In the Firelight (Novel)

In the Firelight (Polish: W blasku ognia) is a book that is part of the Universe of Metro 2033, a long-running series of short stories, novellas, and novels written by different authors, all set in the world of Metro. In the Firelight, written by numerous Polish authors, was originally published in January of 2014. Although there is currently no English version of the book, In the Firelight has been translated into one other Slavic language - Russian. The book was translated to Russian by Leonid Dobkach and published in Russia on the 6th of July, 2015.

It was the first entry in the series created by Poles. In the Firelight is a collection of 13 short stories, written by 12 different authors, which were selected for publication by a joint jury of admins and fans on the official Polish portal of the series: metro2033.pl. Many of the chapters contained within are in the format of tales told by the campfire. In Poland and Russia, it was released as an e-book file available for free download.

Synopsis
Twelve of the book's thirteen chapters are self-contained stories from the Moscow Metro. Some of the tales feature locations already mentioned in previous books, whilst others explore mysterious reaches of the metro that have never before been spoken of. Several of the stories are tied to the station of Kitay-Gorod, home to some of the most powerful crime syndicates within the Moscow subway; other stations featured in the book are: Chistye Prudy, Sportivnaya, farm-station Sokol, the infamous Polyanka, and Tverskaya of the Fourth Reich. Highlights of In the Firelight include legends about why some of the northernmost stations in the Moscow Metro came to be abandoned, myths regarding the formation of Polis, details of previous conflicts between Hanza and the Red Line (intertwined with tragic personal stories from the lives of the underground's inhabitants), as well as a jailbreak from a fascist prison.

Last and one of the longest is a story written by Rafał Górniak that takes place in Łódź. Since In the Firelight was published before The Promised District was written, it was the first work released under the Universe of Metro 2033 label to describe the situation of a Polish locale in Glukhovsky's post-apocalyptic work. Górniak reveals that in Łódź, only 632 people managed to live through the nuclear war by seeking refuge in railway tunnels and sewers underneath the city (Łódź does not have a "full" metro system). Struggling to cope with the end of the world, the community of survivors began to degrade and split into two unfriendly groups: one a cult led by two pre-war Catholic priests, the other a regime of atheists determined to remain "rational" in the face of recent events. Differences between the two factions eventually grow into a full-scale conflict between them.

Trivia

 * The mask seen on the book's cover is the Soviet GP-7V, a civilian version of the military-issue PMK-1 gas mask (notice the circular lenses). Since Poland used to be part of the Eastern Bloc with the USSR and other Warsaw Pact countries, it is still easy to find many Russian and Russian-derived pieces of equipment and weaponry there, some of which remain in service.

Gallery
В свете костра