Metropolis is a 1925 science fiction novel by the German writer Thea von Harbou. The novel was the basis for and written in tandem with Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis.

The story is set in 2026 in a technologically-advanced city, which is sustained by the existence of an exploited class of labourers who live underground, far away from the gleaming surface world. Freder, the son of Joh Fredersen, one of the city's founders, falls in love with Maria, a girl from the underground. The two classes begin to clash for lack of a unifying force. (wikipedia.org)