#labyrinths of echo

[lilietsblog]

suddenly randomly thinking about Max Frei's Labyrinth of Echo (finally a Russian fantasy book actually translated into English!!! rejoice!!!) and tbh every isekai author should be legally required to read it for like. Educational purposes. so they have a bit more imagination about it

it IS in fact an isekai, or portal fantasy perhaps fits better. its so weird and good?

the protagonist: a guy. yes, i know, it's sad. but he's sad and cute and it's honestly just good. relatable without being an everyman. the sort of guy who would be a tragic poet except he's very self conscious about this part of his personality and prefers to be funny instead. hes very good at being funny. his narrative voice is fantastic i promise you will like it

the method: our protagonist had been having the same vivid and memorable dream for years where he meets with another guy in a very odd looking but very comfortable cafe and has drinks with him and it's very soothing. one day the dream guy makes him a job offer, and gives him extremely specific concerningly-kidnapped-by-fae-like instructions to follow when hes awake. when the protagonist wakes up hes got little enough going on in his life that he decides hes got pretty much nothing to lose by trying to follow the instructions. to his bafflement, it works. hes now in another world where hes got a job offer and a boss who summoned him from another world and is very self-satisfied about it. dont ask why he wanted an employee from another world (actually, do ask. very much do ask. its important and hes not telling you the full truth at all)

the genre: magic detective mystery. not always murder mystery mind you, theres plenty of fun magic stuff that can be concerning and require investigation without anyone being dead. mostly murder, but really not always. and yeah the protagonist is a magic cop but its like. its like a treatise on what police should be like in an ideal world where its actually good. and you really do need some people to do the job of extremely capable mages capable of untangling whatever bullshit people accidentally or deliberately wrought on themselves and/or people around them (they also have non-magic police. those are worse, though still not to irl degree, because this magic world has some wish fulfillment ass laws. not quite fully automated gay luxury communism but they're getting there)

the magic system: the mc learns two, but is made aware that a significantly larger amount exists. basically every country in his new world has its own chosen special magic system. also theres 'true' magic thats the kind of thing that can summon you from another world and is the coolest. not geographically locked. our world meanwhile is a magic dystopia and no-one here realizes it except for people who do, mostly subconsciously, but they can do jack-all about it so thats how depression happens so much. the local magic system the mc learns actually has clearly defined 'levels' ('steps') and divides neatly into two kinds, 'black' and 'white' - except instead of any good/bad connotations 'black' deals with material objects and 'white' with abstract concepts. the neatly divided thing is to the point where they have pocket sensors that tell you what step-and-color spells have been cast around here (v helpful for magic cops, except of course when the magic system involved is not the local one. well at least they tell you that fact then). theres no litrpg elements though, and what step magic the mc can cast is not really treated as important. its just a worldbuilding element

the woke: eh. goes with the weird russian-specific-i-think trope "specifically elves are bisexual/gay but they intermix with humans and thats why some humans are too". ableism... bad. very bad. the whole thing is founded on a deep understanding of particular kinds of being non-neurotypical but very, uh... ignorant that that's what it is. soo bad. fatphobia: very rarely comes up i think, but, uh, also. sexism... sincere well-intentioned attempt to worldbuild a society without it but i wouldnt say it worked. fun attempt though. queerphobia: actually a pretty damn successful attempt to worldbuild a society without it (a society that the mc is very much not from and periodically smacks into this, which is always fun), though i feel it could do with more non-cis-or-straight main cast. my favorite part is the part where the protagonist is told to crossdress for infiltration anonymity one time and is weird about it in a classic transmisogynistic sort of way and everyone around him is like ??? @ the entire thing like what? whats funny we dont get it. whats embarrassing. why are you being so weird about it. what IS the problem. and then he asks himself the question and realizes there's no reason and proceeds to not be weird about it henceforth. uses the disguise as an opportunity to bond with his love interest that he had just had magic drama with, and she loves the idea and approves fully. girl-boy interactions are awkward but hell yeah they can have a girls' night. also as an opportunity to prank his flirty coworker who is about 15 minutes into lying his ass off to this cute girl who is totally into him before the protagonist finally can't take it anymore and breaks down laughing. the coworker finds this also hilarious once he figures it out and it becomes a good prank memory between them

the power fantasy: yes. the mc is mega super special. hes not the first person to ever be so mega super special and theres even specialized predators that go after people like him (his boss is like, halfway there) so the power fantasy is well tempered by challenges. also the genre is inherently investigative so the mc being super powerful is not always particularly. relevant. to the challenge at hand. like its nice that when he figures out who the culprit is he can win the fight no problem but the main conflict is usually figuring out what even happened so yeah. good. also the dose of existential horror this book loves to pair the power fantasy shit with is a great balancer too

