To the question of who is the best Russian-language fantasy writer in our country, they often answer succinctly - Max Fry. But even less frequently, however, such a reaction still occurs: "Max Fry? And forget it! I tried to read - nothing is clear." Who is right? And strangely enough, both those and others are right.
Who is Max Fry, the order of reading books of which we undertook to explain to the inexperienced reader? Our compatriot, or rather, a compatriot.
Those who regularly visit bookstores must have seen many shelves filled with colorful volumes. Judging by the number of books published, this Max Fry is trying to catch up and overtake not only America, but also Daria Dontsova herself. And it is not known which of the races will be the winner, as their weight categories are approximately equal.
Just like Daria Dontsova is a pseudonym for Agrippina Vasilyeva (Dontsova in marriage), so Max Fry is actually not Max, and certainly not Fry, but the artist Svetlana Martynchik. That is, before she was just an artist, and now she is a respected author of many books. However, initially the pseudonym Max Fry did not belong exclusively to Mrs. Martynchik. She began to create in collaboration with a colleague in the brush - artist Igor Stepin.
But in the process of evolution and deanonymization, Igor somehow quietly dropped out, and now Svetlana is Max Frei single-handedly. There is no need to explain why such an alias was chosen. Max Fry (Echo and Co.) began in the not so distant nineties of the last century. And then the people without looking rushed to buy all the books written by foreign authors. So such a profitable marketing move was undertaken. It was unlikely that a certain Svetlana Martynchik would read books, since Andrew Norton was still firmly occupied with the niche of the female author of the fantasy, and it was difficult to squeeze into it (into the niche). The Wolfhound was just beginning its march, and it cannot be said that he was actively swept away from the shelves. So to introduce myself as a man, and even a foreigner, was just that.
The series was not just bought, but literally swept off the shelves, so there were all prerequisites to continue to write while the wind was fair.
Today, a person who has decided to start reading Martynchik’s books can immediately abandon them, as he simply won’t understand anything in the plot. We don’t know if this was the author’s thoughtful cunning move or if it all happened by chance, but you need to read books in order. That is, as Max Fry wrote them. The order in which books are read guarantees an understanding of the plot, so books must be bought in sequence. As well as giving them to fans.
So that you don’t get confused in the book maze of stories about the adventures of Sir Max in the world (it’s not the author, but his or her main character), learn the following cheat sheet. You need to start reading first “Echo Labyrinths” - they are almost all in the orange cover. And having finished buying up orange volumes, you can switch to green ones - they are called the Chronicles of Echo. Yes, there are a lot of books in one series and in another. Here is such a prolific Max Fry. The reading order is strictly regulated: without completing the Labyrinths, do not even think to take up the Chronicles. All the same, you will not understand anything, and you will be forced to return again to the Labyrinths.
But for those who undertake to read the cycle strictly sequentially, without missing a single book, we can only envy. So huge awaits them a lot of pleasure from reading. A bunch of adventures, sparkling humor, funny and wise life philosophy of the hero, plus his extraordinary, by the standards of any dimension, magical abilities - all this was combined in his books by Max Fry.
The reading order of his books coincides with the chronological writing. Let's say that first you need to start reading “Stranger”, then take on “Volunteers of Eternity”, and the next to remove “Simple magical things” from the shelf.
We cannot provide here a complete list of books about Sir Max's adventures, and this is not required. You can contact the consultants in the store. And the books themselves contain a complete list. So arm yourself with a list, buy books and get ready to dive into the fascinating world of humor and adventure.