Customer Reviews (2)

Reads like fiction
Master of Villainy was an entertaining biography of Sax Rohmer, the serial author whose most famous creation is the fictional crime lord Fu Manchu. Van Ash began his writing career under the tutilage of Sax Rohmer, who coached him in tweaking his stories and submitting them. This puts Van Ash in a unique perspective to write a biograhy of Rohmer. (Rohmer's widow Elizabeth collaborated on the project, which always helps.)

This background contributes to the biography very nicely. Van Ash, like Rohmer, was a serial author, so the facts presented here are described and paced for maximum entertainment value. Instead of beginning with a description of Sax being born and a sketch of his childhood Van Ash starts by describing a night on which Sax went missing in London's Chinatown and Elizabeth went to look for him. As Van Ash says he uses the character Fu Manchu to introduce the author rather than vice versa. The conventional biographical facts presented here string together anecdotes regarding Sax's life that highlight mysterious events and eccentricities in Sax and his aquaintances. This makes for a very entertaining read.

Van Ash's background as Sax's friend also gives the biography certain weaknesses. Often the anecdotes that Van Ash relates are entertaining and pertinent. However trivial and dull anecdotes are mixed in. For example, Van Ash relates the story of how the family cat freaked out and stared at something behind Rohmer one evening while he was writing. Later Rohmer realized that he had been writing about an Egyptian goddess with an affinity for cats. Had the cat seen it???... duh duh duh dunnnnnn. Van Ash has good narrative style but he spends more than a page describing this. Another flaw is that the entire biography is incredibly positive. Descriptions of the twenty year old Sax loosing every steady job he gets are described cheerfully. Affairs he has on his wife are treated positively too. Van Ash is adament that Sax started the affairs without really meaning it, and then kept them going because it would be rude to disappoint the ladies. Scandals are entertaining and an unauthorized biography would definitely be more fun in this area.

(Right now the lowest priced used copy at Amazon is about 65$ and 4 of the 5 used copies for sale are former library copies, so in the whole scale of supply and demand maybe someone should reprint this. Just wanted to throw that in. The vinyl covered edition also has a cool picture stamped in the vinyl.)

All in all this was a pretty good read. I recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in the subject matter. At the very least you will be entertained.

Reads like fiction
Master of Villainy was an entertaining biography of Sax Rohmer, the serial author whose most famous creation is the fictional crime lord Fu Manchu.Van Ash began his writing career under the tutilage of Sax Rohmer, who coached him in tweaking his stories and submitting them.This puts Van Ash in a unique perspective to write a biograhy of Rohmer.(Rohmer's widow Elizabeth collaborated on the project, which always helps.)

This background contributes to the biography very nicely.Van Ash, like Rohmer, was a serial author, so the facts presented here are described and paced for maximum entertainment value.Instead of beginning with a description of Sax being born and a sketch of his childhood Van Ash starts by describing a night on which Sax went missing in London's Chinatown and Elizabeth went to look for him.As Van Ash says he uses the character Fu Manchu to introduce the author rather than vice versa.The conventional biographical facts presented here string together anecdotes regarding Sax's life that highlight mysterious events and eccentricities in Sax and his aquaintances.This makes for a very entertaining read.

Van Ash's background as Sax's friend also gives the biography certain weaknesses.Often the anecdotes that Van Ash relates are entertaining and pertinent.However trivial and dull anecdotes are mixed in.For example, Van Ash relates the story of how the family cat freaked out and stared at something behind Rohmer one evening while he was writing.Later Rohmer realized that he had been writing about an Egyptian goddess with an affinity for cats.Had the cat seen it???... duh duh duh dunnnnnn.Van Ash has good narrative style but he spends more than a page describing this.Another flaw is that the entire biography is incredibly positive.Descriptions of the twenty year old Sax loosing every steady job he gets are described cheerfully.Affairs he has on his wife are treated positively too.Van Ash is adament that Sax started the affairs without really meaning it, and then kept them going because it would be rude to disappoint the ladies.Scandals are entertaining and an unauthorized biography would definitely be more fun in this area.

(Right now the lowest priced used copy at Amazon is about 65$ and 4 of the 5 used copies for sale are former library copies, so in the whole scale of supply and demand maybe someone should reprint this.Just wanted to throw that in.The vinyl covered edition also has a cool picture stamped in the vinyl.)

