Pavel Krusanov is a prose writer, a native St. Petersburger, in his youth he played rock and roll, in adulthood he became one of the leaders of the “St. Petersburg fundamentalists”, the author of the books “Angel’s Bite”, “American Hole”, “Bom-Bom”, “ Dead Language", "King of the Head". Finalist of the National Bestseller Award. The heroes of the new novel “Iron Steam” are twin brothers. One is a restorer of ancient books, obsessed with the idea of breeding a new, sinless human breed. In order to interest the powers that be in his project, he needs to bind his treatise using miraculous material, the natural elements of which can only be obtained in Tajikistan, in the burning mines of the Yagnob Valley. His brother will help him bring these ideas to life: he assembles an expedition and sets off on a journey that will change their destinies, and, perhaps, all of humanity...