Max Fry’s "Volunteers of Eternity," a summary

This book is a 1997 fantasy novel about Max’s adventures serving in the Echo Small Secret Detective Force. The hero finally sever ties with his home world, discovering terrifying magical abilities and gaining immortality. It is the second book in the "Labyrinths of Echo" series. The series also includes the novels "Stranger," "Simple Magical Things," "The Dark Side," "Obsessions," "The Power of the Unfulfilled," "The Chatty Dead," and "The Labyrinth of Menin." The books are united by a common setting and consistent character development.

Magahon foxes

Sir Max and Melifaro pay a courtesy call on city police general Bubuta Boh. The detectives had previously saved him from being poisoned by pâté. The general shows off his twelve toilets and giant glowing mushroom to the guests. Bubuta Boh explains that he equipped his house with a dozen toilets because of painful military memories. Max gives the general Cuban cigars from his home world. General Ulim’s wife is touched by the guests’ visit. Police officers Lieutenant Kamshi and Captain Shihola fear their chief’s return to duty.

Soon, Juffin Hally tasks Max with dealing with bandits in the Magahon Forest. Shurf Lonley-Lockley teaches his colleague how to create a spell of destructive power. The green ball of energy is named "Death Ball." Max successfully masters this skill after drinking ancient wine from an old, leaky cup.

In the forest, the detective follows the magical trail of bandit leader Jifa Savanhi. Max experiences physical torment and uncovers the truth: the bandits are long dead. The tracker, Melamori Blimm, suffers excruciating pain at the site of the magical anomaly. Max employs new spells to cope with the situation. The hero bends the zombies to his will, forcing the undead to bind their own leader. The undead obediently march to Echo to retrieve the official car.

The police are crowned victorious. Max sends Jiffa into oblivion, commanding him to be happy. Juffin heartily laughs at the parade of the dead in the center of the UK capital. The success of the sting operation strengthens Max’s standing among the townspeople.

Ship from Arvarokh

A ship from the distant continent of Arvaroh arrives in the capital. The ship’s commander, Alotho Allirokh, and his warriors are searching for the escaped criminal Mudlakh. The Arvarohians regard the wise stormbird Kurush as a deity. They obey every word of this intelligent bird, believing it to be supernatural. The bird demands regular deliveries of sweet pastries. Max meets the owner of the Armstrong and Ella tavern, named after the detective’s cats. Journalist Ande Pu becomes a regular. Tehhi Shekk turns out to be Loiso Pondohva’s daughter.

A girl accidentally kills Max with a powerful love potion that acts like poison on him. Juffin Hally saves his subordinate by borrowing a second heart from the shade of a man who died in the Corridor Between Worlds. Max awakens with two hearts. Sir Kofa Yoh helps identify the fugitive, demonstrating the art of illusion. The detectives uncover the details of the conspiracy. Mudlach killed the master of disguise, Variha Ariama, and escaped to the impenetrable Kholomi prison, framing himself.

A murder using one hundred and seventieth-level magic earned him two hundred years in prison. The Arvarokhians remain on guard duty outside the prison walls. Lady Melamori Blimm begins an affair with Alotho Allirokh. Leleo’s furry hub becomes Melamori’s property. Melifaro tries to rid himself of a pesky guest, Rulyon Bagdasys of Izamon. The Izamonian falls into a magical trap within a greenish crystal. Melifaro carries the tiny captive in the pocket of his loohi.

Journey between worlds

The nomads of the Empty Lands proclaim Max their king, Fangahra. A delegation kidnaps the hero, ties him up, and takes him into the forest on an ancient cart pulled by antlered elk. Max frees himself with a spell and demands an end to the pursuit. Juffin and Shurf are isolated in Kholomi to pacify the fortress’s raging spirit. The prison’s stones begin to groan loudly. Max temporarily heads the detective agency.

Reanimated corpses appear in the Pettov Green Cemetery. Max, Melifaro, and Kofa Yoh destroy the undead. Kofa uses deadly smoke and poisonous handclaps. The masters hire sculptors from the capital to bathe the zombies in liquid stone. The corpses constantly resurrect, destroying their stone shells. The detective decides to go to Earth to fetch holy water. Max falls asleep in his old apartment on Old Coin Street and falls through a dimensional crack.

Trapped in his home world in the body of a ghostly tram driver, Max wanders the planet. He visits bars in New York, Nuremberg, and Rome, moving through the doors of establishments bearing geographical names. Max retrieves a VCR from the apartment of his ex-girlfriend, Julia. The old sheriff of Kettari, Mahi Ainti, helps the traveler return via telepathic communication.

Max materializes in Echo forty-nine days later. Juffin explains the error: the dead turned out to be immortal masters of the ancient Order of the Long Path, led by Nanka Yok. The immortals are leading their people to Gugland.

Bucky Bugwin’s glasses

Max and Kofa visit an old establishment, Juffin’s Dozen. The innkeeper, Mohi Faa, has thirteen tables, one of which is empty for Juffin. The innkeeper is under the influence of a magical hypnotic spell. He obediently follows a strange man in a red robe. Max pursues the kidnapper at about two hundred kilometers per hour, causing a traffic accident. The kidnapper dies. The dead driver’s glasses reveal a bluish magical glow on the faces of some of the townspeople.

Max follows the unbearable trail of a dead man to an abandoned house on the Left Bank. The detectives discover a basement filled with human bones. Reanimated by Juffin, Chun Matlat’s corpse reveals the location of his employer in an abandoned village. Max and Shurf discover the forest lair of the mad poet Bakka Bugwin. Bugwin was long ago expelled from the Order of the Hidden Herb for revealing secrets in his poetry.

A criminal fed the descendants of the Moon Oxen clan to a magical Moon Calf. The poet found his victims using enchanted glasses cast on a full moon. Bugvin sought to cause a local apocalypse. Shurf incinerates the maniac with a blinding beam. Max uses magic to send the glowing calf home to the moon.

Juffin Halli enjoys watching American cartoons on his VCR, amazed by the imaginations of otherworldly artists. King Gurig VIII offers Max the formal title of ruler of the Empty Lands in order to peacefully annex the territory to the United Kingdom. Max receives the former University library, densely overgrown with pine trees, as a gift. Max accepts the offer and remains in Echo.