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schwimfan's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
stewie's review against another edition
3.0
Fu-Manchu, a dude so evil he has a mustache style named after him.
Read my full review at HorrorTalk.com.
Read my full review at HorrorTalk.com.
bmip666's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
tbr_the_unconquered's review against another edition
3.0
The two British protagonists of this book are extreme racists. Speaking through the mouths of these two, the author employs almost every possible racial slur against the Chinese. Anything remotely related to China or Asia are right away branded as evil and objects of suspicion.
That’s the most in-your-face fact about the story of Dr. Fu Manchu. Any thought about this book from me could not proceed unless I had put these into words out here. Sax Rohmer’s story is a celebration of villainy with the introduction of a worthy villain. Two British gentlemen – Nayland Smith and Dr.Petrie are hot on the heels of an evil genius – Dr. Fu Manchu who like a dreaded virus is extending his reach farther and farther into England. There is a hit list that the Doctor has prepared for a few men in England all of which he systematically eliminates over the days. The British try their best to thwart his plans but Fu Manchu is like the Lernaean Hydra : the more heads you chop off, the more grow up in their place. A pedestrian analogy I can draw would be Brain from Pinky & the Brain with the only difference that Fu Manchu’s plans almost always succeed. Ever pondering his next evil machination Fu Manchu takes Smith and Petrie for a merry ride across England.
Let’s face it, Sax Rohmer might have been ‘inspired’ by that other gentleman in 221B but I would say it borders more on plagiarism than simple inspiration. There are more than one resemblances to a shrewd and unsentimental investigator and his side kick who is a doctor in this story. Where Rohmer succeeds in rescuing his creation is by making his evil genius stand taller than his sleuths. The evil doctor is in London aided by secret Chinese councils and looking for Chinese takeover of the British empire. He has an army at his beck and call complete with thugs, femme fatales, a lush supply of Opium and monstrous sidekicks straight out of laboratories. This being the first story the evil doctor is hell bent on killing everyone who stands in his way but his methods are what makes him such a magnificent antagonist. It is not every day that you come against a villain with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan and live to tell the tale.
As pulp fiction this is one of the best I have read for it has all the ingredients : guns, action, women, scheming villains and so on. The racism is rather inexcusable and I cannot really recommend this book. But being an insatiable sucker for good stories, I will follow Fu Manchu for some more time.
That’s the most in-your-face fact about the story of Dr. Fu Manchu. Any thought about this book from me could not proceed unless I had put these into words out here. Sax Rohmer’s story is a celebration of villainy with the introduction of a worthy villain. Two British gentlemen – Nayland Smith and Dr.Petrie are hot on the heels of an evil genius – Dr. Fu Manchu who like a dreaded virus is extending his reach farther and farther into England. There is a hit list that the Doctor has prepared for a few men in England all of which he systematically eliminates over the days. The British try their best to thwart his plans but Fu Manchu is like the Lernaean Hydra : the more heads you chop off, the more grow up in their place. A pedestrian analogy I can draw would be Brain from Pinky & the Brain with the only difference that Fu Manchu’s plans almost always succeed. Ever pondering his next evil machination Fu Manchu takes Smith and Petrie for a merry ride across England.
Let’s face it, Sax Rohmer might have been ‘inspired’ by that other gentleman in 221B but I would say it borders more on plagiarism than simple inspiration. There are more than one resemblances to a shrewd and unsentimental investigator and his side kick who is a doctor in this story. Where Rohmer succeeds in rescuing his creation is by making his evil genius stand taller than his sleuths. The evil doctor is in London aided by secret Chinese councils and looking for Chinese takeover of the British empire. He has an army at his beck and call complete with thugs, femme fatales, a lush supply of Opium and monstrous sidekicks straight out of laboratories. This being the first story the evil doctor is hell bent on killing everyone who stands in his way but his methods are what makes him such a magnificent antagonist. It is not every day that you come against a villain with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan and live to tell the tale.
As pulp fiction this is one of the best I have read for it has all the ingredients : guns, action, women, scheming villains and so on. The racism is rather inexcusable and I cannot really recommend this book. But being an insatiable sucker for good stories, I will follow Fu Manchu for some more time.
spenser22's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
thereaderred's review against another edition
2.0
I've got to say I had mixed feelings about this book, racism aside* because I can take it with a pinch of salt and still enjoy the story. On the one hand it is a thrilling pulp adventure with death traps, perplexing mysteries and criminal masterminds, on the other it is a overwrought, repetetive and somewhat unevenly paced book to sit through.
The action moves steadily towards the first mystery, one of a fatal mark known as the "Zayat Kiss" and the heroes are on the track of the handiwork of a certain criminal genius and his slave servant girl.
The novel is very episodic, which in most other books would seem fresh and interesting (Sherlock Holmes stories are quite formulaic but they each have a variety which makes them a joy to revisit), here it felt boring and repetetive because half the time I got the sensation that I had skipped previous chapters, due to the amount of coincidental mystery solving the protagonists have to do.
It also doesn't help that the characters don't have any real personality, aside from the two leads being Holmes and Watson stand ins, so there was no real reason for me to get hyped - although for some reason my reading experience was made more enjoyable as I pictured Nayland Smith as a stark raving Peter Capaldi in full Malcolm Tucker mode:
the only one who really gets some form of development is the villain himself Fu Manchu, a character I was genuinely interested in, and actually seemed threatening to the heroes.
The writing is a bit turbulent with certain passages echoing the lucid descriptions of Conan Doyle, while others feel like Rohmer attended the H.P Lovecraft school of exposition. Thus leaving the book feel more bloated than it should be. However, like Lovecraft, he does manage to set the tone very well.
I would most likely rank this as average because it is a fun, harmless way to pass the time. That being said I'd only recommend it to the die hard fans since it does drag at times.
*It's so heavy handed that it becomes adorable, at least to me.
The action moves steadily towards the first mystery, one of a fatal mark known as the "Zayat Kiss" and the heroes are on the track of the handiwork of a certain criminal genius and his slave servant girl.
The novel is very episodic, which in most other books would seem fresh and interesting (Sherlock Holmes stories are quite formulaic but they each have a variety which makes them a joy to revisit), here it felt boring and repetetive because half the time I got the sensation that I had skipped previous chapters, due to the amount of coincidental mystery solving the protagonists have to do.
It also doesn't help that the characters don't have any real personality, aside from the two leads being Holmes and Watson stand ins, so there was no real reason for me to get hyped - although for some reason my reading experience was made more enjoyable as I pictured Nayland Smith as a stark raving Peter Capaldi in full Malcolm Tucker mode:
the only one who really gets some form of development is the villain himself Fu Manchu, a character I was genuinely interested in, and actually seemed threatening to the heroes.
The writing is a bit turbulent with certain passages echoing the lucid descriptions of Conan Doyle, while others feel like Rohmer attended the H.P Lovecraft school of exposition. Thus leaving the book feel more bloated than it should be. However, like Lovecraft, he does manage to set the tone very well.
I would most likely rank this as average because it is a fun, harmless way to pass the time. That being said I'd only recommend it to the die hard fans since it does drag at times.
*It's so heavy handed that it becomes adorable, at least to me.
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