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Fu Manchu #9
The Drums of Fu Manchu
The Sound of Drums...
... a steady, pulsing rhythm -- a warning of death to the heads of fourteen Western nations who stand in the way of Fu Manchu's world supremacy -- world rulers marked ... for murder!
The Sound of Drums...
... calling to the Si-Fan -- Fu Manchu's secret army, moving inexorably o do his vile bidding!
Fu Manchu's longtime arch enemy. Sir Denis Nayland Smith, fights desperately to beat the Oriental master of intrigue -- with world power as the stakes. But even Sir Denis has been marked for death by The Drums of Fu Manchu!
... a steady, pulsing rhythm -- a warning of death to the heads of fourteen Western nations who stand in the way of Fu Manchu's world supremacy -- world rulers marked ... for murder!
The Sound of Drums...
... calling to the Si-Fan -- Fu Manchu's secret army, moving inexorably o do his vile bidding!
Fu Manchu's longtime arch enemy. Sir Denis Nayland Smith, fights desperately to beat the Oriental master of intrigue -- with world power as the stakes. But even Sir Denis has been marked for death by The Drums of Fu Manchu!
308 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1939
4 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
Sax Rohmer
510 books124 followersAKA 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 12, 2018
Dr. Fu-Manchu returns from his most recent death none the worse for wear. It's 1939 and the world is on the verge of war, which Fu-Manchu finds unacceptably inconvenient. He implements a plan to stop World War II before it begins by eliminating 12 particularly important men, and this puts Nayland Smith in the incredible position of having to save them so they can lead the world to war. Fu-Manchu gives ultimatums of peace or death to each man, including the Dictator of Italy (not named Mussolini) and the Chancellor of Germany (not named Hitler). Smith does his usual thing of trying with varying success to stop the Doctor, traveling the world giving orders to foreign police forces, falling into obvious traps and then escaping, capturing Fu-Manchu only to lose him again, and smoking a lot. As per usual he engages the services of a younger man who acts as narrator, and whose main purpose appears to be to fall immediately in love with a beauteous female minion of Fu-Manchu.
While the basic plot follows the same formula as every other book, the success of Sax Rohmer is his ability to give Fu-Manchu interesting and unpredictable goals. The idea that Nayland Smith must defend the lives of the world's worst dictators and war mongers is just an amazing juxtaposition that makes the entire storyline enthralling. The idea of Dr. Fu-Manchu alone in a room with not-Hitler is astounding. Imagine Dr. Doom being given an ultimatum by Darth Vader. Complete with invisible death lasers.
This book was written during the incredible time period around 1939. The world is poised for war and everyone knows it. Many books are written on the coming war and Hollywood is pouring out so many anti-Hitler movies (Confessions of a Nazi Spy) that even the Three Stooges make one, though the best of the period is clearly the Charlie Chaplin talkie The Great Dictator. Into this Rohmer introduces the idea that Hitler must be saved, an idea not noticeably revisited until the 2nd Dirty Dozen movie. Germany has invaded the Rhineland, the Sudetenland, and Austerlitz. Japan fights in China. World War II is mere months away, but not if Fu-Manchu has anything to say about it.
We get to see Fu-Manchu's advanced technology at work. Still a master of exotic biologics, he has expanded his horizons using his massive base of enslaved geniuses to include some futuristic technologies. Besides the death ray, he is able to communicate (one-way) through the new medium of the television device, communication which includes hypno-rays. It is implied that this science was created by Fu-Manchu's slave Thomas Edison, though to be more accurate it should have been Phil Farnsworth. Fu-Manchu has also advanced in his relationship with Nayland Smith. For the first time ever he actually explains how he escaped from certain death, this time by falling over Niagara Falls, and how other seemingly impossible events have been accomplished.
Also included is a stand alone Smith/Petrie story. Smith and Dr. Petrie go on holiday in the moor country (because bogs are relaxing) and stumble upon a little mystery. Very much like a Holmes/Watson story, perhaps with a little Hercule Poirot thrown in. Light entertainment. If the idea of Dr. Fu-Manchu ending WWII before it begins isn't enough for you, let me add that in this book Nayland Smith battles both a zombie vampire and a malignant pygmy. Try and get that in your Harlem Romance Novel.
