Review--The Terror of Fu Manchu

MINIMAL SPOILER REVIEW

Fu Manchu's latest plot, written by William P. Maynard, involves saving the human race from...wait? What? Since when did the Devil Doctor care about the human race?

The novel is set during a break in the narrative of The Hand of Fu Manchu. This is during the period where Fu Manchu was, arguably, at his most blood thirsty. The novel has plenty of action, adventure and daring-do. (The excellent scene with Petrie attempting to save children from a crocodile comes to mind.) The plot is mostly concerned with Nayland Smith and his trusty aid Dr. Petrie tracking down members of a cult that may or may not be related to the Si-Fan.

The problems I had were few, Maynard is not only a talented writer, but he clearly knows his Rohmer. The only thing that bothered me on first read through was the Lovecraftian elements, as I felt that the magic/demon stuff clashed with the Fu Manchu series' focus on logic above all else. But, after a discussion of it with Maynard himself I feel that those elements fit perfectly with Rohmer's fictional universe.

Final Tally:
Prose: A++ (A perfect recreation of Rohmer's style, perhaps the most perfect pastiche I've ever read)
Characterization: A-
Plot: A

Wold Newton relevancy rating: 9. (It features Fu Manchu, a proven WN family member, several crossovers with other Rohmer characters, and the use of the theory on the identity of Dr. Petrie's father.)

RECOMMENDED

The Mark of Fu Manchu

On my last post, William Maynard left a post allaying one of my fears about a modern-set Fu Manchu novel. But check out the last sentence of his comment.


Hi, James. As an ardent Rohmer fan myself, I'm looking forward to reading Richard's book, too. I can tell you that Nayland Smith does not appear so that's one you can cross off your list. Here's hoping my second book, THE MARK OF FU MANCHU (set between Rohmer's two WWII-era titles) is next on the list.
Best,
William Patrick Maynard (Italics & Boldness mine.)

I have two things to point out.
First We'll cover BOLD "next on the list" Because of this I'm beginning to think there are a lot of Fu Manchu novels in the works. It should be interesting to see if I'm right.

now for italics. The Mark of Fu Manchu (Cool title)
this title got me to thinking what it could be about, and I came up with these.
1. The mark is some sort of thing left on the bodies of victims.
2. The mark is the seal of the Si-Fan.
3. The title refers to the German mark, an indicates that Fu Manchu is toying with the German economy.
For my money, number three is my favorite.

(And William, if this gives too much away, of could insult the copyright holders, (especially the part about the multiple novels in the works) I'll be glad to take this down on your say so.)

James B.

The Revenge of the Immortal Fu Manchu

Apparently there is a new Fu Manchu novel afoot. (Wow, I haven't said that in a long time) And it takes place in the present day?

This from Coming Attractions:

Fu Manchu
Bill Maynard has announced that his recent Fu Manchu novel, THE TERROR OF FU MANCHU, is only the beginning of the Fu Manchu literary revival. There is much more to come from reprints of the original series which Al Longden, the agent for the Literary Estate, will hopefully be announcing shortly to a forthcoming Fu Manchu novel set in the 21st Century. The title of the new adventure is THE IMMORTAL DR. FU MANCHU and the author is Richard Sand.


Well, this could turn out great, or more lame than a one footed tiger. But here's what they need to avoid:
1. Nayland Smith as the Central hero. Please don't make Smith an immortal too. Leave him as a very old man who offers the main hero(s) suport from base. Sort of like his role in Master of Kung Fu.

2. Fu Manchu just wants to be at peace with the world. I don't see this one happening but I'll bring it up anyhow.

3. The hero(s) other than Smith believe that Fu Manchu and the Si-Fan are a myth. After 100+ years of operations, there should be more than enough paper work to show the Si-Fan exist. However, I'm not against the hero(s) all believing Fu Manchu's dead, and that the events of the novel are the work of a copy-cat.

Now for stuff I do want to see:

1. Fu Manchu has a large number of Islamic terror groups in the Si-Fan. Also cool would be if they're attempting to take control away from the Council of Seven so they would have full control of all the cults and other operators of the Si-Fan.

2. Jack Bauer appears briefly as an American government agent, but this one's just me wanting to see Jack interact with Fu Manchu. How about the hero(s)(from either the British or American government) bring in Jack to torture information from a captured Fu Manchu, It would truly be a titanic battle of wills. But sadly, I know this one will not happen, just a pipe-dream on my part.

