Cuarta historia, FORASTERO, en la cual sir Max se encuentra en medio de pequeños y grandes disgustos y equivocaciones: se convierte en la causa de baja laboral de lady Melamori, el Maestro de Persecución que intenta “pisar la huella” de Max y descubre que con Max su capacidad de deprimir la presa no funciona, o, mejor dicho, funciona al revés; está despertado por una serenata sobre “la pequeña casa en el desierto” interpretada por sir Lonly-Lokly, que tras consultas con Melifaro acerca de las tradiciones de las Tierras Desiertas en cuanto a las reglas de los “amigos oficiales” decide aprovechar su día libre y cumplir con el deber de la amistad; descubre las normas de la Manzana de Citas, donde los hombres y mujeres acuden en búsqueda de una relación amorosa casual que no puede durar más de una noche porque en el caso contrario el destino los castigaría sin piedad; se ve obligado a interpretar el papel de protagonista en la investigación de una serie de asesinatos realmente atípicos porque están cometidos por un “doble” de Max, un hombre procedente de su mundo que ha penetrado en Yejo utilizando la misma puerta entre los Mundos que se había abierto su momento para Max. Sir Maba Kaloj, uno de los seres más enigmáticos del Mundo, ex - Gran Maestro de Orden del Reloj del Tiempo Invertido, el mejor especialista en los asuntos de la magia Auténtica, a quien sir Max conocerá gracias a las dificultades de la investigación, le invitará a degustar la tarta de manzana de la abuela de Max y le dará más de una noticia inquietante; sir Melifaro le invitará a visitar su latifundio familiar y le presentará a su padre, sir Manga Melifaro, el autor de la Gran Enciclopedia del Mundo; lady Melamori le invitará a dar un romántico paseo nocturno y de paso reconocerá que sir Max le atrae, y al mismo tiempo, le asusta. A, y por fin Max contará los detalles de su viaje entre los mundos hecho, ni más ni menos, en una tranvía.

I read the first three long stories in the Echo series and found them surprisingly bland. The balance of whimsicality and darkness tilted much too far toward cute and atmospheric, and there was a lack of psychological, narrative, and philosophical substance. It's possible that the stories improve after Frei has introduced the characters to readers, but I don't have patience for much more!

(I read the stories in Russian.) ( )

I did not finish- apparently, this is a bestseller book across Europe. I don't know if it was the translation, or the book, but I found the book to be insufferable. The sequel of this book (which I will not be reading) has on its cover "Harry Potter Fans Rejoice, this is the book you've been waiting for (or something like this). The problem is, it is nothing like Harry Potter. its more like Sherlock Holmes forms a super hero team and solves problems.

I found the characters insufferable - all ego, no faults. They talk big, they eat big, and they drink big. Which isn't all that bad, except they talk big too. Its the same story over and over and over again.

I did like the socialist aspect of the society. If you are hungry, you can eat at any restaurant and the bill sent to the crown. Or if you a convict, you go to prison to be redeemed, not punished. However, with only one woman on the team, and a lack of other woman even from the day to day business, I found the book to be a bit sexist, mostly from exclusion, rather than anything anybody does.

Anyway, the book is due back at the library, and I don't really want to finish it, so it will go unfinished. Maybe it redeems itself as it gets toward the end, but I will never know.

Hmm. Has anyone out there read this in the original Russian? Or any language other than English?
I really hated the way it was written, but I think that might be the fault of the translator.
The story itself was actually kind of charming, in a Gilbert and Sullivan Meet Sam Spade in Oz kind of way. ( )

This book is a translation of "Das Fremdling" by a female writer, Svetlana Martynchik, who uses the pseudonym Max Frei both for author and main character of the book. This story --or set of stories-- is about a man from our world, somewhat at a loss to know what to do with himself, who finds a way to a parallel universe, where he has unusual powers he never dreamed of. Completely surreal and fantastic, with an appropriately alien feel to it, It drew me in from the first chapter. The characters are appealing, the stories odd to the point of bizarre (in a good way!). I've had my name on the Amazon waitlist for the translation of the second volume for months and I wish it would hurry up! ( )