Synopsis:
Max Frei is a twenty-something loser -- a big sleeper (that is, during the day; at night he can't sleep a wink), a hardened smoker, and an uncomplicated glutton and loafer. But then he gets lucky. He contacts a parallel world in his dreams, where magic is a daily practice. Once a social outcast, he's now known in his new world as the "unequalled Sir Max." He's a member of the Department of Absolute Order, formed by a species of enchanted secret agents; his job is to solve cases more extravagant and unreal than one could imagine -- a journey that will take Max down the winding paths of this strange and unhinged universe -- or is it?
-from The Overlook Press edition published in the US in 2009.
ISBN 978-1-59020-065-0
Cast of Characters:
Sir Max - Our main man. Max is an average guy from our world that really needs a second or third shift job but cannot seem to find one. A vivid dreamer, it's in one of these dreams he meets and converses with Sir Juffin Hully. He's a stranger to this parallel magical world but he also seems to fit right in.
Sir Juffin Hully - Sir Venerable Head of the Department of Absolute Order. Max's boss, friend, and amazing magician that brought Max to the city of Echo. He has such a relaxed vibe about him. He uncannily knows everything and always seems to know just what each of his subordinates needs before sometimes even they do. I'd love to work for Sir Juffin.
Sir Melifaro - Diurnal Backside of Sir Venerable Head. Basically, Melifaro is the 2nd in command after Juffin during the daylight hours. Sir Max will be 2nd in command during the night. Melifaro is also a bit of a flirt and loves to joke around.
Sir Shurf Lonli-Lokli - Master Who Snuffs Out Unnecessary Lives. Sir Shurf is a very serious individual who takes his job seriously and is quite literal about things. He's never one to really joke around but when he does, it's always a sort of dry humor. He's easily one of my favorite characters and I love to see him become more like himself toward the end of the book.
Lady Melamori Blimm - Master of Pursuit. She's the only woman on the team but she's no less deadly. She can track anyone and can actually hold her own in a fight. Of course Melifaro makes eyes at her and Max believes himself positively in love with her. She's very much the lady of the house keeping these insufferable fellas all in line. Except Sir Shurf. He never steps a toe out of line.
Sir Kofa Yox - Master Eavesdropper. Sir Kofa can change his appearance and voice at any time which allows him to infiltrate anywhere in order to find any murmurings of illegal magic use. He pops up from time to time but doesn't have as large a role in Max's day to day since Sir Kofa spends all of his time in taverns and restaurants listening to gossip.
General Boboota Box - Chief of the Police; red faced blundering man who talks a whole lot about excrement when he huffs and puffs in his rants. He overall hates the Secret Investigative Force, I suspect because they clear more cases than he does. It probably doesn't help that Sir Juffin is constantly trying to poach General Box's intelligent and competent officers. We see him have a slight change in his demeanor in a later chapter where he runs afoul of a local chef. He is also terrified of Sir Max (with good reason as we see later) and usually calms his tits in his presence.
Plot Summary
One thing is for sure, Frei (aka Svetlana Yuryevna Martynchik) packs a lot of story into this one book. The book consists of seven chapters which I'll use to provide a synopsis of each. I will keep things brief as I don't want to spoil anything. I really enjoyed that each chapter was like a mini story but it was also then used to build the overall story of Max and the team. You can't just start in on chapter 3 without having read the first 2 chapters; but you do get that amazing satisfaction of each chapter taking you on a journey that ends in a resolution that allows you to then see how the characters developed from lessons learned during their adventure. Or in Max's case, what new magic he can now effortlessly perform that took others years and years to learn. He really is something special, our Sir Max.
1. Debut in Echo
In the opening chapter, we are thrust right into the action. Sir Max has already made his way into Echo and is staying with his boss, Sir Juffin Hully. We do not at this point find out how Sir Max came to arrive in Echo, and the placement of where we actually learn that information is much better than if Frei had tried to write it into this first chapter.
The issue we have entered into is that people keep coming up missing at Sir Juffin's neighbor's house. One day they're there, and the next no one can find them until they enter into one of the many bedrooms and find their body. Luckily it's always the same bedroom so AHA! A clue! Clearly something is amiss but Sir Juffin's magic meter does not register any magic of a high, and therefore clearly illegal and dangerous, degree. Sir Juffin calls on Sir Melifaro to come and aid the investigation and finally they are able to witness just what sort of magic is occurring in this specific bedroom. Having now witnessed just what is afoot, Sir Max is the one to come up with the solution that could very well save the day. While he does not yet possess the skills to perform the necessary magic, his colleague Sir Shurf Lonli-Lokli is to the rescue to now aid Sir Juffin in defeating this dark magic. The team do their thing and the bedroom is once again safe for all who enter.
