The transplantation of a character from their normal environment to some strange and wonderful new place is a great literary tradition that has gifted us with some of the best known and most well-loved books in the English language: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Gulliver’s Travels, C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and more recently the remarkably successful Harry Potter. After reading The Stranger, by Max Frei, it is clear that here we have a book which deserves to be considered on a par with these great novels of adventure and discovery in strange new lands – and it would be a crying shame if it was confined to the fantasy ghetto.

The Stranger is the first volume of the Labyrinths of Echo series to be translated in to English (it’s now up to ten volumes in the author’s native Russia), and as Gollancz have bought the English rights for the first four, we can look forward to a new Max Frei book as an annual event for a while to come, a prospect which I anticipate with excitement after having read this first volume. Max Frei (the hero of the book, rather than the author), is a self-proclaimed no-mark, an insomniac, a loser. Contacted through his dreams by the head of the Department of Absolute Order, Sir Juffin Hully, Max is transported to the city of Echo, where he will join Sir Juffin’s elite but eccentric team, responsible for policing the use of magic and solving crimes beyond the wit of the normal police.

When we join the story, Max is newly arrived in Echo and feeling his way around – shades of Pygmalion, as Sir Juffin has to teach him to pass himself off as being from the world in which he will henceforth exist. To account for his accent, strange habits and other eccentricities, Max will style himself as a barbarian from the Barren Lands – and he certainly has plenty to adjust to, including silent speech (telepathic communication, which even dogs can indulge in), varying levels of magic, both forbidden and permitted, and many other cultural mores. The way Frei dives straight in to the story, rather than making us wait for the transition from Earth to Echo is quite unusual, and it seems so natural that Max has made the trip to another world – you don’t question it, you just join with him in finding out more about it.

The other members of Juffin Hully’s crew are a delight: being a nightbird, Max is immediately installed as head of the night watch of the Order, and strikes up a great rapport with his daytime counterpart, Melifaro, who is a joker and a womaniser (their banter is a joy). There is the upright Sir Shurf Lonli-Lokli, whose rectitude has been self-imposed to counter his wild true nature, and the Lady Melamori, who Max takes a shine to immediately, though he discovers that the ways of love in Echo are considerably more complicated than he might have imagined. As a crew, they act almost like overgrown children, and it sometimes seems their lives revolve around their stomachs – but their acceptance of Max, their loyalty to one another and their range of quirks make them intensely likeable (and we should mention too their exceptional competence as solvers of magical mysteries).

The Stranger is loosely structured around a series of adventures in which Max participates – some more complex than others. Though he doesn’t understand his own magic powers, it’s clear that his intuition makes him an important asset to the Department, and that Sir Juffin regards him as his ultimate successor (though in a world where it is hinted people can live for hundreds of years, who knows when this will be). To journey with Max as he immerses himself in the world of Echo is a delight – he acquires a taste for the local food very quickly, but cannot adapt to all of the local customs and takes pride in his own strangeness much of the time – yet is clearly much happier than he ever was in his old life. As a result of Max’s breezy narrative tone, it’s all very engaging, yet not at the cost of depth or subtlety.

As the first in a series, The Stranger lays down many signposts for future avenues of exploration, including Max’s compulsive personality, the love story with Lady Melamori, the possibility of more crossovers between Max’s old world and his new home, and others besides. I would imagine future volumes will be rather more plot-driven than The Stranger, but whether they are or not, I look forward to returning to the world of Echo with keen anticipation as this is certainly the most enjoyable and unique fantasy I have read for quite some time.

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