Still, I'm looking forward to it and I'll order it as soon as it becomes available.

James B.

Letters from Fictional Characters, Volume 1

Recently I sent a e-mail to the House of Sinanju at housinan@aol.com. I got reply thats illuminating to Wold Newtonian studys
For those not in the know the House of Sinanju is from the long running adventure novel series: The Destroyer.
As almost always a good summary can be found at Wikipedia
An e-text of a Destroyer short story can be found at sinanju.net. Just like the old pulps.

In my email I commented on how much I enjoyed the books and that I hoped a new publisher would be found soon. At the end though I added a quick question asking if Chiun had asulted Sherlock Holmes.
This comes from the from First, the Destroyer novel #83 Skull duggery where Chiun comments that he worked for Fu Manchu.
Secondly the Fu Manchu novel Ten Years Beyond Baker Street. Which, to the best of my knowledge is the only time in the entire Fu Manchu saga where a Korean is among Fu Manchu's agents. (correct me if I'm wrong)
Out of the email I got the first half was James Mullaney thanking me for my support.
the second half on the other hand:

p.s. From Chiun: Your correspondent asks if the Master ever encountered Sherlock Holmes. I have concluded that this letter writer must be American, for only an American would conflate fiction and reality. For all of you products of the American educational system within the sound of my voice: Sherlock Holmes is fictional, I am real, therefore we have not and can never meet. Fictional characters do not and cannot interact with real ones. You may thank the Master now for he has done you a service by explaining that which the sane parts of the world understand. Go back now to your sofas and remote controls, safe in the knowledge that Yogi Bear, Roger Rabbit and Nancy Pelosi will never leap out of your television screen and maul you in your sleep.

With moderate tolerance for you,

Chiun, Master of Sinanju Emeritus


Okay, since Chiun denies ever meeting Sherlock Holmes (or that he was even a real person) we must assume that Chiun was employed in an unrecorded Fu Manchu adventue. Or that he lied, his published exploits don't exactly show a trustworthy person to say the least.

James Bojaciuk

The Return of the Revenge of Fu Manchu. YAY!

If you didn't guess by the title, Fu Manchu is back, in a new novel by William Patrick Maynard. I don't know much about other than in set during The Hand of Fu Manchu. so its most likely going to end up something like Ten Years Beyond Baker Street except with out Sherlock Holmes.
You can see its page and eventually pre-order it at: http://www.blackcoatpress.com/terrorfumanchu.htm

A shout out to Win Scott Eckert and his blog for alerting me to this book. Thanks man!

Also at my other blog Ive posted the original magazine version of the first few chapters of The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. They are a little bit different then the final book version. Nothing earth shattering though. but enough to be interesting.

Books I'm reading, and a somewhat odd bonus.

for some reason my friend thinks its a good idea to post what books I'm reading at the moment. so to appease him I'm doing it.
Books Recently Read:
The Shadow: Serpents of Shiva by Walter Gibson
The New Destroyer Choke Hold by Warren Murphy
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Secret Files of the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman
Wolverine: Election Day by Peter David...or Wolverine Vs Obama, no really, I'm not kidding.
At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
The Avenger Chronicles by Various
Doc Savage: The Fortress of Solitude by Lester Dent
Tintin in America by Herge

Books I'm Reading Now:
Gun Work by David J Schow
The Daughter of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Alex Rider: Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz...or Alex Rider vs. Fu Manchu
Tales of the Shadowmen Vol 4 by Various...Favorite Stories so far "the atomos affair" The agents of UNCLE verses a Japanese madwoman &"the evil against which we strive" a young unnamed Nick Fury meets The Shadow and a french pulp guy. Fun All Around!
Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis

That was more fun than I thought it was going to be...huh.

And that bonus I was talking about.
What if I told you the the spy group U.N.C.L.E. existed in 1937. You would laugh. Until I showed you this nifty (yeah, i used nifty in a sentence, you got a problem?) little tale from the G-Men August 1937 issue.
the story in called Enemies of UNCLE. but why should i go on when you can read it at: http://pulpgen.com/pulp/downloads/getpdf.php?id=381
Have Fun and Think About it!