While the basic plot follows the same formula as every other book, the success of Sax Rohmer is his ability to give Fu-Manchu interesting and unpredictable goals. The idea that Nayland Smith must defend the lives of the world's worst dictators and war mongers is just an amazing juxtaposition that makes the entire storyline enthralling. The idea of Dr. Fu-Manchu alone in a room with not-Hitler is astounding. Imagine Dr. Doom being given an ultimatum by Darth Vader. Complete with invisible death lasers.
This book was written during the incredible time period around 1939. The world is poised for war and everyone knows it. Many books are written on the coming war and Hollywood is pouring out so many anti-Hitler movies (Confessions of a Nazi Spy) that even the Three Stooges make one, though the best of the period is clearly the Charlie Chaplin talkie The Great Dictator. Into this Rohmer introduces the idea that Hitler must be saved, an idea not noticeably revisited until the 2nd Dirty Dozen movie. Germany has invaded the Rhineland, the Sudetenland, and Austerlitz. Japan fights in China. World War II is mere months away, but not if Fu-Manchu has anything to say about it.
We get to see Fu-Manchu's advanced technology at work. Still a master of exotic biologics, he has expanded his horizons using his massive base of enslaved geniuses to include some futuristic technologies. Besides the death ray, he is able to communicate (one-way) through the new medium of the television device, communication which includes hypno-rays. It is implied that this science was created by Fu-Manchu's slave Thomas Edison, though to be more accurate it should have been Phil Farnsworth. Fu-Manchu has also advanced in his relationship with Nayland Smith. For the first time ever he actually explains how he escaped from certain death, this time by falling over Niagara Falls, and how other seemingly impossible events have been accomplished.
Also included is a stand alone Smith/Petrie story. Smith and Dr. Petrie go on holiday in the moor country (because bogs are relaxing) and stumble upon a little mystery. Very much like a Holmes/Watson story, perhaps with a little Hercule Poirot thrown in. Light entertainment. If the idea of Dr. Fu-Manchu ending WWII before it begins isn't enough for you, let me add that in this book Nayland Smith battles both a zombie vampire and a malignant pygmy. Try and get that in your Harlem Romance Novel.
March 10, 2019
Have been reading the Fu Manchu books in random order over the years and this is the second last one for me. And it's a really strange one. Written in 1939 just before the outbreak of WWII we here have Nayland Smith trying to prevent Fu Manchu.... from killing off a random assortment of dictators (thinly veiled versions of the likes of Mussolini and Hitler) and preventing the outbreak of war.
The mind boggles what Rohmer was thinking. The dictators are clearly described as dictators but all very much folks that can be dealt and negotiated with and that despite it all should not be left to be executed by someone like Fu Manchu.
Utterly bizarre....
In hindsight one cannot help but actually root for our man Fu Manchu in this book and in practically any other novel he would have been the hero (or at least anti-hero) of the story.
The mind boggles what Rohmer was thinking. The dictators are clearly described as dictators but all very much folks that can be dealt and negotiated with and that despite it all should not be left to be executed by someone like Fu Manchu.
Utterly bizarre....
In hindsight one cannot help but actually root for our man Fu Manchu in this book and in practically any other novel he would have been the hero (or at least anti-hero) of the story.
May 20, 2020
This is the second novel I've read by Sax Rohmer (the first was many years ago, and I have little recollection of it), and my first Fu Manchu story. I have to say I found it pretty punk, juvenile in the extreme, and not especially interesting. It only really comes to life when Fu Manchu is present, which isn't often. The author appears to be desperately trying to create excitement where there is none, and it seems to me that this book has more exclamation points than the past half dozen novels I've read combined.
