I really like this cycle, but before writing about its merits, I want to warn about a possible mistake that I myself made. Once upon a time I heard from many admiring reviews about this cycle and somehow on the occasion bought the third or fourth book of the cycle. I began to read, did not understand anything and abandoned it for several years, until one knowledgeable person explained to me my mistake: I MUST read from the first book, otherwise I will not understand anything. But if the first book hooks you, you can only be envied, because the cycle is large and the pleasure will last for a long time. The authors managed to combine original adventures and an unusually cozy, attractive world.

Score: 8

May all those who are in love with the magical world of Echo forgive me! Don't read this review.

And now about the bad.

I read everything that was published at that time, all the books, sub-cycles, and so on. Don't think I was driven by interest. No, worse is the persistent request (order) of a loved one. I read and suffered. She ate this cactus and sobbed bitterly over her ruined fate. How? How can you be so boring?

Yes, the language is good; quotes - generally fly away; but everything else is fucking.

The hero reflects, eats, sleeps, eats, drinks cocoa, eats, is puzzled, eats. And all this with unbearable, unbearable even femininity in movements and thoughts.

The plot is so simple that the ending does not bring relief.

The heroes merge into a row of identical figures, wrapped in white sheets with painted faces.

The world is beautiful; from this beauty reduces cheekbones and heartburn sets in.

And the finale, which should become a catharsis, alas, does not withstand the tension, does not draw out a high note.

Rating: 5

The most interesting thing is that:

1. Plots do not pull on revelations, so, very mediocre

2. The main character is a terry MC (Marty Sue)

3. The environment of the GG also matches him.

BUT one huge BUT, how these works are written, just a great language of the author .... and while reading, you just do not pay attention to all the minuses ... because you just enjoy reading.

Score: 9

Well, having read a total of 21 books of this endless cycle, I’ll go crazy, I’ll leave a general review for the whole cycle. Why not. What is positive about these books: easy, good writing style. It is very easy to read, the author of the books is friends with the Russian language. Another plus, it's the last one: the author has unlimited imagination, which, for this literary genre, is an absolute plus. Well, now for the cons. First: YY Superman. He knows literally everything, he can win any enemies literally at the snap of a finger. It's not interesting, from such omnipotence of the heroes' heads it just makes you sick. Second: the author's world is not worked out. It is being worked out on the fly, so to speak, it is added in the course of the action. This, frankly, is the author's laziness and hack, nothing more. Third: the world of Eho is the sugary world of pink ponies. Why is everyone so positive and mimically kind. This gives rise to a vile sense of the hypocrisy of the world of Exo. Fourth: a lot of absurdity and absurdity. Fifth: why is it so bad with the detective stories, which are supposed to be at the heart of the plot of this cycle? Well, seriously, not one story in terms of a detective story, besides the one in the book The Woe of Mr. Gro, has no intrigue. Not at all. It's a failure, just a failure. Sixth: prolonged cycle. You could even say infinity. The author could have finished everything quite logically in the eighth book. But apparently the loot won out common sense and the cycle continued. Although, I suspect initially the author intended to finish everything on the eighth book. Seventh: for so many books, the author did not bother to reveal social and class relations in this world of pink ponies. Seriously, from these books you can only understand that there is a monarchy in the United Kingdom, with a very kind and cute king, half a word the author said that there is some kind of aristocracy in this kingdom. But as a whole, in this world of pink ponies, social and class relationships take place, the author was too lazy to register. That's all that I remembered about this endless cycle of works.

Rating: 3

The cycle is wonderful. And she laughed to tears, in some places she was sad. You can talk endlessly about the heroes, whether they are stereotyped or not, but the cycle is a rest for the soul, no doubt. The books attract attention with their special simply fabulous atmosphere, language and finale (I mean the first cycle of Exo Labyrinths)! The entire series must be read at least for the sake of the ending, then the hero already seems to be correct - he could not be different, another would not fit. And I don't want to part with the described world. As a result, you read the Chronicles, it’s just nice to learn more about the minor characters. And further, and I want more ...

Score: 10

good, kind literature! with funny stories and interesting characters))

especially from their names trudge!

somehow even wrote the following:

after reading Fry

It's quiet in this city ...

Gray mouse

Quiet as evening will slip through.

