Marmoreal Paradise

Metro 2033: Marmoreal Paradise is a novel by Russian writer Sergey Kuznetsov, written as part of the Metro 2033 universe. The sixth book of the series, this novel was released in 2010. The novel has a prequel story Escape from Fate.

The novel is set in Moscow and the Moscow region. The protagonist, Sergey Kolomin, lives in a small community near Moscow. He and his wife are terminally ill, while having only a few months to live. Due to unexpected events, Sergey has to take his son Denis and go to Moscow for medicine. Two experienced stalkers, Angin and Max, go with them.

Life at the Colony
January 2033. A detachment of stalker-caravaners arrives at Zheleznodorozhny Colony near Moscow. They bring a wounded man, who is immediately identified in the infirmary. It turns out to be Maxim Troshin, sent with an expedition of stalkers of Kalininskaya confederation to Colony in order to find the Kolomins family  and bring them to Moscow. This is what Polina Kolomina, who treated him, learns, together with her husband Sergey, of the radiation sickness, and who have a healthy ten-year-old son, Denis. Upon learning this, they plan to go to town.

A couple of days later, Sergey, along with a funeral team consisting of Vladimir Danilovich Marat, Mikhail and priest Seraphim, go to the church on the surface to bury old man Ivan Trofimovich, who died in the Colony. During the funeral, Sergey becomes uncomfortable and, at his request, Vladimir posts a patrol outside. Upon his return, Sergey is met by his wife and son. Some time later, Polina tells her husband about a living Eduard Voznitsin, who could cure them of their fatal illness. Before being sent away, however, Kolomina, along with the recovered Max, stalker Angin, and Vladimir, sends Supreme Peter Savelievich on a reconnaissance trip to a steel plant building. There all four of them find the corpses of mutant plorgists stacked in piles. Sergey, having found out that the bumblebees did it, quickly returns back and reports to the Colony's superiors. He is allowed to leave the Colony only after Sergey conducts a census of the bunker. During this time, he identifies the girl Dinara, who came with the stalkers at the beginning of the novel, to different families, but they reject her. But there is grief in Sergey's family: Polina dies of an illness. Kolomin, never having completed the census, after a brief depression, is going on the road.

The Demise of the Bunker
During the preparation, the Colony is attacked by bumblebees. Max, knowing about it in advance, manages to warn Sergey and Denis. Along with Angin and Max, Kolomin and his son manage to escape, watching the bunker's population die in terrible agony during their escape. In the Hall of Colony, the heroes encounter the survivors Arkady Borisovich and his assistant Grigory. The latter is shot in the shoulder by Max and, taking the two of them with him, they all descend into the dungeons. There they leave Arkady and the wounded Grisha behind due to the lack of chemical protection suits for them, and head for the surface.

Valley people, Amazons, Pygmies
Upstairs, all four of them are captured by a tribe of savages - the so-called "valley people". For several days, the heroes are held captive by the tribe, until Denis, thanks to his relatively recent gift, heals the daughter of the chief Tikhon Ignatyevich - Anna, himself, and even makes peace with the enemies of the "valleys" - the "cavemen" tribe. As a result, the heroes are released, giving them an escort from one of the tribes.

On the approach to the outskirts of Moscow, the guide of the detachment is killed by arrows shot in the back, and the travelers themselves are taken into custody by female Amazons and lead them to their village, located on the power line towers. There, after visiting the bathhouse and talking to the leader of the tribe - Vera, the heroes learn that they must stay for several months, so that thanks to them there will be offspring. Sergei, due to her illness, cannot stay. The heroes manage to leave only thanks to Angin, who decides to stay in the village.

In the Saltykovsky forest park, the group is attacked by pygmies, which results in the death of two amazon female guides, Denis is taken prisoner, and Sergey is wounded with a dart. He is rescued by Max and taken to cover. Having waited and gained strength for a while, they head for the cave where Kolomin's son is being held. Having found the right passage, Sergey and his friend and son escape, throwing several bullets into the savages' fire before doing so.

In the Metro
Having reached the capital, the heroes find themselves in the possession of the Kalininskaya Confederation, having descended to the Novogireevo station. Representatives of the authorities immediately recognize Maxim who has come and, after explaining to the Kolomins the situation in the Metro and hearing from them the purpose of their arrival, allow them to go to "Ploshchad Ilyicha" under the supervision of Troshin. At "Novogireevo" they go to wash in the bathhouse, and Sergei meets with his former girlfriend - the widow Lyudmila, who already has two children. Also during this time it turns out that Eduard Voznitsin, the target of the Kolomins' search, is missing. In "Perovo" Denis asks his father not to go further, as he warns that only death awaits them there. But Max, not believing this, leads the Kolomins to "Shosse Entuziastov".

Miraculously passing the anomalies "Siren's Singing" and "Dragon's Breath" and getting to the capital of the Confederation, the heroes rent a tent and fall asleep in the evening. At night, Denis is kidnapped again. The partners manage to find Sergey's son in the tunnel leading to the Hanseatic "Marksistskaya". His kidnapper turns out to be Kolomin's acquaintance, the madwoman Dinara, whom Sergey thought was dead at the time of the attack on Colonia, and who pursued them all the way to Moscow. At this point, Sergey is overcome by radiation sickness. Max, handing Dinara over to the soldiers, takes the dying Kolomin to Ploshchad Ilyicha and places him in a tent. Denis, deciding to cure his father, forbids anyone to enter the tent. Max, meanwhile, stands outside and restrains the curious residents. With difficulty, Sergey manages to cure him. Denis loses all his strength and almost dies himself.

Epilogue
Fully recovered with his son, Sergey decides to visit Dinara, imprisoned by the soldiers. He, after talking to her, forgives her and claims for the last time that her son Ruslan, whom she mistakes every child for, is in fact dead. After that, thanks to Maxim, Kolomin finds a job at the station, and at the same time, a place to live for himself and Denis.

One day, while Sergey was sitting with his son at his lessons, the ever-busy Max walks into their tent and decides to invite the Kolomins over for a visit. At Maxim's house, Sergey and Denis meet his daughter, twelve-year-old Marina, whom the boy recognizes: it was she who kept appearing in his visions.

Main characters

 * Sergey Kolomin is a forty-year-old resident of the destroyed Colony. Mortally ill with radiation sickness. Together with his son Denis and stalkers Max and Angin he goes to the Moscow subway to find a cure there;
 * Maxim Troshin is a professional stalker sent by management to Colony to retrieve the Kolomins. The protagonist of the prequel story "Escape from Fate".
 * Angin - former stalker of the Jedi caravan squad;
 * Denis Kolomin - The ten-year-old son of Sergey and Polina. Possesses a unique gift of healing and persuasion.
 * Dinara - Woman a touched by the mind after killing her husband and son before her own eyes. She is the heroine of the prequel story "Escape from Fate".

Secondary Characters

 * Eduard Voznitsin is a scientist, the former boss of Sergey and Polina. Saved by the Metro.
 * Skoblikova  - Sergey's wife and Denis' mother. Inflicted with radiation sickness, she died in the Colony some time before it was destroyed.
 * Jedi - Commander of the stalker-caravan squad that brought the wounded Max to the Colony.

Interesting Facts

 * The action of the novel begins in a colony near Moscow, from which the characters are sent into the Moscow metro.
 * Rumors of a plague in Rimskaya, Ilyich Square, and Aviamotornaya are refuted.
 * Continued - a prequel story "Escape from Fate".
 * A sequel to the novel, Enemy of My Enemy, was announced shortly after the book's release, but the author later abandoned it.
 * The audiobook for this novel was read by the author himself.