Metro 2039 is not presented as an adaptation of a book called Metro 2039. The announced game is a new original story created by 4A Games in collaboration with Metro author Dmitry Glukhovsky. The established core novels are Metro 2033, Metro 2034, and Metro 2035.
If you want one book before the game, start with Metro 2033. If you want the broadest literary background, read the full trilogy in publication order. Current descriptions do not identify any novel as mandatory preparation, and the unreleased game’s exact dependence on prior stories remains unknown.
The short answer
| Question | Current answer |
|---|---|
| Is there an announced novel titled Metro 2039? | The supplied official material does not announce one. It identifies Metro 2039 as a game with an original story. |
| Is the game based on one specific Metro novel? | No specific novel is identified as its direct source. |
| Who is writing the game’s story? | 4A Games developed the original story in collaboration with Dmitry Glukhovsky. |
| Which book should a new reader start with? | Metro 2033, the first novel in the core trilogy. |
| What is the full reading order? | Metro 2033, Metro 2034, then Metro 2035. |
How Dmitry Glukhovsky is involved
Dmitry Glukhovsky created the Metro literary universe and wrote its three core novels. He is also collaborating with 4A Games on the narrative of Metro 2039. That connection explains why the new game belongs to the same wider universe without making it a direct adaptation of a particular book.
The game’s confirmed premise is distinct from the opening of the novel trilogy. Metro 2039 takes place in post-apocalyptic Moscow in 2039 and follows a reclusive protagonist known as the Stranger. Hunter has become the leader of the Novoreich regime, while the Stranger’s nightmares and past force him toward the Moscow Metro. These are elements of the game’s newly written story, not a synopsis of a novel titled Metro 2039.
Which Metro book to read first
Start with Metro 2033 if you have not read any of the novels. It establishes the underground civilization that formed in Moscow’s Metro after nuclear war and follows Artyom as he leaves his home station to warn the wider Metro about a growing threat.
The novel introduces the setting’s central pressures: isolated station communities, competing political factions, poisoned surface territory, mutated creatures, and the uncertainty surrounding forces that survivors do not fully understand. That makes it the most useful single literary introduction to the world behind the games.
The original novel and its game adaptation should not be treated as interchangeable versions of every event. They share characters, setting, and major ideas, but the broader franchise later developed through separate yet connected book and game storylines.
The complete reading order
Read the core trilogy in numerical order. Each title advances the literary side of the setting, but the focus changes between books.
| Order | Book | What it contributes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metro 2033 | Introduces Artyom, the Moscow Metro’s station societies, and the original underground journey. |
| 2 | Metro 2034 | Moves to another crisis in the Metro, where an unknown disease threatens survivors and Sasha becomes a central figure. |
| 3 | Metro 2035 | Returns to Artyom as he searches for evidence of other survivors and hopes to lead people back to the surface. |
Metro 2033
This is the necessary starting point for the trilogy because the later books build on the world it establishes. Choose it if you want only one novel before Metro 2039 or if you want to decide whether the literary series suits you before committing to all three.
Metro 2034
The second novel broadens the setting rather than simply repeating Artyom’s first journey. Its disease-centered conflict and different character focus show how other communities experience survival inside the Metro.
Metro 2035
The final core novel returns to Artyom and his determination to find life beyond Moscow’s sealed underground society. It completes the published trilogy and provides the fullest literary context for the franchise’s treatment of the surface, authority, information, and survival.
Choose a reading path for your goal
For the minimum useful background
Read Metro 2033. It gives you the literary origin of the Metro universe, its underground societies, and Artyom’s foundational journey without requiring the entire trilogy.
For the complete core novel sequence
Read Metro 2033, Metro 2034, and Metro 2035 in that order. This is the clearest route through Glukhovsky’s principal Metro novels and avoids encountering later developments before their setup.
For game continuity rather than literary background
The novels alone do not provide a one-to-one account of the game storyline. Official franchise material explains that Metro Exodus continues the events told through the games Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light while also interweaving elements of the wider novel saga. Readers should therefore keep the book sequence and game sequence conceptually separate, even though they share a creator, world, characters, and themes.
For Metro 2039 specifically
Current material confirms that Metro 2039 is a new mainline game with the Stranger as its protagonist. Reading the trilogy can provide literary background, but no published description supplied for this page says that finishing the books is required to understand the game. Because the game has not launched, it is not yet possible to verify how much earlier context the final campaign will explain directly.
What the title does not mean
The year in the title does not establish the existence of a fourth core novel. The known trilogy uses the years 2033, 2034, and 2035 as its titles, while Metro 2039 is currently the name of the upcoming game and its setting year.
It also does not make the game a remake of Metro 2033, an expansion, or an adaptation of an unannounced book. The verified description identifies it as the fourth mainline Metro game, built around an original story written with Glukhovsky.
For now, the practical choice is straightforward: read Metro 2033 for a focused introduction or the complete trilogy for the widest literary context. Treat any claim about a separate Metro 2039 novel, required reading, or exact book-to-game plot correspondence as unverified unless a future official announcement supplies that information.