Following her exactly the same,

Like a black night

The cat will jump on soft paws.

It's quiet in this city ...

And you're already asleep.

If you forget your impotent fear

In the light of the moon

You will see strange dreams:

You can roam in them in foreign worlds

A shadow from the earth.

And in the stardust

We will sit down at our favorite end table.

And, as in reality,

We will revive here.

Pour a hot camry for me or something ?!

Score: 10

I really liked this cycle. In part of the plot, I agree with PhelanKell. I can't call the stories themselves very exciting, and the characters somehow unusual, but

they are amazingly attracting attention (mine personally) and grabbing it. The most important thing is that the described world is magical, but all the things that happen to the main character there are actually quite simple and ordinary (the realization of a dream, a change of place, a period of apprenticeship, the transformation of teachers into friends, destruction of illusions, etc.). And it is these simple and ordinary things placed in a world that is not very ordinary for us, oddly enough, surprising more than the miracles themselves, which, on the contrary, as I read, became more and more commonplace for me. And special thanks to the authors for the ability and desire to live and enjoy (the simple things around us), which, after reading the cycle, were definitely passed on to me, albeit for a while, and also for the fact that they love the world they have invented and their own heroes. For me, as a reader, this attitude of the authors to the characters and the world is somehow important.

Since the mid-90s, 2 talented authors have been working in the field of a fantastic detective - Svetlana Martynchik and Igor Stepin. The reader knows them under the creative pseudonym Max Fry. Actually, the theme of their work is the same - the adventures of the author (Max Fry in one person) in the new world of Echo.

There are a great many books in the series, something like 40 works.

All creativity can be divided into 4 cycles, but if the numbering of the 3rd and 4th cycles does not raise questions ("Chronicles of Exo - 1 / - 2 / - 3 ..."), and in the second there are only 2 parts, then with the order the reading of the first cycle ("Labyrinths of Exo") is difficult.

Let's try to figure it out.

So, "Eho Labyrinths" consists of 8 books, each of which is divided into 2 - 8 stories.

Book 1, "Stranger". Max Fry agrees to move to the new magical world of Exo. Here he does not sit idle, helps the secret police of magicians in the investigation of incredible cases. Hmm, incredible incidents in the wizarding world? One way or another, Max coped with it, he was taken on a permanent service. The secret of moving between worlds is revealed to the reader. True, some dark personalities from our world also know about him. The hero learns about this only after examining the bodies of the victims, they were killed not by a humane magic, but by our stupid method. Yes ... Humanitarians in Eho are still the same!

Book 2, Volunteers for Eternity. Having dealt with the aliens from our world, Max must unravel the amazing story of the gang of Magahon foxes. Things are not going well. The authors resort to irony - the Fox gang is returning from oblivion in the literal sense of the word. A kind of magic zombies. At the end of the second part, Max is temporarily put in charge of the Magic Police. Not for merit, no. The bosses just left for an important job.

Book 3, "Simple Magic Things". In the cycle, the monstrous dark side comes to life, escaping from the mirror between the worlds. Naturally, the darkness of this world appeared behind Max. He's the tastiest.

Book 4, "The Actor". Mysterious shadows attack the world of Eho. The matter in the wizarding world reaches the point of absurdity - the mayor orders to extinguish the lanterns so that people do not die. Fry showed himself again. Allegedly, he is not just sorting through pieces of paper in the department, but wow, what a magician!

Book 5, "Obsessions". The dumbest book in the series. In the world of Eho, people disappear. The unfortunate fell prey to an obsession and went to drown themselves in a crowd. What we can do without Secret Investigation ...

Book 6, The Power of the Unfulfilled. The world of Echo has undergone a terrible curse - most of its inhabitants must perish. If Fry hadn't soaked his pants in the rotten quagmire, he would have been left to cuckle alone, and in the cycle he would have had to put a fat point.

Book 7, "The Chatty Dead". Yonga's memoirs are a book. A certain wit managed to lead the Police, but before his death his conscience was tortured, and let's scribble a slander on friends and enemies. Yes, the old man did not know that they could get him even from the grave.

Book 8, "Meunin's Labyrinth". Fucked up by the legendary ruler Myeonin. I sewed such a labyrinth of scraps of other worlds that I almost burned my brain, trying to comprehend what the author was trying to say. And after reading to the end, I realized that the best book in the cycle is the second. It would be worth ending on it.

