The Fu Manchu Omnibus: The Island of Fu Manchu/the Wrath of Fu Manchu (Fu Manchu Omnibus)

Rating:
Summary: FINAL AND FUN FOOTNOTES OF FU
Review: "The Wrath of Fu Manchu" is the 14th and final book in Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu series. I refer here to the original DAW publication of 1976, which included four short stories dealing with the good doctor, as well as some other Sax Rohmer stories not related to the series but interesting in their own right. The four Fu stories serve as mere footnotes or codas to the previous 13 novels, but all are interesting, and a must for Fu completists.
Before going on, I would like to say a thing or two about the final Fu Manchu NOVEL, "Emperor Fu Manchu," as there is nowhere else on Amazon to do so. This 13th and final Fu novel is unique in that it is the only one in the series that actually takes place in China. In this one, Nayland Smith and American agent Tony McKay try to rescue an entomologist from Fu's lair; stop the kidnapping of a German physicist; AND destroy a Russian germ warfare research station in the jungles of the Chinese wilderness. The book is kind of a half and half affair, as in the first part of the novel, all Smith and McKay seem to do is traipse back and forth around Szechuan province, from one rendezvous to another. But then the book really gets going, as our heroes penetrate Fu's lair and are shown the secret of the doctor's "Cold Men": the zombie army that Fu Manchu has resurrected from the dead. The finale of the book is actually quite suspenseful. However, the book does contain the usual Rohmeresque errors. For example, Fu's referring to the rat torture of book 2 ("The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu") as "the Seven Gates of Wisdom" instead of "the Six Gates of Wisdom"; Fu's comment that the goal of the Si-Fan is to overthrow Communism, when in previous books it was to overthrow the West in general and restore China to its former glory; the use of a peach tree as a landmark in one section of the book later turning into a pear tree(!); the ability of a character to discern another's eye color and skin color in a dark room; and so on. And howzabout this for a sentence: "...presently, she said, 'Were you angry with me for being such a liar?' she asked." Things like this can drive a reader to distraction. Sax Rohmer was a terrific writer of thrillers but, like most writers, his work needed copyediting, and I don't think it ever received such attention. His descriptions of geography throughout the entire series are problematic at best. In this book, for example, we are asked to picture a river that becomes a creek, joining up with a streamlike brook that becomes a miniature bay. Whew! Anyway, quibbles aside, this is a fun ending for the 13 Fu Manchu novels, a series that I highly recommend being read in consecutive order for maximum impact.
But to return to the final BOOK, "The Wrath of Fu Manchu": The first two stories in the book, "The Wrath of Fu Manchu" and "The Eyes of Fu Manchu," fill in the gaps between the last novels of the series. "Wrath" is certainly the best of the bunch, and features the final appearance of Fah Lo Suee, Fu's daughter. In this one, Fu threatens to contaminate the gold supply of Fort Knox (years before Auric Goldfinger hatched a similar scheme!), and Nayland Smith infiltrates a meeting of the Council of Seven to stop him. It is a pretty suspenseful tale. The high point of "Eyes" is a cameo appearance by Dr. Petrie, the narrator of the earliest Fu novels. In this story, Fu kidnaps a scientist and tries to make him work on Fu's life-prolongation experiments. It is a short but satisfying tale. The remaining two Fu stories in the book are "The Word of Fu Manchu," in which freelance journalist Malcolm Forbes (!!!) accompanies Smith as he tries to find out how a CID agent has been killed, and "The Mind of Fu Manchu," in which the good doctor steals the plans for a flying saucer. These last two stories are short shorts and are over very quickly; sadly, they are anticlimaxes to a wonderful series of books.
