[Dazrin]

I will third How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone and hope my library will quickly add it based on my request.

With availability in mind, I will nominate Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky (which is free today at Amazon, maybe elsewhere.)

Goodreads | Amazon US (free 10/23)

My take: Originally, non-English, check (Russian). Easily available, check (free.) Independently published, check (originally free on his website and later published and translated into 35 different languages.) Interesting setting, check (set in the subways of Moscow which have become the world's largest bomb shelter.) Gritty, Russian post-apocalyptic fiction, check (I loved Roadside Picnic when it was nominated for August 2013.)

Description:

Spoiler:

Set in the shattered subway of a post apocalyptic Moscow, Metro 2033 is a story of intensive underground survival where the fate of mankind rests in your hands.

In 2013 the world was devastated by an apocalyptic event, annihilating almost all mankind and turning the earth’s surface into a poisonous wasteland. A handful of survivors took refuge in the depths of the Moscow underground, and human civilization entered a new Dark Age.

The year is 2033. An entire generation has been born and raised underground, and their besieged Metro Station-Cities struggle for survival, with each other, and the mutant horrors that await outside.

Artyom was born in the last days before the fire. Having never ventured beyond his Metro Station-City limits, one fateful event sparks a desperate mission to the heart of the Metro system, to warn the remnants of mankind of a terrible impending threat. His journey takes him from the forgotten catacombs beneath the subway to the desolate wastelands above, where his actions will determine the fate of mankind.

This book is the basis for the video games Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light.

I will also nominate Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.

Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N

This first came to my attention when it was nominated for August 2013. It didn't win* but I was able to get it from the library and really enjoyed it.

Description:

Spoiler:

From Wikipedia:

The novel is set in a post-visitation world where there are now six Zones known on Earth (each zone is approximately five square miles/kilometers in size) which are still full of unexplained phenomena and where strange happenings have briefly occurred, assumed to have been visitations by aliens. World governments and the UN try to keep tight control over them to prevent leakage of artifacts from the Zones, fearful of unforeseen consequences. A subculture of stalkers, thieves going into the Zones to get the artifacts, evolves around the Zones.

Coincidentally, this is also the basis for a video game (Stalker).

*There was very tough competition that month and I would have been happy with any of the selections. I have read six of the nominations from that month and enjoyed all of them (Doomsday Book, Ender's Game, Lost Horizon, A Princess of Mars, Rendezvous with Rama, Roadside Picnic.) I am certain I will try the other four in the future as well.