Video review

The pseudonym hides:- Svetlana Martynchik and Igor Stepin.

Biography: Max Fry is "the most mysterious writer", as it was said about him by "Echo of Moscow" - with the significant popularity of his page on the Internet, the network space contains a minimum of information about him.

However, it is now known that Max Fry is the pseudonym of the writer Svetlana Martynchik (and initially her duet with the artist Igor Stepin).

Svetlana Martynchik was born in Odessa, studied at the Faculty of Philology of Odessa State University; in 1985 she took up contemporary art, in connection with which she had to stop studying.

Artist, art project manager. Together with another Odessa artist Igor Stepin, she became famous as the author of the long-term "plasticine" project "The World of Homan", fragments of which were shown at numerous personal and group exhibitions in Moscow, Europe and the USA.

Philologist and artist Svetlana Martynchik explained in an interview with Grani.Ru why she did not demand from Dmitry Dibrov that the mention of the fact that she is the real author of the books of the "cult writer" Max Fry was cut from the recording of the program "Night shift".

“It's ingenious that no one has seen this (Dibrov's“ disclosure ”- Lenta.Ru) and everyone quotes from Lenta. Everyone learned from the "Lenta", including me ", - Svetlana Martynchik admits.

In addition to the subjective sensations of the exhaustion of this literary game ("the legend, in essence, was in agony") due to the growing popularity of Svetlana in the Moscow artistic and journalistic environment, an urgent need also pushed for this: Martynchik became aware that the director of the Azbuka publishing house Maxim Kryutchenko is trying register with the Max Frye Chamber of Commerce as a trademark of your publisher.

Svetlana said in an interview that after it became known about the manipulation of the trademark, she hired a lawyer to stop it. Then the director of the Moscow branch of "Azbuka" Denis Veselov suggested that Max Fry's novels for "Azbuka" be written - by a book per quarter - by "literary blacks" (no lower than candidates of philological sciences, promised Mr. Veselov), and she received for each book one hundred thousand rubles of "compensation".

“I had to push him out of the car forcibly,” recalls Svetlana Martynchik. - Physically, I had to throw him out of the car! Because I told him: "Get out, you fool!" - and he answered: - "No, you do not understand your happiness!"

Fry's problems with Azbuka began after Vadim Nazarov left for Amphora. Now in "Amphora" the book "Encyclopedia of Myths. The True Story of Max Fry, Author and Character ”, in which Svetlana talks about how Max Fry was created.

The point is (and Martynchik emphasizes this in every possible way) that although all of Fry's texts are written by her, one cannot say that "Max Fry is the pseudonym of Svetlana Martynchik."

“Yes, the lyrics were written by me, absolutely everything, but I have a personal demiurge, I was lucky. And all the worlds that are described there, they are not only woven from my sleepy visions. These worlds have a creator - Goshka (artist Igor Stepin), who at first even appeared under the copyright icon as a co-author. "

Svetlana Martynchik is inclined to consider herself “Aaron”. It means that, according to the biblical legend, Moses was tongue-tied (or stuttered) and in order to tell the Jews about the Covenant he received on Mount Sinai and lead them through the wilderness, he needed a "interpreter" skilled in eloquence.

It remains to add that these days, the disclosure of famous pseudonyms does not become a drama either for their owners or for their readers.

He also wrote under the pseudonym Michael Strauch.

(estimates: 1 , the average: 3,00 out of 5)

Name: Svetlana Yurievna Martynchik (Max Fry)
Date of Birth: February 22, 1965
Place of Birth: USSR, Odessa

Max Fry - biography

Max Fry is the most mysterious author of our time. In his creative piggy bank - numerous stories and stories, novels, articles and essays, and even encyclopedias and reference books. This name is heard by many readers and users of social networks, but little is known about him. Max Fry is the creative pseudonym of the writer and artist Svetlana Martynchik. Previously, two people worked under this name - Svetlana and her friend and colleague artist Igor Stepin. Now Svetlana works independently. The name of Max Fry first appeared on the public at the end of the eighties, when Svetlana and Igor presented their works of the plasticine project "Homan's World" (they even participated in foreign exhibitions).