All in all this was a pretty good read.I recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in the subject matter.At the very least you will be entertained. ... Read more

Product Description
A good-humored appreciation of the uses and abuses of magic, sorcery, and its spiritualist descendants. Contents: Sorcery and sorcerers; Apollonius of Tyana; Michel de Notre Dame, called Nostradamus; Dr. John Dee; Cagliostro; Madame Blavatsky; Sorcery and the law; Conclusion; Index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great read, but your wallet might disagree
Sax Rohmer is best known as the author of the Fu Manchu books, many of which have been made into films. However, he was also a historian of mysticism and the occult, and A Guide to Magic, Sorcery, and the Paranormal, which was first published almost 100 years ago, was the only non-fiction book Rohmer ever wrote. Through this work he wanted to tell the layman about his interest, and as a result of this he never digs very deep into his subjects, but throughout the book writes enough to make the reader interested and inspired to make his or her own research.

So what, then, is it that Rohmer writes about? Well, as the title says, magic, sorcery, and the paranormal, seen through a historical perspective, focusing on some of the most prominent characters ever to have explored the occult. Rohmer mentions, among other individuals, Michel de Notre Dame (also known as Nostradamus), Dr. John Dee, count Cagliostro, and founder of theosophy Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. It's very obvious that the book is indeed written to the layman, since Rohmer repeatedly assures his reader that he's not going to dig too deep into his subject matter, and except for a few instances he never offers any thorough description of rituals and methods.

There's not a complete lack of scepticism, but on the other hand, it's not very apparent, but then again, A Guide to Magic, Sorcery, and the Paranormal never claims to be a book by a skeptic for a skeptic. It's, just like the back of it says, an introduction to magic, sorcery, and the paranormal, but it's by far not the best introduction out there. There are tons of newer, better, and especially cheaper books available these days, but it was definitely worth reading and I truly did appreciate it.

But it's not a cheap experience, though. The price is quite high, and many people might find it a bit too much for a book that really doesn't have anything extraordinary to say. However, any serious collector of books about the occult should grab it immediately, and I'm very proud to have it in my bookshelf. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

FU FIGHTS FASCISTS
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.

"He was Satan incarnate..."
Europe ~ 1939.As the fragrance of the deadly hawthorn wafts through the night air, sinister drums beat in the distance and herald the dreadful Green Death.The Si Fan and the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu murder military and political leaders who threaten world peace.Although it appears that Fu Manchu has switched to the side of the angels, Nayland Smith doesn't buy it.In his nervous and high strung way, Smith runs around trying to prevent the death of war mongers.In the process, he tries to determine what the heck Fu Manchu is up to now.

This entry in the classic mystery-adventure series is good lightweight reading.We aren't speaking of great literature, but as a pulp novel, it serves the purpose for young adult readers (and those who remain young adult at heart).Typical of Sax Rohmer, there is a lot of running around and narrow escapes.Cryptic characters abound.The evil doctor stays one step ahead of his pursuers.Nayland Smith and Bart Kerrigan do what they can to frustrate Fu Manchu's fiendish purpose.Back and forth it goes.There are less of the typical "yellow peril" overtones of the earlier books in the series to trouble modern readers.To borrow a phrase from Sherlock Holmes, "The game's afoot!"Enjoy the fun.;-)

Vintage Sax Rohmer
THE DRUMS OF FU MANCHU sees Sax Rohmer bringing Fu Manchu into play in the months leading up to World War II. Originally published in 1939, the book returns to the classic FU MANCHU format with narrator/hero Bart Kerrigan (a worthy successor to Dr. Petrie, Shan Greville, and Alan Sterling) teaming with Nayland Smith to prevent Fu Manchu from assassinating fascist dictators from Germany and Italy (the names have been changed to protect the guilty). A marked change from the paranoiac American presidential campaign documented in PRESIDENT FU MANCHU (which inspired THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE). Long-time fans will thrill to Rohmer's patented breakneck pace, sharp characterizations, and brisk dialogue. Highly recommended to mystery fans and adventure-lovers alike. A word of warning--the book ends abruptly paving the way for 1941's THE ISLAND OF FU MANCHU.

Pretty Sad
One of the most boring and out and out racist books I have ever read. Other books in the series often contain material that is very racist and sexist, and may be excused in that they are products of their times. Thisone is a step beyond, in that it is poorly written and blatently racist.Reading it often made me cringe.

Bad, in a truly amazing way.
A historical oddity as well as a very bad and very racist book.In this entry in the popular series, written in the late 1930's, Nayland Smith rescues thinly disguised versions of Hitler and Mussolini from the evil"Yellow Peril", Fu Manchu.His only reason seems to be that,well, they may not be our sort of people, but they are white, dash it all.

I wish I could have read Mr. Rohmer's mail over the next few years,after WWII started!Here it is fifty-plus years later and I still can'tbelieve it. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Dr Fu Manchau is superior
The return to a by gone era immerses the reader in a time and culture that demands your attention as the story unfolds with the ever present danger from any direction, at any time, in any place that may be the moment the mysterious Dr strikes.
Dr Fu Manchau is a legendary figure, both a villian and a patriot (in his own mind)in conflict with an equally determined opponent, Nayland Smith. The author winds a serpentine journey as the battle royal continues between these two implacable foes.Who will emerge with victory? Only the reader can decide as you will follow the adventures to a climax, or will you.Read and find out.

