The Reeds Are Burning

Brothers Andrey and Maloy waited for their father. He returned from heavy earth-moving work. With his return, life was supposed to return to normal, but this is not happening, as their father has changed beyond recognition. He is afflicted by a strange illness that causes him to be covered in black sweat and, against all odds, he longs to go back to the bottomless pits of the slaughter. The sons do not understand how to help him. To distract themselves from their anxiety, they engage in treasure hunting. They decipher encrypted messages and puzzles, dig up clues, and hope that the found treasure will help them reconcile with their new life. The new dystopia by Evgeny Rudashevsky, written following “Beast 44,” tells the story of a city whose life is distorted by events occurring far beyond its borders.

Somewhere out there, the hero-diggers are battling the heavy soil and building fortifications to protect their loved ones from an unknown threat. Not everyone returns home. Many perish under landslides or are crushed by the wheels of enormous earth-moving machines.