September 3, 2016
This book in the Fu Manchu series pretty much follows the same story line as all the others....Fu's attempt at world domination .....with one twist. Written in 1939, it is a thinly disguised story of the rise of dictators (read Hitler and Mussolini) and Fu's plan to assassinate them before they can take control of the world. But of course Fu only wants to rid the world of these men so that his organization, the Si Fan, can take over. The interesting thing about the book is reading between the lines with the hindsight of the events of WWII. It is extremely racist as are all of Rohmer's books and sometimes that is not easy to ignore. But it is a window on another time when popular, not very well written fiction sold millions of copies and often had hidden political content. I read it for the historical aspect rather than the story as I was interested in a popular writer's take on the rise of the evil of Hitler. Rohmer was pretty much of a hack writer and one of the other reviewers said, "There is trash and then there is trash"....this book fits into the latter category only for the historical perspective. If not for that, it fits into the first "trash" category!
September 11, 2017
Sax Rohmer's "The Drums of Fu-Manchu” (Book Nine in the Fu-Manchu series) brings us another adventure of Sir Denis and the iconic evil genius - Dr. Fu-Manchu. I confess to really loving this series and the purely, evil, yet intelligent genius known a Dr. Fu Manchu. Right away we must recognize that a few of the Fu Manchu books are a bit "trite" in spots, and at times they certainly have the feel of the "pulp fiction" genre; nevertheless, the series is surprisingly well written. However, "The Drums of Fu-Manchu” is one of the weaker entries in the series, but it is still worth the read.
In a slightly different plot line, Fu-Manchu - supposedly in the interests of world peace, but more likely in order to pave the way for the plans of the Si-Fan - decides to kill or control the world’s war-mongering dictators or leaders. Slowly, world leaders are given three warnings by the Si-Fan; if that person does not head the warning, they die! Here is the central conflict, and Sir Dennis sets out to stop these killings, and in doing so, he himself becomes a receiver of Si-Fan's dangerous warning letters.
"The Drums of Fu-Manchu” and the whole series, its style, and even the stereotyping are all a product of the time and place in which it was written – over 100 years ago. Regardless, the Fu Manchu novels are worth the time to discover the great, intellectual (and stereotypical) iconic evil genius who is Fu Manchu. It has been a century since Sax Rohmer gave the world the gift of the incredibly intelligent, and yet so evil, Doctor Fu Manchu, one of literature’s great evil geniuses rivaling even Doyle’s Professor Moriarty or Fleming's Ernst Stavro Blofeld of SPECTRE.
In a slightly different plot line, Fu-Manchu - supposedly in the interests of world peace, but more likely in order to pave the way for the plans of the Si-Fan - decides to kill or control the world’s war-mongering dictators or leaders. Slowly, world leaders are given three warnings by the Si-Fan; if that person does not head the warning, they die! Here is the central conflict, and Sir Dennis sets out to stop these killings, and in doing so, he himself becomes a receiver of Si-Fan's dangerous warning letters.
"The Drums of Fu-Manchu” and the whole series, its style, and even the stereotyping are all a product of the time and place in which it was written – over 100 years ago. Regardless, the Fu Manchu novels are worth the time to discover the great, intellectual (and stereotypical) iconic evil genius who is Fu Manchu. It has been a century since Sax Rohmer gave the world the gift of the incredibly intelligent, and yet so evil, Doctor Fu Manchu, one of literature’s great evil geniuses rivaling even Doyle’s Professor Moriarty or Fleming's Ernst Stavro Blofeld of SPECTRE.
January 8, 2018
Reading Fu Manchu novels is one of my guilty pleasures. Not because they are pulp fiction, but because of their racist and misogynist character. However, ‘The Drums of Fu Manchu’ is a bit more complicated than this. In the late 1930s, Fu Manchu and the Si Fan, the international criminal organisation of which he is president, try to prevent an international war from breaking out - and succeed. He even succeeds in killing the German dictator Rudolf Adlon, a thinly veiled reference to Adolf Hitler. But his purposes remain as diabolical as his means. Fu Manchu’s opponent Sir Dennis Nayland Smith is by no means a James Bond, but the evil doctor could certainly be a Bond archvillain.
January 27, 2025
This goes with the tried and true formula established in the previous Fu Manchu books, where a beautiful woman of foreign extraction is pressed into the service of Fu Manchu but falls in love with one of the characters working alongside Nayland Smith in order to defeat the nefarious designs of the sinister Si-Fan organization.
