Metro 2033
Dmitry Glukhovsky
 The protagonist of the novel is a young 20-year old man named Artyom who was born before the nuclear holocaust that occurred in 2013. When he was a baby he was saved from a horde of carnivorous rats by Sukhoi, a military officer. The rats killed Artyom's mother and most of the survivors with her. He has since been raised by Sukhoi, his adoptive father who is one of the authorities of VDNKh, one of the many shelter stations in the russian metro. He grew up and become one of the security guards in the VDNKh. In late 2033, Artyom is completing his shift with his fellow colleagues. When his shift ends he meets a mysterious man who calls himself Hunter. Hunter asks him to tell Sukhoi that he was looking for him. The three gather together and discuss the situation at VDNKh. While Hunter believes that they should keep fighting these threats, Sukhoi has obviously lost all hope, and for good reason. While Hunter is leaving he asks Artyom for a word outside. He blackmails Artyom by managing to make him spill out his secret of Artyom's lone expedition into the Botanical Gardens, as a child. Hunter makes him promise to travel to Polis in case he does not return, as Hunter is going on an expedition to stop the dark ones who have been attacking the station. After escorting a caravan to a member of the VDNKh Commonwealth, Artyom meets Bourbon. In exchange for a large number of cartridges, Artyom promises to help Bourbon through several tunnels but the journey comes to a tragic end, when Bourbon seemingly slips into insanity, and dies. Luckily for Artyom, a mysterious stranger arrives; Khan who helps him retrieve Bourbon's equipment. Artyom discovers that Bourbon actually planned on killing and looting him. After this, both plan a route to Polis. They decide to gather force to travel through a strange tunnel and fend off the monsters inside. Both reach Kitai-Gorod station where they split after it is attacked by the Fourth Reich. While fleeing the station, Artyom comes across an old man and helps him, who in turn helps him get to his next destination, Kuznetsky Most where he runs into the Reich again and is apprehended for murdering a station guard. As he is about to be executed, he is rescued by the Revolutionaries. Artyom is eventually dropped off at Paveletskaya, and befriends a man named Mark who bets against the station chief in a rat race to win visas to travel through Hanseatic League that occupied Koltsevaya Line. If they lose, which they do, they will shovel manure for a year on the Paveletskaya-Koltsevaya but Artyom eventually escapes and travels through an unfinished tunnel. There he meets a Brother Timothy who takes him to the Watchtower which seems to be a monastery of sorts and offers Artyom shelter. Artyom eventually tires of the fundamentalist teachings about God, escapes the station and continues his journey. He then goes to Serpukhovskaya and briefly checks his direction. Arriving at Polyanka he overhears a discussion about Metro-2, a mysterious subway system meant to connect major government buildings in the case of disaster. He talks with the people there and gets inspired by their thoughtful speech. He finally arrives at Polis. He is welcomed by the guard's commander, and informs the man that he has a message for Melnik and to wait a day. During this time, he meets a young man and local 'Brahmin', Daniel who is well informed of Polis affairs, and even has information on Artyom's next destination, the Library. Brahmins are the important scientists who were especially protected by the government from the nuclear holocaust and given many supplies and advanced weaponry to survive. Next day Melnik meets Artyom, who informs him there is a council meeting that day, to discuss the situation outside of Polis. During the meeting Artyom explains the situation at VDNKh to them. At first they decline to help, but later a sect of the council offers him help and tells him to go the Great Library with Melnik, Daniel and another person. They want him to receive a very old and extremely powerful book. After getting there, things soon go to hell as creatures called Librarians attack them. Melnik and his partner stay behind while Artyom and Daniel progress farther into the library. Daniel is killed and Artyom returns to Melnik with one thing; a map to a location named D-6 who tells him to go to Smolenskaya via the surface alone, since his partner has been wounded. Artyom somehow makes his way to the station despite all the odds. There he is rescued by Melnik from monsters. Artyom and Melnik make a plan to help VDNKh, by going to D-6 and launching pre-war missiles to the Dark Ones lair. They begin their journey by traveling to Kievskaya. Here Melnik inquires about a certain Tretyak and goes on a patrol with the security commander, Anton. They discuss several things, namely the disappearances of the station's residents, and the conditions of the adjacent station, Park Pobedy but there is no way in or out of the station. They return to the station and meet Treytak. As Artyom has no passport, Melnik and Tretyak venture to Mayakovskaya to look for an entrance to D-6. After one night, Artyom receives a message from Melnik telling him that Tretyak had been killed and that he would be back to the station in a day. Oleg, Anton's child, disappears. Artyom finds the child's music-maker outside a previously unseen entrance, and the duo take it to what seems to be Park Pobedy. They are both knocked unconscious by Savage Cannibals of the Great Worm cult and taken hostage. There, the cannibals are about to feast on the duo and Oleg but are rescued by Melnik and a team of stalkers. They then begin their journey to D-6 via Metro-2 with the duo, Oleg and two Savage Cannibals who are taken hostages. The team eventually finds an entrance to Metro-2. They travel through the metro and pass under the Kremlin, whose metro-station contains a mutated bio-weapon, (a remnant of the war) that hypnotizes humans and consumes them. Oleg and two stalkers are killed by it. The group throws a flamethrower gas canister towards it and shoots it, which injures the monster and forces it to retreat, allowing the party to escape. Melnik then decides that Ulman, another stalker, and Artyom need to find a high point to direct the missiles while Melnik and the remaining stalkers will find the missile control room. Artyom and Ulman will give them coordinates to fire the missiles at the dark ones from Ostankino Tower. On the way there, they stop at VDNKh which is not doing well because since Artyom left half the people are gone, and sometimes the dark ones break through the guard posts and make their way to the living quarters. Once they make their way to the top of the Ostankino Tower they transmit the coordinates. At that very moment, Artyom has a vision from the dark ones who tell him that they just wanted to cooperate with humans and the killing was just an attempt to communicate with them. But when Artyom regains self-control, the Botanical Gardens are already destroyed by the missiles. Realising that the Dark Ones were killed in vain, Artyom tears his mask in agony for what he has done and heads back home.