The Daughter of Fu Manchu

Rating:
Summary: "A brow like Shakespeare, a face like Satan..."
Review: This is another installment of the old mystery-adventure series by Sax Rohmer. After magazine serialization, the complete novel appeared in 1931, years before anyone heard of diversity training or political correctness. Evil Orientals bring the infamous "yellow peril" and threaten the civilized West with world domination. The master criminal, Dr. Fu Manchu, directs their nefarious lethal actions assisted by his alluringly deadly daughter, Fah Lo Suee.

Bizarre killings, mysterious disappearances, narrow escapes, and dastardly abductions manage to achieve the dubious distinction of confusing reading. Mainly because the author tries so hard to be cryptic that the action doesn't always make sense in a coherent plot context. Instead of a central plot, we have a series of "adventures." Diabolical masterminds acting sinister do not automatically create a sustained air of suspense. The most interesting character is Dr. Fu Manchu, but he is relegated to a minor role. This type of escapist reading may be nostalgic to aging baby boomers that recall the paperback Pyramid series of the mid-'60s with the luridly suggestive cover art. We imagine that the Fu Manchu series enjoyed brief popularity with hormone dripping junior high school kids based on the covers alone. The books were even featured in full-page ads in "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine. That fond memory recommends this novel. Others should beware of lurking Orientals. ;-)

Rating:
Summary: PICKING UP WHERE POPS LEFT OFF...
Review: This is book #4 of the 14 Fu Manchu books that Sax Rohmer gave us, and represents something of a departure from the previous three. For one thing, we have a new narrator in this book. Shan Greville, assistant of the Orientalist Sir Lionel Barton (who figured prominently in books 1 and 3), has taken over the narrating duties from Dr. Petrie. For another thing, a good deal of the book's action takes place in Egypt, as opposed to England. AND, this book seems to hold together more as a novel, rather than as a group of linked stories. Fu Manchu himself, believed to be dead after the events of book 3, barely appears in this volume, but his daughter, a chip(py) off the old block if ever there were one, has picked up were Pops left off, and makes things pretty hot for Nayland Smith, Petrie, Inspector Weymouth and some of our other old friends. As usual, the pace is swift, with some outstanding set pieces, including the infiltration of the Si-Fan council in the el-Kharga oasis, and the ultimate appearance of Pops Manchu himself. We are also treated to mummy tombs, zombie drugs, assassins of various sorts, hypnosis, poison sprays and so on. All in all, this is a very good entry in the Fu series.