Obviously, that is the quick and dirty synopsis but it is also during this chapter you see the camaraderie already between Sir Juffin and Sir Max. Their relationship is already one of mentor/mentee but also you can see the beginnings of a father/son relationship. You really get this sense that Sir Max is finally in a place that suits him - a place where he can belong - a place of home that he did not feel when he was in our world. You also begin to see the budding kinship of Sir Max with his colleagues Sir Melifaro and Sir Shurf Lonli-Lokli. It also helps that Sir Max's idea of how to defeat the dark magic at play has endeared him to all of his colleagues as it shows he really can be quite clever - and quite lucky.
2. Juba Chebobargo and Other Nice Folks
Sir Max gets his own apartment! Granted it only has 3 bathing pools - no self respecting Echoer would have less than 4 but alas Sir Max cannot be bothered with having to take a dip in 12 bathing pools a day. And I am inclined to agree with him. However, now that he is in his new home, Sir Max is disturbed by dreams that are focused on the house across the street. He cannot put his finger on it, and the magic meter doesn't register anything out of the ordinary, but something about this house just makes Max uneasy. Of course, we later learn just what it is that is causing the dreams and Max's uneasy feeling but it goes to show that Max has great instincts.
While Max is dealing with his own personal issues in regards to not being able to get a good day's sleep, a string of thefts is occurring in Echo and the police, led by General Boboota Box, have yet to solve it. It isn't until Lady Melamori Blimm is targeted by the thieves that the Secret Investigative Force gets involved. And honestly, that's for the best considering the magic preventing Sir Max from sleeping is linked to the magic involved in the rampant thefts in Echo. Let's just say, I didn't like dolls before I read this, and I dislike dolls even more now. Just creepy...
3. Cell No. 5-OW-NOX
Sir Max goes to prison! Sir Max is sent to Xolomi, the local prison, to investigate the strange occurrences of one particular cell - and some of those surrounding it. As usual, our Sir Max is a lucky duck and comes away unscathed - albeit with a new skill that makes everyone fearful of his salivary glands. This is also the first instance where we see in this world of Echo that the dead can also cause harm. It's a theme that keeps coming up, particularly for Max - this association with the dead in some capacity that the other members of the team do not seem to have. Even further supporting his relationship with death, because of his affliction of his salivary glands, Max now has to wear all black aka The Mantle of Death while on duty. Obviously Sir Max is not a fan as he doesn't want to be feared by the citizens of Echo. He just wants to be Sir Max, work his nighttime job, drink kamra with his coworkers, go on his adventures, maybe find a love life - but alas that's just not what's in the cards for him. He shouldn't be so good at his job...
4. The Stranger
Someone from our world has entered the world of Echo - using the same route Sir Max did. It is during this chapter we finally learn how Max came to be Sir Max of Echo. We are also introduced to Sir Maba Kalox, a powerful magician who seems to have even more tricks up his sleeve than Juffin does. He's very wise and teaches Max a few things along the way but we only see him popping up from time to time rather than playing a daily role in Max's life. It is during this chapter we really start touching the surface of this idea of parallel worlds and traveling between worlds - the amount of power it takes to do so, the years of training it takes to navigate such things - it's definitely only a surface skim but we find later on just how poignant this topic is. We also see another facet of Sir Max change, shift, come into focus, what have you, when he has to take a life.
5. King Banjee
A local restaurant owner and his wife go to bed one night. She wakes up the next morning to meat wearing her husband's pajamas. What the what?! Sorry, but no amount of magic to any degree is going to be able to reverse that...
Sir Kofa Yox, Master of Disguises and Eavesdropper, is on the case with Sir Max to track down who would have the ability to pull this level of magic off but it still not register on the magic meter as being a high enough degree of magic to warrant an alarm. Since Sir Kofa spends his time in restaurants and cafes throughout Echo, he is a prime team member to help sniff out who could be doing this since obviously someone turning people into meat would be using the meat in their dishes - cannibalism for the win?
It's also in the midst of all of this that General Boboota Box disappears. While his officers are thrilled, they also know in the long run this could be very troublesome for all involved if they cannot find their chief. As luck would have it, Sir Max and Sir Melifaro are enjoying a lunch at a local restaurant when things start falling into place and as Sir Max's luck would have it, they find the culprit - and General Boboota Box. Unluckily for the officers, General Box is still a whole person rather than a lump of meat. However, we see a shift in General Box's attitude since his life has been saved by Sir Max and because in general, a brush with death tends to change a person's outlook on life.