The twist in this novel is that Dr. Fu Manchu is actually at odds with the Si-Fan and might possibly be ejected from his position as president because he desires war between nations and the Si-Fan would not find that profitable. For this reason, the Si-Fan is assassinating world leaders who will not cooperate and desist from their warlike actions.
The twist in this novel is that Dr. Fu Manchu is actually at odds with the Si-Fan and might possibly be ejected from his position as president because he desires war between nations and the Si-Fan would not find that profitable. For this reason, the Si-Fan is assassinating world leaders who will not cooperate and desist from their warlike actions.
April 25, 2026
Hitler and Mussolini (names changed in book) have a summit in Venice. But what they hear in the background is not the drums of war. It’s the Drums of Fu Manchu. Fu does not WWII to happen: it will foul up his plans for world domination. If that means he has to kill Hitler and Mussolini and any other of his dirty dozen capable of staring a war in 1939, well, the insidious Fu has the ways and means to use poisons and drugs and toxic fungi and noxious insects to accomplish his ends. Unless Nayland Smith can stop him.
The simple audacity of the plot makes this one a cut above the fun but racist pulp Sax Rohmer usually spins out. Fu has a case for his murder spree and unusually, he is allowed a couple of opportunities to make it. Also, this one is, for some reason, more vivid than most. The usual formula is in place (lunkhead male narrator, beautiful exotic woman in love with hero but working for Fu). It seems to work better here.
If you want to sample Fu Manchu for some reason, this is a good choice.
The simple audacity of the plot makes this one a cut above the fun but racist pulp Sax Rohmer usually spins out. Fu has a case for his murder spree and unusually, he is allowed a couple of opportunities to make it. Also, this one is, for some reason, more vivid than most. The usual formula is in place (lunkhead male narrator, beautiful exotic woman in love with hero but working for Fu). It seems to work better here.
If you want to sample Fu Manchu for some reason, this is a good choice.
April 18, 2019
Once again, Fu Manchu TRIES TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!
September 22, 2019
Another formulaic episode in the Fu Manchu world, this one a bit slower paced than its predescessors.
May 4, 2022
I quite enjoyed this. Yes, it's out of time, and rather pulp-y, and follows the same pattern to most of the Fu-Manchu books, but it's still fun. AND, bonus, it only cost 99p from Forbidden Planet ..
March 3, 2024
A fun mystery book!
August 22, 2011
In this volume, #9 of 14 in the Fu Manchu series, we find that Fu has decided that, in the interests of world peace, all warmongering European dictators must be brought to task, and either desist in their belligerent ways, or die a macabre death. Actually, it isn't so much genuine world peace that the good doctor is interested in, but rather a state that is more conducive to the eventual takeover by his Si-Fan organization. While the book does seem to make the case that Nazi and Fascist dictators are preferable to the "yellow menace" as represented by the Manchu man, it still shows those men to be overbearing, arrogant and ripe for being brought down. The book is certainly racist (to a degree, all the other entries in the series are, too), as the reviewers below mention, but at the same time it does make a plea for peace and sanity in the year before WW2 broke out...and that's not too bad a message for any novel.
In this book we have a new narrator, the journalist Bart Kerrigan, who joins Nayland Smith on his seemingly endless quest to foil the Doctor's plans. The action hops around quite a bit in this installment, from Essex and Suffolk to London, from Venice back to London, and finally off to (not so) gay Paree. The action is fairly relentless, the book's real saving grace. What with Green Deaths, a run-in with the Doctor on the Essex marshes, brainwashing via television, a new kind of superrifle, the Ericksen disintegration tube, torture chambers under creepy Venetian palazzos, a yacht trap on the Adriatic, killer pygmies and on and on, this book really keeps the reader glued to the page. One of our old friends from previous volumes makes a return in this book, and it's a real stunner when this character does reappear. So despite the racist elements, the book entertains.