the humor: this is the first book in my life that actually made me laugh out loud, to tears. like i am not usually very expressive when Experiencing Stories, i never cry over books or shit like that, and i had never made an out loud noise over a book since i'd learned how to read not-out-loud. until that book. those books. they are hilarious. they are ridiculous. it goes super well with the existential horror

the language shit: this is the fun one and the one that spurred me writing this post! so the backstory is that the mc was talking to his future boss in his dreams right so they already somehow spoke the same language. and this doesnt become a problem when the guy comes over either. he understands the words, be they a different language or the same one (this is never really addressed in detail, which given the fae vibe i'm honestly fine with). HOWEVER the new culture has ALL ITS OWN IDIOMS. sooo many of them. the irl author is bilingual and has lived in another country before writing this and you can tell. the mc picks up local idioms more and more over time but early on it often happens that he says some idiom of his own and his friends and coworkers instantly turn into a descending horde of gremlins like "OOOH WHAT DOES THAT MEAN" and after he does his best to explain they just. start using it. mixed with their own idioms. colored by their own understanding. questionably correctly. they eat that shit up. at one point the guy brings over his movie collection and a dvd player to watch it on (it works in another world because magic, it makes sense in context) and thus introduces his coworkers to Another World's Pop Culture which they react to the way you would to being introduced to another world's pop culture. he regrets it immensely forever after

the romance: alas, the mc is tragically straight (and is incapable of being normal about learning other people aren't, at least until he's given 15 minutes to sit with the fact it's perfectly normal in this new world. its actually really satisfying to read tbh). his turbulent love life however introduces us to two absolutely IMMACULATE girls (and they meet each other through him and instantly become besties btw) who have their own shit going on. theres never drama in the sense of romantic triangle or jealousy but theres the FUN drama along the lines of "magic rules say we cant see each other but we're still coworkers so lets figure out how to painfully and caringly be friends" and "i can't survive here. i have to leave. i love you but i cannot be where you are right now" and "sooo i panicked and now im basically dead so no we're no longer dating but i still exist in this other place so come see me sometime actually". just. fucking ace. (technically theres a love triangle for approximately five minutes between the mc and his flirty coworker both flirting with this girl but she was never actually into the flirty coworker and he knows it so when she actually is into the mc hes like ok fine fair enough). the series DOES HAVE OTHER FEMALE CHARACTERS BTW. and they are awesome. not on a 1-to-1 basis with male characters alas but they are soo good

the vibes: immaculate. lovely romantic urban mystery. sometimes the ghost eats local children but sometimes the city just has a different street layout at night and some locations are only accessible at that time and that's just normal. sometimes the culprit is a restaurant owner who figured out how to make people into super extra delicious food with magic and sometimes the culprit is a group of idiot teenagers who found a description of a ritual in an ancient book and decided it would be a great idea to try it, and sometimes the culprit is an ancient dying beast from the depths of the ocean that accidentally got stuck on a ship's prow and brought to foreign shores where people don't know how to be careful of it. just. incredible

does he get to come back home: yes! at least twice that I can remember! both are horror. the conflict is that he desperately needs to get away from there if he is to survive. not in a 'magic soul sucking will actually die' sense but in a 'depression is a deadly disease' sense. it's really cool tbh

the bad parts that maybe need a trigger warning: i mean, the existential horror gets pretty bad and i cant reread some of the books, though that's not what i want to note most. the BAD shit: ableism. fatphobia. the sideways kinds of racism like exoticization, 'savages', white savior bullshit. the 'main' culture the mc lands in are the white people of the setting and everyone else. uh. uhhhhh. varies. the author put all their pussy into fun imagination lands but they do not know a lot about non-european cultures around the world and it reeeeally shows

[thelightfluxtastic]

Max is inexcusably an idiot for ignoring Melamori in Victims of Circumstance (I read these books first in Lithuanian, then English so I'm using translated titles).

"But he's new, he doesn't know how the world/magic works!" Sure, but that only means he has more reason to listen to his more experienced colleague. Seriously. Max:

For his entire life, places more meaning in dreams than the waking world.

Travels to a new world in his dreams.

While there, learns repeatedly that he's unusual and affects magic in strange ways, often unconsciously or by accident.

Solves multiple mysteries in which people are being attacked in their sleep/dreams.

