he witnessed in his chronicles. However, the weary Homer refuses the painful truth. He prefers to write comforting fairy tales commissioned by the new authorities. Lyokha the broker also betrays his ideals, agreeing to become Bessolov’s assistant for access to a comfortable life.

At an emergency meeting of the Polis Council, Melnik and other leaders lie to the population. They use intercepted foreign radio signals as evidence of an imminent threat from the hostile West. Frightened citizens happily embrace the new totalitarian dictatorship. Artyom’s attempt to disrupt the meeting fails. The crowd is ready to tear him apart on the spot. Letyaga dies from a shot to the back of the head.

Only Anya firmly stands by her husband’s side. Together with her faithful companion Timur, they break out of the aggressive cordon. Having found a hidden silver car, the couple leaves the Moscow Metro forever. The car speeds east along the Yaroslavl Highway. The lovers travel toward distant Vladivostok. Lekha, who remains underground, obediently reports to Bessolov over the radio about the fugitives’ successful departure.