Max Frei

Svetlana Yuryevna Martynchik (Russian: Светла́на Ю́рьевна Марты́нчик), born 1965 in Odessa, Soviet Union, is a Russian writer and artist who has also published under the pseudonym Max Frei (Russian: Макс Фрай) Martynchik studied at the philological department of Odessa State University, but dropped out without graduating. She moved to Moscow, Russia, in 1993, and then to Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2004. Max Frei (Russian: Макс Фрай) is a pen name invented and used by Martynchik and, initially, her co-author Igor Steopin, for their works on comic fantasy series Labyrinths of Echo ("Лабиринты Eхо"). The plot follows the eponymous narrator, sir Max, as he leaves our "real" world for phantasmagoric fantasy city of Echo to become a member of special service that controls the use of magic. The series comprises ten books to date, but Steopin only co-worked with Martynchik on the earliest of them, helping to develop the universe of Echo. He also illustrated all of Max Frei's books.