more photos (1)

Sax Rohmer’s Followers (124)

Sax Rohmer

Born

in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, The United Kingdom

February 15, 1883

Died

June 01, 1959

Genre

Mystery & Thrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy

edit data

AKA Arthur Sarsfield Ward (real name); Michael Furey.

Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 February 1883 - 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.

Born in Birmingham to a working class family, Rohmer initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time.

He worked as a poet, songwriter, and comedy sketch writer in Music Hall before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing weird fiction.

Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ti AKA Arthur Sarsfield Ward (real name); Michael Furey.

Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 February 1883 - 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.

Born in Birmingham to a working class family, Rohmer initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time.

He worked as a poet, songwriter, and comedy sketch writer in Music Hall before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing weird fiction.

Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His physician and family friend, Dr. R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organizations. It is believed that Rohmer may have exaggerated his association in order to boost his literary reputation as an occult writer.

His first published work came in 1903, when the short story The Mysterious Mummy was sold to Pearson's Weekly. He gradually transitioned from writing for Music Hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox.

He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910. After penning Little Tich in 1911 (as ghostwriter for the Music Hall entertainer) he issued the first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, was serialized from October 1912 - June 1913. It was an immediate success with its fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters—Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw, and The Crime Magnet—made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid authors of the 1920s and 1930s.

Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen. Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career. His final success came with a series of novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu, Sumuru.

After World War II, the Rohmers moved to New York only returning to London shortly before his death. Rohmer died in 1959 due to an outbreak of influenza ("Asian Flu").

There were thirteen books in the Fu Manchu series in all (not counting the posthumous The Wrath of Fu Manchu. The Sumuru series consist of five books.

His wife published her own mystery novel, Bianca in Black in 1954 under the pen name, Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter. Elizabeth Sax Rohmer and Cay Van Ash, her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of the author, Master of Villainy, published in 1972. ...more

Combine Editions
Sax Rohmer’s books

Average rating: 3.49 · 8,780 ratings · 1,413 reviews · 488 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (Fu Manchu #1) 3.34 avg rating — 2,015 ratings — published 1913 — 1076 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu 3.60 avg rating — 652 ratings — published 1916 — 410 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hand of Fu-Manchu 3.36 avg rating — 561 ratings — published 1917 — 493 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Brood of the Witch-Queen 3.42 avg rating — 545 ratings — published 1918 — 596 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mask of Fu-Manchu 3.63 avg rating — 261 ratings — published 1932 — 70 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bat Wing 3.32 avg rating — 254 ratings — published 1920 — 238 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Daughter of Fu-Manchu 3.59 avg rating — 234 ratings — published 1931 — 50 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bride of Fu-Manchu 3.64 avg rating — 182 ratings — published 1933 — 53 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fu Manchu Omnibus 1 3.82 avg rating — 166 ratings — published 1995 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Yellow Claw (Gaston Max, #1) 3.32 avg rating — 189 ratings — published 1915 — 468 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Sax Rohmer…

Series by Sax Rohmer

Fu Manchu (19 books)
by

Sax Rohmer

3.49 avg rating — 5,346 ratings

Gaston Max (4 books)
by

Sax Rohmer

3.36 avg rating — 384 ratings

Paul Harley (3 books)
by

Sax Rohmer,

William Patrick Maynard (Introduction),

Gene Christie (Editor)

3.28 avg rating — 367 ratings

Sumuru (5 books)
by

Sax Rohmer

3.66 avg rating — 138 ratings

"Red" Kerry (2 books)
by

Sax Rohmer

3.55 avg rating — 95 ratings

More series by Sax Rohmer…

Quotes by Sax Rohmer (?)

“How strangely does the adventurous intrude upon the humdrum; for, when it intrudes at all, more often than not its intrusion is sudden and unlooked for. To-day, we may seek for romance and fail to find it: unsought, it lies in wait for us at most prosaic corners of life's highway.”
― Sax Rohmer, The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu

6 likes

“There is no incidental music to the dramas of real life. As”
― Sax Rohmer, The Dr. Fu Manchu Collection: The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu, and The Hand of Dr. Fu Manchu

3 likes

“Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green.”
― Sax Rohmer, The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu

3 likes

See all Sax Rohmer's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: Winter Challenge 2010-2011 Completed Tasks (do not delete any posts)	2578	1106	Feb 28, 2011 09:05PM
Goodreads Librari...: combine editions	17	44	Nov 02, 2011 08:29AM
Goodreads Librari...: Author(s) needs fixing	6	45	Nov 16, 2011 04:49AM
The Sword and Laser: Why does Edgar Rice Burroughs still matter?	28	120	Feb 10, 2012 10:48AM
The History Book ...: JILL'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2012	227	252	Jan 10, 2013 05:51AM
UK Book Club: Susan's Genre Challenge 2011-2012-2013	55	154	Feb 24, 2013 06:08PM

More…

Sax Rohmer’s Followers (124)

Sax Rohmer

Combine EditionsSax Rohmer’s books

Series by Sax Rohmer

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Sax Rohmer’s books