Svetlana Martynchik is a native of Odessa. She was born on February 22, 1965. She spent her childhood and youth in the same city. The girl entered the philological faculty of Odessa State University, managed to work as a teacher in a rural school, but soon realized that she wanted to connect her life with art. In 1985, Svetlana decides to take a desperate step - she leaves her studies at the university and is closely engaged in the visual arts.

Max Fry's literary career began in the mid-nineties. Under this name, works of various scales were published, included in the series "The World of Exo and the Adventures of Max". Readers immediately noticed one unusual detail: the name of the main character of the books and the writer are the same. Only in 2001 did it become known who was hiding under this bright literary pseudonym. Svetlana stressed that such a creative name was chosen for a reason - “Max Fry” in translation from German means the most free character. When the main intrigue of the name was discovered, in 2002 the work “Encyclopedia of Worlds. The True Story of Max Fry, Author and Character ”, where Svetlana revealed all the secrets of creating her hero and creative image.

Over the years (from 1996 to 2017) Max Fry worked on his main epic - "The World of Exo and the Adventures of Max" (it is possible that it will be supplemented with new books). Today it includes several sub-cycles - "Labyrinths of Exo", "Chronicles of Exo", "Dreams of Exo", "Not about Exo, but about Max", as well as three separate works of a different nature - from reference to fantasy. The total number of novels, novellas, short stories and micro-stories in this series is about fifty. The protagonist of all these works is a young man named Max Fry, a loser in life, who finds joy in his colorful dreams. He decides on an amazing adventure - to go into the service of a certain master from his dreams. From this time, Max's dizzying adventures began in a new world of magic. His activities in the detective service brought readers a lot of exciting stories, in which there was a place for intriguing investigations, and the study of magic, and exciting journeys, and sinister mysticism, and many other fascinating things.

The most famous of all the series was the first book - a collection of seven stories "Stranger", published in 1996. The talented author immediately received rave reviews and persistent requests to continue the idea. This work went far beyond the borders of Russia and Ukraine. In the 2000s, it was translated into several European languages.

It is a mistake to think that Max Frye is exclusively a science fiction author. This talented writer has a huge number of stories, novellas and essays of a psychological and philosophical nature, instructive tales and parables, realistic stories that make one remember the main values ​​in life. Max Fry's skill lies in the ability to show important thoughts in just a few pages, impressing readers to the core.

Many readers agree that another amazing quality of a writer is the ability to see magic in everyday things. Many of Max's works are based on this feature - somewhere on the verge of realism and illusion. In particular, such works include the cycle of stories "Other Cities" - small essays about various European cities, as well as the collection "Tales of Old Vilnius" - unusual stories about the beauty and secrets of the Lithuanian capital (now the author lives in Vilnius, therefore his awareness of the intricacies this city is understandable). In addition, Max Fry is known as an interpreter of many popular fairy tales, parables, myths, legends - his updated stories are more vivid and imaginative, adapted to the modern reader. It is difficult to overestimate their philosophical meaning, which is fully revealed in everyday examples and situations.

Another facet of the author's writing is articles and essays on the topic of art and literature. They have compiled a large-scale cycle "Macht Frei". Here Max Fry not only reveals some patterns and features of creativity, but also analyzes the ideas of famous writers - Stephen King, Tove Jansson, Antoine de Saint-Exupery and some others. Also, a place of honor in this collection is given to various figures of science and art - historians, inventors, artists, journalists, etc. As always, the short sketches turned out to be bright, original, bold and deep.

Among other series of the author, one can name collections of various fairy tales, a philosophical cycle of stories about important things "Stories about all sorts of things" (the writer once again proved that everything that surrounds us can be an excellent topic for fascinating works), a collection of mystical stories "Book proposals ”, sketches about children“ Outdoor games in the fresh air ”, free fantasies on mythological themes, united in the series“ Mythology ”. As readers' ratings show, the best books by Max Fry are works about the world of Echo - atmospheric, fabulous, cozy and, of course, deep. It is not surprising that the writer has been awarded several prizes for his masterpiece. In 1999, Max Frye was awarded a Special Zilant at the prestigious Zilantcon fiction festival for his contributions to the development of fiction. In 2006, the collection "Chronicles of Echo" was recognized as the best continuation of the national cycle according to the results of the magazine "The World of Fantasy". Two years later, the author received the Silver Arrow award in the Best Male Image nomination (the Chronicles of Exo cycle again distinguished itself).