I did, however, have more serious problems with the book than just the racial comments. There are numerous inconsistencies with previous entries that just bug the bejeebers out of me. For example, in one scene of this volume, Fu Manchu refers to "the Seven Gates," a grisly rat torture used on Nayland Smith in book 2, "The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu." But in that earlier volume, it was called "the Six Gates." Grrrrr. In the current book, Smith is referred to as a "deep, silent sleeper," while in the previous book, #8 ("President Fu Manchu"), he is referred to as a light, "hair trigger" sleeper. Huh?!?!? Fey, Smith's manservant, in previous volumes, has had a rather normal pattern of speech. In this volume, his speech is telegraphic and robotlike all of a sudden. What!?!?!? These kinds of inconsistencies can and do drive alert readers bonkers. But the worst thing of all in this book is when Smith tells someone that a description of a Japanese suspect is not necessary, as all descriptions of his "countrymen sound identical." Jeeeeezzzzz!!!!! Get past these groaners, though, and you'll have a fun time. I did.
In this book we have a new narrator, the journalist Bart Kerrigan, who joins Nayland Smith on his seemingly endless quest to foil the Doctor's plans. The action hops around quite a bit in this installment, from Essex and Suffolk to London, from Venice back to London, and finally off to (not so) gay Paree. The action is fairly relentless, the book's real saving grace. What with Green Deaths, a run-in with the Doctor on the Essex marshes, brainwashing via television, a new kind of superrifle, the Ericksen disintegration tube, torture chambers under creepy Venetian palazzos, a yacht trap on the Adriatic, killer pygmies and on and on, this book really keeps the reader glued to the page. One of our old friends from previous volumes makes a return in this book, and it's a real stunner when this character does reappear. So despite the racist elements, the book entertains.
I did, however, have more serious problems with the book than just the racial comments. There are numerous inconsistencies with previous entries that just bug the bejeebers out of me. For example, in one scene of this volume, Fu Manchu refers to "the Seven Gates," a grisly rat torture used on Nayland Smith in book 2, "The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu." But in that earlier volume, it was called "the Six Gates." Grrrrr. In the current book, Smith is referred to as a "deep, silent sleeper," while in the previous book, #8 ("President Fu Manchu"), he is referred to as a light, "hair trigger" sleeper. Huh?!?!? Fey, Smith's manservant, in previous volumes, has had a rather normal pattern of speech. In this volume, his speech is telegraphic and robotlike all of a sudden. What!?!?!? These kinds of inconsistencies can and do drive alert readers bonkers. But the worst thing of all in this book is when Smith tells someone that a description of a Japanese suspect is not necessary, as all descriptions of his "countrymen sound identical." Jeeeeezzzzz!!!!! Get past these groaners, though, and you'll have a fun time. I did.
October 11, 2014
Sax Rohmer in his book, “The Drums of Fu-Manchu” Book Nine in the Dr. Fu-Manchu series published by Titan Books brings us new adventures of Sir Denis Nayland Smith, Dr. Petrie and, of course, the evil Dr. Fu-Manchu.
From the Back Cover: “Imagine a person, tall, lean, and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan…”
Europe, 1939—the year before World War II and global chaos. A time of shadows, secret societies, and international conflict. Into this world on the brink comes the most fantastic emissary of evil society has ever known… Fu-Manchu.
In order to control the Si-Fan, and then the world, Fu-Manchu must assassinate the dictators who have brought Europe to the brink of war. The places Sir Denis Nayland Smith in the impossible position of defending warmongers who may be as evil as the Devil Doctor himself
BONUS FEATURE: The Blue Monkey”, the second of three “lost adventures of Nayland Smith.
Afterword by Leslie S. Kilnger
there is a saying,”The enemy of my enemy is my friend” but what if the enemy of my enemy are the dictators that want to plunge the world into World War II? That is the dilemma that faces Sir Denis Nayland Smith in this ninth Fu-Manchu book. Even though Fu-Manchu wants this dictators eliminated, which would prevent the global war, is it wise to allow him to gain control because of it? “The Drums of Fu-Manchu” is a thriller, no doubt about it. Smith faces all kinds of perils as he races to stop this evil man. I think Mr. Rohmer was at the top of his craft when he wrote this adventure. And the action leaps from Essex and Suffolk to London, from Venice back to London, and finally off to Paris. Mr. Rohmer writes in a breathless style that will keep you on the edge of your seat, flipping pages as fast as you can read them just trying to keep up with a runaway roller coaster ride story. “The Drums of Fu-Manchu” is the perfect read to get your adrenalin going and root for the good guys to conquer a menace that is almost supremely evil. This is a wild ride read and I recommend it highly. This is a high-octane series and I am so glad that Titan Books is bringing the whole series back. I am really looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Titan Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
From the Back Cover: “Imagine a person, tall, lean, and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan…”
Europe, 1939—the year before World War II and global chaos. A time of shadows, secret societies, and international conflict. Into this world on the brink comes the most fantastic emissary of evil society has ever known… Fu-Manchu.