In one of these cases, he was a victim and would find himself waking up in strange places.

He starts having odd dreams about his coworker.

She mentions it, telling him he's doing magic and to please stop.

He decides just this once that his dreams are totally normal and ignores her????

It makes absolutely no sense. I'm just saying, if it had been Juffin Hully saying "Hey Max, you're doing accidental magic in your sleep" Max would at least have entertained the notion and taken it seriously. But for some reason (that I'm sure had nothing to do with the fact that Melamori is a woman who he has a crush on /sarcasm) he just dismisses Melamori out of hand.

[yourfaveisnureyev]

sir Juffin Hulley from Max Frei's "Labyrinths of Echo"! He's not literally a thief but he was the best criminal mind of his time and never was caught by anyone, including his arch enemy/vaguely coded love interest, who was police general; also THE VIBE

Sir Juffin Hulley from the Labyrinths of Echo series is secretly Peter Nureyev!

[xemylixa]

Sveta Martynchik: Max and Shurf are not gAy you pErvERts

also Sveta Martynchik: (writes Journey to Kettari in which Max casually experiments w/ gender presentation after only a mild astonishment, he and Shurf go on a vacation/business trip to a lovely provincial town while disguised as a married couple and calling each other honey as a matter of course, LITERALLY DO THE "THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED" THING which involves intimate dream-sharing, and transition to the “singular you” mode of communication permanently)

somehow, still Sveta Martynchik: where did you see it where where you PeRvErTSSSSS

[iseeyouasifinreality-blog]

About fanatics

I have this overstrange au that Juffin loves Max so much more than Max loves him.

Sir Max on almost every page confesses his love to his great teacher,

but

at the same moment

in the Chiffa's head just

"jesuschristkettary he's so gorgeous omg look at my swall sweet sunshine he's so wonderful ooow his eyes are so brilliant in every single shade it's freackin mightest creation of all i'm so proud well done good old me oooh he's talking so funny ohh my little pretty Max my lovely boy"

Aaand shit like this is just unstoppable. It's just an eternal song stuck in his head forever.

The funny thing is that in fact it is holy true, not au at all. But noone of course will admit it.

Exept Sotofa. She can. (because she's wise and beautiful)

[thelightfluxtastic]

Max Frei...

...develops poisonous spit

...gets ludicrously high from eating soup

...starts having his eyes randomly change color through the day

[xemylixa]

Storytime w/ Jane, where she retells you the story of the Elusive Habba Hane as told by Sir Max from Echo in an untranslated book

I love this story. I love it because it’s not about finding Habba Hane at all. It’s about love, trust, friendship and knowing someone better than they know themselves and being known in return. I love it so much I had to retell it to my potentially bored Tumblr audience, in English, or I’d burst. Here goes.

---

So Max has yet another bout of power incontinence, and he asks Juffin Hully (his boss and mentor) what to do, as usual.

Juffin says: “Well there’s this ancient Magician Habba Hane you could try to find who’ll tell you what to do, but get this. He only reveals himself to those who know they need to find him, but don’t actually want to find him. Tricky, eh? So yeah, have fun with that, now rid my sight.”

Max blinks, shrugs, and goes on an adventure.

First thing he does is eats some Soup of Recreation (a heavy narcotic as far as Max’s biology is concerned). He wakes up with a mother of all hangovers and his awesome reliable friend Shurf by his side. “Can you tell me what the hell’s bells is wrong with you?” says Shurf. “What are you trying to achieve and why didn’t you talk to me first?” Max retorts: “None of your business, it’s a secret of the state, now let me go.”

Next thing he does is try to take lessons from Koba the Chief of Beggars in the city (great guy, I wish the book introducing him was translated). The way this begging works is, they treat it as a job because it’s all for the balance in the universe, you see, and the money flows better if you don’t actually want it... Anyway, Max tries and fails because his Charisma stat is OP and he gets showered with money and attention. Again, Shurf finds him. This time he says “Okay, if you don’t want my help then at least tell me what you’re trying to do, please, because you’re seriously freaking me out.“

“Alright, so I need to find this dude who I need to not want to find to find him. And the worst thing is, I know you can do it no problem, with your self-control. I wish I could get into your head!“

At which point Shurf’s eyes light up suspiciously: “Wait, what did you say??”

Turns out there’s a spell for that ;) Well, obviously, if it’s written in a book anywhere then Shurf knows it.