Amusing look at the past. - What about Smith?
For sure, the Fu-Manchu stories are racist; anyone who takes them seriously would be ridiculous.They are an interesting look at attitudes pre-WWI, though, and in that regard, almost laughable.Nayland Smith's talk of a "Yellow Peril" to threaten the whole white world (which never gets any more specific than that), is so corny as to be a joke.The funny thing as that all his fears about the East should really be reversed.Circa 1913, it would have been more justified for the Chinese to be worried about a European threat to their way of life.
Anyway, here's my question - why does author claim Nayland Smith is such a great hero and agent of the crown?If you ask me, he's a failure.Here's a guy who has Public Enemy #1 (the threat to the whole Western way of life) at gunpoint, but fails to shoot because Fu-Manchu's henchman puts a knife to his buddy's throat.A serious agent would take out the quarry immediately, even if it meant his own life.And this villain supposedly means the end of civilization.Isn't it worth both Smith and his pal getting knocked off in order to save humanity.I know, this is a plot device, but a cheap and visible one, and one that gets tired after the xxth time it happens.

Super Reader
The breathless but brave and unrelenting goofball Nayland Smith and his stoic offsider and chronicler Petrie pursue the genius superman, the ultimate embodiment of the Yellow Peril, Dr Fu-Manchu.

Helped along the way by his beautiful but unwilling servant Kâramanèh is a game of capture and escape and disguise around London.

You have to give the good doctor credit for trying to kill 'em with poison gas stashed in a mummy's tomb.

The guy can't be all bad. He has a monkey.

Very entertaining.

Well written time capsule of early 20th century views of east/west relationships
Dr. Petrie is visited by long-time friend Nayland Smith and hurled into adventure. Smith, recently returned from British Burma, is on the trail of mysterious and evil Chinese scientist/political leader Dr. Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu and his fellows will stop at nothing to prevent Europe's leading students of the orient from revealing his secrets, and the plot to overturn the game of Empire as it was played in the early 20th Century to put China at the top of the world.

Fu Manchu has limited resources--a few practicers of Thuggee and Dacoits, but his scientific skills make up for this lack. He has access to rare poisons, secret gasses, trained monkies, and control of a beautiful woman willing to lead men to their doom. This woman, however, turns out to be a key to Smith's investigation when she falls for Petrie, saving him--and Smith--from certain death at the hands of Fu Manchu.

The opening novel in the long-running Fu Manchu series (Rohmer wrote approximately 14) is well constructed and fast-moving with Smith and Petrie always a step behind the brilliant Fu Manchu, yet willing to continue with plucky British spirit. Author Sax Rohmer shows a grudging respect for the evil Fu Manchu, but reflects the fears of his time--that the 'yellow peril' is fearsome indeed, and that a clash of civilization between the west and the inscrutible east is under weigh. That Fu Manchu's nation was largely occupied by western armies, forced to admit the Opium that poisoned some of China's finest minds, and that much of the rest of the east was a part of the British Empire added only the slightest tinge of sympathy for the evil Fu Manchu.

At a time when China is set to become the world's leading economy, fears of the 'yellow peril' are increasingly common and I felt it worthwhile to give THE INSIDIOUS DR. FU MANCHU another look. I thought Rohmer's writing held up well and that this story, unlike some of his later works which rely much too extensively on coincidence and luck. All in all, FU MANCHU makes for interesting reading an serves as a bit of a time machine into the mind of the British man-in-the-streets who saw the British Empire at its greatest extent, yet felt ever-threatened by the mysterious east.

