Book excerpt: A truck driver on a lonely stretch of road, a hitchiker, and an ancient curse—"The Burned Tower" is a brilliant and moving tale, steeped in folklore, by the masters of modern fantasy, Sergey and Marina Dyachenko. In 1999, "The Burned Tower" was awarded the "Interpresscon" as the best short story of the year on the international SF-convention in St-Petersburg. Includes a sample chapter of The Scar. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.