In order to control the Si-Fan, and then the world, Fu-Manchu must assassinate the dictators who have brought Europe to the brink of war. The places Sir Denis Nayland Smith in the impossible position of defending warmongers who may be as evil as the Devil Doctor himself
BONUS FEATURE: The Blue Monkey”, the second of three “lost adventures of Nayland Smith.
Afterword by Leslie S. Kilnger
there is a saying,”The enemy of my enemy is my friend” but what if the enemy of my enemy are the dictators that want to plunge the world into World War II? That is the dilemma that faces Sir Denis Nayland Smith in this ninth Fu-Manchu book. Even though Fu-Manchu wants this dictators eliminated, which would prevent the global war, is it wise to allow him to gain control because of it? “The Drums of Fu-Manchu” is a thriller, no doubt about it. Smith faces all kinds of perils as he races to stop this evil man. I think Mr. Rohmer was at the top of his craft when he wrote this adventure. And the action leaps from Essex and Suffolk to London, from Venice back to London, and finally off to Paris. Mr. Rohmer writes in a breathless style that will keep you on the edge of your seat, flipping pages as fast as you can read them just trying to keep up with a runaway roller coaster ride story. “The Drums of Fu-Manchu” is the perfect read to get your adrenalin going and root for the good guys to conquer a menace that is almost supremely evil. This is a wild ride read and I recommend it highly. This is a high-octane series and I am so glad that Titan Books is bringing the whole series back. I am really looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Titan Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
February 2, 2013
My first encounter with Fu Manchu or for that matter Sax Rohmer. It's always slightly odd to join a series half way through, but as this book obviously had a new narrator it wasn't too much of a problem. The book was first published in 1939 presumably just before the start of WW2 which made the story surprisingly, morally rather interesting, as much of the plot had the good guys trying to protect a dictator (Rudolf Adlon) who is obviously a thinly disguised Hitler. Fu and the Si-Fan are trying to prevent the out break of a world war by assassinating all those who could force the world into such a war. Is Nayland Smith justified here trying to thwart him? We know now what happened between 1939 and 45, but was Hitler still regarded as being as evil as he turned out to be in the year or so before the outbreak of war? Would world peace have helped the Sin-Fan to their nefarious ends? These things are never really spelt out and for me they made the book even more interesting. For the rest the book and I rather expect the rest of the series it is undoubtedly trash, but as Inigo Jollifant said in The Good Companions "there is trash and trash" and Sax Rohmer's trash is highly exciting, very compulsive un-put-down-able trash. I will almost certainly be reading more of Sax Rohmer in the future.
November 28, 2014
No, the evil mastermind isn't going Charlie Watts on us; he's employing a subtle drug on his victims that makes them think they hear drums. Published in 1939, the series' ninth entry follows the formula -- why are all of Sir Denis' assistants so easily lovestruck? -- but Fu's plan to assassinate warmongering Europeans such as "Rudolf Adlon" (!) still startles. Turns out he doesn't like competition for world domination. And no, the next title isn't "The Cowbells of Fu Manchu."
October 16, 2013
I read all these book in the 60's when i was a 12/13/14 . I really got hooked. I do feel that the re-prints should have been done in English and not American!!!!! Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward ( Sax Rohmer) would turn in his grave. I also had to warn my grandson not to take to much note of the spelling.
However nice to see them in print again.
However nice to see them in print again.
November 20, 2012
This book is spooky when you think about the time it was written. This fellow is the first terrorist villain.
November 4, 2016
Typical pulp novel... death rays, an international evil society, mystery poisons, and, of course, Fu Manchu!
January 24, 2016
read SOMETIME in 2009
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