6. Victims of Circumstance
Throughout the book, we see this will they or won't they struggle between Sir Max and Lady Melamori. She's partly terrified of him because she cannot put her finger on him. She can't figure him out. And like most people, she's terrified of the unknown. On the flip side of things, she is intrigued by Sir Max and how he seems to have this great power but be completely unaware of what he can do. Sir Max just knows he fancies Lady Melamori and loves that he can make himself dream about her. It's in this chapter that they are forced to confront their feelings for one another but it doesn't go as either of them expected or may have planned. Now they must figure out how to navigate work with broken hearts. It really shows their character development here in coming to terms with love lost but also not treading on what fate has decided. Fate has chosen this and to try and go against fate could have disastrous consequences for each or both of them. It is definitely a showing in what is meant to be will be.
Luckily, Sir Max has a case to help take his mind off of his broken heart. Whilst dining in all of the restaurants of Echo with Sir Kofa, they spot a man wearing quite a gaudy belt and something just seems odd. As we all know by now, the team sorts it all out and saves the day once again.
7. Journey to Kettari
Sir Juffin Hully hails from Kettari, exporter of fine carpets and rugs. However, reports have reached Juffin that Kettari has disappeared. It is time for Sir Max to go on his first away job. Sir Juffin is sending Sir Max and Sir Shurf Lonli-Lokli with the caravan to Kettari to determine just what in the world is going on with his homeland. Sir Max and Sir Shurf do find Kettari but things are not as they appear. Like chapter 4, this chapter heavily involves this concept of parallel worlds and being able to create them. Creating worlds within worlds and traveling throughout them. We see in this final chapter even more of the power that Max has but has no idea he possesses. Juffin believes he has some idea as to what all Max may be able to do but I think he still constantly surprises Juffin. We also see a little loosening up of Sir Shurf which is so enjoyable. There's also a little twist at the end of this chapter once they return home that shows even more of Max's power and what he can magically do that is just innate.
Review
I ADORE this book. The author has the ability to transport you into Echo with Sir Max that is truly magical. I don't think I've ever read a story like this. I still think about Sir Max and Co. on a regular basis. The Stranger was originally written in Russian and translated to English which some reviews on Goodreads said some idioms were lost in translation. That may be so but I can't tell you as I don't speak Russian. However, I still found parts to be hilarious. The dry humor and wit. The troubles and circumstances and adventures that Max finds himself in. I don't think I've ever read a book with a smile or a smirk on my face the entire time like I did with this one.
Typically, after I finish a book I will sell it or donate it - but either way I'll get rid of them. NOT THIS ONE. Not even its sequels. I will fight you if you try and take this series of books away from me. I also never re-read books but I can honestly say I will re-read this series. There is so much packed into this one book but the stories are so incredible. I know there are tidbits that I missed that will make the story even better.
A word of note, this cover does not do this story justice. It doesn't fit. Poor job on the publishers to use this as the cover. You can check out the Russian covers as they are so much more fitting. Don't let the cover fool you. This is no ordinary secret spy book taking place in the modern technological age. It is something completely different. Toss that cover in the garbage because it doesn't work.
I love the characters - their personalities, their growth, their acceptance of someone new, the camaraderie, their genuine love and care for one another. They learn from one another, admit when they're wrong, and praise their coworkers when they succeed. There is no grudge holding and even when things go disastrously wrong, there is no I told you so.
I have obviously left out so much that happens in this book because I would never be able to do it justice. You have to read this book to grasp the adventures that this team has. You have to read it for yourself to see the nuances of their relationships with one another and to really get a sense of who Max was and who he truly is now. I am not one who easily picks a favorite book or book series but this one takes the cake for me. I've never lingered in my mind over a book as long as I have this one and I've never picked up the next in the series after finishing the first; but I did with this one. I wasn't ready to leave the world of Sir Max. The only thing that prevented me from going directly into book 3 after finishing book 2 was because I didn't want it all to be over too soon. I've never had that desire to get back that first time reading a book feeling until this one. Truly, I cannot say enough amazing things about this book and so far this series in general. The world of Echo, the characters, the fun, the comedy, the adventures, the mystery, the magic. It's just so incredible.
I would recommend this book for young adults and adults alike. You might could even pick a few bits of each chapter for a bedtime story for young ones. I just...I love and adore this book. It will hold a special place in my reading heart for a long time to come.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5!
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