The other, non-Fu stories in the collection are a mixed bag, some in the supernatural vein, many tales of Egyptian adventure. In "Nightmare House," a curse from the Middle Ages afflicts a lonely estate in Cornwall. "The Leopard-Couch" tells of an ancient Egyptian curio that houses the spirit of a dead priestess. "The Mystery of the Fabulous Lamp" is a sweet little O. Henryish story of a couple that buys a lamp that changes that couple's life. "A Date at Shepheard's" treats of modern-day (i.e., 1950) Egypt and how the harem customs have persisted. "The Mark of Maat" is also a tale of modern-day (1944) Egypt, and deals with the strange vengeance that that ancient deity seems to exact on a tomb raider. "The Treasure of Taia" is a beautifully written--almost poetically written--story of the plot against a struggling archeologist, again in 20th century Egypt. "Crime Takes a Cruise" is a delightful thriller set in Port Said, in which a young American girl and an Irish secret serviceman join forces to flush out a dealer in Nazi treasures. Finally, there is the supernatural tale "A House Possessed," in which an English estate is cursed by a student of Nostradamus himself. This tale does elicit some nice shuddery moments. Many of the stories just mentioned are unsatisfying, in that mundane explanations are presented for events that the reader would probably prefer to remain unexplained or supernatural. As usual, Rohmeresque anachronisms and inconsistencies are present. For example, in "Nightmare House," events are described that supposedly took place around the time of the second Plantagenet (the early 1200s). However, harquebusses (a type of musket) are being used, and they didn't come in until around the 1400s! These harquebusses are also said to shoot arrows. Did muskets shoot arrows back then? Somehow, I doubt it! In "A House Possessed," the house is supposed to have been built before 1640, based on designs by English architect John Vanbrugh. But Vanbrugh wasn't born until 1664! Like I said, Rohmer was in critical need of a good copy editor, and, sadly, never seemed to get one. Still, the book has ample charms, and I do recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A Final Classic and Something for Completists
Review: ISLAND OF FU MANCHU is the final classic Fu Manchu novel. It follows on directly from THE DRUMS OF FU MANCHU and mixes World War II espionage action with voodoo zombies. As happens many times in Sax Rohmer novels, the sub-plot involving the Panama Canal seems to have predicted future events. Reading a book featuring Hitler and Mussolini when both men controlled military might that could have changed the course of the world is particularly rivetting. The action is fast-paced and the dialogue is crisp. The characterizations are excellent. Fu Manchu remains the most complex literary villain ever created. Bart Kerrigan remains Rohmer's last great narrator/protagonist in the Conan Doyle fashion. Long-time readers will delight in learning more of the Ericksen Ray (which Rohmer introduced in THE GOLDEN SCORPION [1918]). Fah lo Suee, the devious daughter of Fu Manchu, returns in a new guise--Voodoo Queen Mamaloi in a sub-plot Rohmer would later borrow for VIRGIN IN FLAMES (1952). ISLAND OF FU MANCHU reads like the best INDIANA JONES adventure with a flair for the mystery genre that is second only to the immortal Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The novella THE WRATH OF FU MANCHU and the short stories read like works-in-progress. Written in the 1950's, they pick up where 1948's SHADOW OF FU MANCHU left off. Communism has destroyed Fu Manchu's idealized China. As in Rohmer's World War II-era books, Fu Manchu is desperate to remove Fascists and Communists from power as they threaten his own plans for domination. Rohmer had been writing Fu Manchu stories for over forty years by this point. These shorter works are chiefly noteworthy for the final series appearances of Fah lo Suee and Dr. Petrie.

Rating:
Summary: A Final Classic and Something for Completists
Review: ISLAND OF FU MANCHU is the final classic Fu Manchu novel. It follows on directly from THE DRUMS OF FU MANCHU and mixes World War II espionage action with voodoo zombies. As happens many times in Sax Rohmer novels, the sub-plot involving the Panama Canal seems to have predicted future events. Reading a book featuring Hitler and Mussolini when both men controlled military might that could have changed the course of the world is particularly rivetting. The action is fast-paced and the dialogue is crisp. The characterizations are excellent. Fu Manchu remains the most complex literary villain ever created. Bart Kerrigan remains Rohmer's last great narrator/protagonist in the Conan Doyle fashion. Long-time readers will delight in learning more of the Ericksen Ray (which Rohmer introduced in THE GOLDEN SCORPION [1918]). Fah lo Suee, the devious daughter of Fu Manchu, returns in a new guise--Voodoo Queen Mamaloi in a sub-plot Rohmer would later borrow for VIRGIN IN FLAMES (1952). ISLAND OF FU MANCHU reads like the best INDIANA JONES adventure with a flair for the mystery genre that is second only to the immortal Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The novella THE WRATH OF FU MANCHU and the short stories read like works-in-progress. Written in the 1950's, they pick up where 1948's SHADOW OF FU MANCHU left off. Communism has destroyed Fu Manchu's idealized China. As in Rohmer's World War II-era books, Fu Manchu is desperate to remove Fascists and Communists from power as they threaten his own plans for domination. Rohmer had been writing Fu Manchu stories for over forty years by this point. These shorter works are chiefly noteworthy for the final series appearances of Fah lo Suee and Dr. Petrie.