All of Max Fry's books are more than just gripping pieces with an original storyline. These are multi-stage stories that come to life before our eyes and make us experience a gamut of emotions - laugh and cry, shudder and admire internally ... environment. The work of this amazing author is a whole philosophy, which includes its own positions and a special worldview. The variety of genres in which Max Fry works is huge - this is urban and heroic fantasy, detective, thriller, horror, mysticism, realism, fairy tales and parables, surrealism, and there is also something similar to psychedelic.

If you want to get to know more about the work of this amazing writer, we invite you to our virtual library, where you will find an extensive list of his works. The sequence of books in it is compiled according to the chronology of writing, which will facilitate the search for the desired job. Here you can read online books by Max Fry in Russian for free, as well as download e-books of a prose writer in a convenient format - fb2 (fb2), txt (txt), epub or rtf.

All books by Max Fry

Book Series - Labyrinths of Exo

• The power of the unfulfilled (collection)

Book Series - The Chronicles of Exo

• Chub of the earth (collection)
• Monsieur Gro's grief
• Tubur game

Book Series - Dreams of Exo

Book Series - The World of Exo and the Adventures of Max

• Chimera nests. The Chronicles of Oveetganna
• Encyclopedia of Myths. A-K
• Encyclopedia of Myths. K-Z
• Chimera nests. Chronicles of Hugaydah

Max Fry

© Max Fry, text

© AST Publishing House LLC, 2017

… All these moments will be lost in time…

"Blade Runner" by Ridley Scott

The glass bullfinches on the Bird Bridge caused a stir. They spin, ring, rattle, and it seems that they are chirping: “Who? Who goes? Who who? Who is coming to us? Who? Who passed us by? Who who? Who left us? Who?"

And this is just something Tricia comes from the market. It would be because of what to raise such a fuss.

Her basket is almost empty: a few roots of black ginger, a box of cardamom seeds, a bunch of mint, a pound of bitter sea sugar, a bottle of maple dew, and a bunch of small chrysanthemums still damp from the morning watering. One could do without these purchases, Trisha has no shortage of spices and herbs in her kitchen, but she needed at least some excuse for a leisurely walk through the city - as always. Laziness every time to invent a different reason, invent a new route, so she tells herself almost every morning that she should go to the market. Sometimes this turns out to be true; on such days, her basket becomes too heavy, and the long way back does not give much pleasure - it is good if a fellow traveler with a cart comes across, but this rarely happens. Therefore, Trisha is not too fond of the truth, at least in small things.

"Coffee grounds" stands on the very edge of the city - that is, not just on the outskirts, but exactly on the very border between "here" and "there", "between light and shadow", as Uncle Frank jokes, so that the facade with the sign goes to An empty street, and the back porch, part of the front garden and the outbuilding, where guests sometimes spend the night, are buried in the living fog of the Border. Therefore, the puppies of the fog walk around the house, fondle the household, sometimes climb on the knees of the visitors. They are ideal pets: there is not much trouble with them, all that matters is to make sure that no one foolishly crawls into a jug of water, otherwise it will melt, it's a pity. And no more fuss: the puppies of the fog feed on human attention, and the puddles that they sometimes leave on the floorboards quickly dry up on their own, filling the house with the scent of damp and honey, so you don't have to spend money on incense. “Admittedly, when I was a cat myself, I gave my guardians a lot more anxiety - and they thought I was quiet and smart,” thinks Trisha.

This is true.

Trisha, however, is still smart and almost quiet - and that's not bad. Frank often reiterates that it was the wisest decision in his life: to turn the motley cat Trisha into a girl. Only with a cat can you get along under one roof - provided that she stops shitting in the shoes of her enemies, learns how to make coffee and bake saffron biscuits. And since all these arts are easily achieved by people, it is easier to immediately turn into a person than to study circus tricks for a hundred years. Therefore, Trichet had to transform. She, however, is pleased. There is nothing to say about Frank.