The spell is called the Ulviar Swap, and it temporarily swaps two people’s Shadows. Your Shadow is your non-essential personality traits and masks that you use to hide from the world and from yourself, basically (I’m not good at psychology). Them making sure they both want and agree to the ritual is a master-class in consent, by the way: “It sounds weird and awesome and scary, but I trust you with more than my life so there’s no-one in the world I’d rather do this with but you”, awww.

They do the ritual. Max gets a brainful of Mad Fisher - Shurf’s old magic-induced impulsive insanity, long story - which is trodden into the ground by the collected, proper, pedantic persona Shurf is famous for. Meanwhile, I’m not even sure what parts of Max went to Shurf (apart from the YOLO approach to risk I guess), because I’m pretty sure 60% of what we see him do during the swap is just his warm, overly protective, responsible self.

They part ways. Max finds himself obsessed with putting his feelings into words in his head, and finds writing it down therapeutic. (Later it would save him after his banishment from Echo - this is where his books came from, apparently). Then he finally bumps into Habba Hane. He tells Max he’s not here to lecture him on how to live his life: meeting him is a sign of mastering that mental discipline, so everything else will follow. Even if you merely borrowed that discipline from a close friend.

Then Juffin gives Max a telepathic Call: “Shurf is behaving weird and doing risky shit, do you know what happened to him?? ...And why are you talking so out of character? What have you lot been up to?” 

Ulviar Swap, Max explains. 

“Ooookay, this is unexpected but also not really and it explains a lot. He’s not in this World, you know that? Where d’you think he went?”

I know where, says Max, don’t ask me how, I just do. He’s in that abandoned beach world that used to be my dream and that he really likes. Should I fetch him?

“Yep, please do."

Max finds him immediately, sitting on the shore. Shurf explains what he was trying to do: “Remember I said there’s no telling what happens when the people who swapped Shadows are apart at the time of the swap back? And you can feel how exhausting it is to manage this internal tug-of-war all your life, while people around you praise your self-control... So I tried running away in hopes of making your Shadow stick with me and parting with mine forever - while risking your sanity and possibly your life. I can’t even begin to apologize for this, it’s a vile thing to do.”

“Wait. Think again: who ran away? whose Shadow? whose life and sanity was at risk? We can argue forever whose decision was what, but at this point - we can’t tell where one of us stops and the other begins.“

(Notably, this is the only time in the series I can think of where Shurf makes an unambiguously selfish decision of that scale. He doesn’t even let himself commit to it - just sits there, in the most obvious spot, hoping Max will show up and tell him off. And their mutual magnanimity and honesty is just too much.)

Max even tries to leave him alone again, but Shurf says he’s thought about it and it’s okay to stay together... they can always do the Swap again, after all.

Back in Echo they swap back successfully, and Shurf echoes that phrase back at Max - “we can’t tell where one of us stops and the other begins”. And they share a laugh, because now, after all this, they’re just human-shaped communicating vessels and it’s awesome.

Max finds Habba Hane again - just to make sure he learned something after all. It’s a success. He and Shurf are said to Swap some more times afterwards when they want a break from themselves. And the bond they gain from it is enough to help Shurf appear in Max’s dreams - from several worlds apart - later when he’s broken and alone at the end of Quiet City.

[xemylixa]

Possible titles for further Stranger books (for a parallel universe where they're translated)

...The ones that have actually been translated are:

Stranger (Debut in Echo - Journey to Kettari)

Stranger's Woes (Magahon Foxes - Volunteers of Eternity)

Stranger's Magic (Gugimagon's Shadow - Simple Magical Items)

Stranger's Shadow (Dark Vassals of Glenkee Taval - Doroth Lord of the Manukhs)

For the rest, I pictured the following:

Stranger's Apparitions (Green Waters of Ishma - Sweet Reveries of Gravvi). The book where we learn the author loves the word apparitions. Might as well do a reverse Title Drop for it, like the Russian edition did.

Stranger's Mystery (Return of Ugurbado - Swamps of Gugland). Just about the only vague magical word not taken yet, also the book is suuuuper dark and morbid.

Stranger's Trials (Oak Leaves Club - Book of Flaming Pages). Another awesome dark word not used yet; market-wise it works better for the penultimate book than for the one before. Also Flaming Pages is freaking terrifying holy shit

and, for dessert, Stranger's Echo (White Stones of Harumba - Quiet City). Geddit? echo? like the city? ok... It's the last book in the series for a reason. Relax, the main character doesn't die, but the next series' framing device happens in another place entirely... And I liked the idea of a little book-end in the title.

@irina-s-solo​