Once at dinner, he said that once, very, very long ago, he lived in a fox's skin for several years and since then he trusts werewolves much more than ordinary people or animals. Say, the one who has never had a chance to become something else knows nothing at all about life or about himself, and ignorance, as you know, is worse than sin, - Frank repeats the last phrase very often, for any reason and without occasion, pronounces it with visible pleasure, relishes, enjoying every word. Looking at him, Trisha is almost sure that the word “ignorance” has a distinct smoked herring flavor, “worse” looks like black, viscous rye bread, and the crunchy “sin”, you must understand, has absorbed all the sweetness and pungency of onions.

“Frank, of course, knows better about ignorance and sin, but as for me, the light didn’t come together like a wedge,” Trisha thinks now. She likes neighbors and unfamiliar townspeople, and almost all clients, even those who see "Coffee grounds" and city streets in their dreams. There were always enough of them here; the locals call them "ghosts" and pay no more attention to them than to birds and butterflies. They stare, touch, laugh, occasionally treat funny strangers with homemade cookies, but they try not to let them enter the door and do not start serious conversations. “They are really funny, these dreamers. Trisha smiles at her thoughts. - Some with a dazed look wander around the city, others rush to perform all sorts of trifling miracles, fly over rooftops and jump through walls, reveling in their own power and complete impunity; still others are busily settling in a new place, not even suspecting that a few hours later they will have to disappear from here - most likely forever. And only a few behave correctly: they carefully look around, remember important details, ask talkative townspeople for directions, look for talismans and make useful acquaintances. So they manage to come back here in reality. Not everyone, of course, but still ... "

Travelers don't come here very often. The easiest way is to come by cable car, from below, from the valley. But you still need to get there somehow, and then gain courage and sit in an unreliable-looking booth, which is rapidly creeping up somewhere ... Some, however, come on foot, there are those who wake up with screams in the morning in empty beds abandoned houses, but Trishin's friends Fanny and Mark, who live in a blue house on Quiet Street, managed to arrive in the city in a balloon. Now they are respected people: Mark comes up with outfits for a good half of the city's fashionistas, and Fanny managed to make the cobblestones talk on the Great Square, and diligently writes down their stories, which literally everyone, young and old, is read with. Neighbors do not like them, bridges laugh under their feet, even incredulous salamanders built a nest in their fireplace and brought the kids out, and few can boast of this. It seems like Fanny and Mark have always lived in the city; some really think so, but Trisha remembers well their stupid balloon of bright red color, and how everyone came to look at such a thing, and then she and Uncle Frank soldered a chilled, terrified couple with ginger vodka and cooked garlic soup for them with green coffee grains, Trisha's croutons were still burnt, because all the time she was absent from the stove to see how these two were there.

And the point is not at all that Fanny and Mark were any special (in fact, everyone is special, but this is a separate conversation). It's just that for Trisha and Frank, every newbie, every stranger is a dear guest. Actually, “Coffee grounds” was opened just for them. That's why they chose this place: on the very border. They figured that the city already had enough coffee shops, pastry shops, bars, tea pavilions, pubs, pizzerias and restaurants, but to meet a lost traveler, treat him to a cup of coffee and a glass of strong liqueur, explain what's what, and if necessary, then and show the way back, except for them, it seems, there is no one.

Some guests pay with gems, or coins, others - with simple miracles. Thanks to a gloomy gentleman in a striped vest, Trisha once acquired red, curly hair instead of her annoying light-blond braids, with the help of a smiling old woman in pink glasses, she changed the usual stained-glass windows in the bedroom to windows, on the windows of which, even in sunny weather, rain always knocks - then Yes, it seems to those in the room that it is raining outside, but what the weather really is, you will not know until you go out. And Trisha, who was greedy for small miracles, managed to bring a lot of useful innovations into her life - and they are all guests. But sometimes clients come to the Coffee Grounds, ready to pay for food and shelter with fascinating stories. Trisha loves them the most. “If not for them, I would have to be content with one life - my own,” she thinks. "And this is very, very little." Listening to another story, Trisha seems to be living someone else's life - hastily, carelessly, not really going into details, not bothering her heart with grief, smiles with the corners of her lips where she should laugh heartily - but this is what she likes best. It's like skimming the cream from someone else's milk, licking it off and running on about your business. Typical feline approach to business, says Frank.