The Wiles of the Devil Doctor, Fu-Manchu.
_The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu_, republished by Dover Publications, is an American edition of the first book of Sax Rohmer (a pseudonym for the author Arthur Sarsfield Ward (1883-1959)), published in America as _The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu_ (1913) and in England as _The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu_.Sax Rohmer (a pseudonym meaning "blade roamer") published these stories of a Chinese criminal mastermind in magazines in America and England before cobbling them together into book form as they appear here.These stories detail the exploits of the devil doctor, Dr. Fu-Manchu, a criminal mastermind of Chinese extraction, and part of the Young China movement, seeking to destroy the white race.Fu-Manchu is described as "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.Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect. . . . Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man."In the book, Fu-Manchu heads a Chinese criminal organization and operates behind the front of opium dens and uses dacoits as henchmen.The story is based upon many of the stereotypes about the Chinese people popular at the time, regarding them as cunning and nefarious, and the imminent threat of the "Yellow Peril" against the white race and is certainly unlikely to please the politically correct.Fu-Manchu makes use of many secret means to attack his foes, including the Zayat kiss, the call of Siva, and deadly elixirs which enable him to control life and death, as well as fungal extractions which allow for him to cause madness.Fu-Manchu also makes use of a beautiful Arabian (Oriental) slave girl, Karamaneh, who serves him so as to prevent him from harming her helpless brother Aziz.The heroes of the story include the narrator Dr. Petrie and Nayland Smith, recently returned from Burma and an active servant of king and country.The story mostly takes place in and around London and the Thames river, while the heroes try to capture the mad doctor and prevent him from doing further harm.However, the doctor always escapes their grasp.Dr. Petrie ends up falling under the spell of the beautiful Karamaneh and will attempt to aid her so she can finally free herself and her brother from the devil doctor.As the heroes track the doctor as he murders and causes mayhem, they must fear for their lives as he follows them closely with his evil dacoit henchmen.This story is a fairly interesting one which shows us a picture of the Orientals as seen by an Englishman of the late Nineteenth Century.The character of Dr. Fu-Manchu and the mystery surrounding him will appear again and again in all the writings of Sax Rohmer.He remains a classic villain and his exploits provide an entertaining yarn for those who read of them. ... Read more

Product Description
Lost Classic!

Rohmer's Haunting of Low Fennel, last printed in 1926, didn't even make the legendary Bookfinger re-issues.

Here in their entirety, seven stories to chill you as only the author of Fu Manchu could! ... Read more

Product Description
The signs were everywhere; sinister warnings that an insidious band of murderers had formed under the guidance of the greatest criminal genius of all time.Once again the oriental master of life and death strikes for world domination. Once again, standing foursquare in his path are Commissioner Nayland Smith and the trusty Dr. Petrie. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Set-up for Kindle Could Be Improved
Overall, a passable Kindle edition.

Does not have an active table of contents. In fact, it has no table of contents at all.

The text is clean. Well, at least I didn't see any typographical errors.

If Sax Rohmer continued in this book his practice of using italics to emphasize occasional words, then those emphases seem to have been lost in this edition--as they were in the ManyBooks (free) digital edition. Maybe that's preferable to how word emphasis has been handled in some digital editions of the first book in this series (The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu). In those editions, emphasized words were set in all capitals, which is distracting. The characters appear to SHOUT at one another from time to time.

One more drawback to this edition of The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu: The characters' dialogue is presented without quotation marks, so the reader has to guess where the dialogue stops and the narration begins. That's not hard to do, just annoying.

Could be a fine edition with an active table of contents and a bit more attention to the text. But as things stand now, I prefer the free copy from [...]--which gives due credit to Project Gutenberg, the source of the text. The ManyBooks version has an active table of contents and dialogue that's comes complete with punctuation.
... Read more

Product Description
The illusion persisting, I determined that it was due to the unnatural strain imposed upon my vision, and although I recognized that time was precious I found myself compelled temporarily to desist, since nothing was to be gained by watching these letters which danced from side to side of the parchment, sometimes in groups and sometimes singly, so that I found myself pursuing one slim Arab A ('Alif) entirely up the page from the bottom to the top where it finally disappeared under the thumb of the Lady Zuleyka! ... Read more

Product Description
NOTE: This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and has been beautifully formatted (searchable and interlinked) to work on your Amazon e-book reader, Amazon Desktop Reader, and your ipod e-book reader.

These are detective/thriller stories about the struggles of the heroic British government agent, Nayland Smith, to foil the dastardly plots of evil genius/scientist Dr. Fu-Manchu (he wants overthrow the government).

Written in 1917, this is a wonderful collection of well-written thrilling mysteries. THese are the original and unabridged versions of these classics. A must-have for classic pulp fiction fans!

- In this volume: –

– Book 1. The Insidious Dr Fu Manchu –

– Book 2. The Devil Doctor (aka The Return of Dr Fu-Manchu) –

– Book 3. The Hand of Fu-Manchu (aka The Si-Fan Mysteries) – ... Read more

Product Description
Adventure Classics is the second multi-author anthology in the Graphic Classics series. The book presents thirteen stories and poems of danger, horror, comedy and romance; all told in new comics adaptations. Included are "The Valley of the Sorceress" by "Fu Manchu" author Sax Rohmer, "The Masked Ball" by Alexandre Dumas, and "Tigre" by Zane Grey. Plus a classic war story by Damon Runyon, a saga of Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini, and a noir crime tale by "Zorro" author Johnston McCulley. Also more stories from O. Henry, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert W. Service, Edith Nesbit, Robert Louis Stevenson and Fitz-James O'Brien, as illustrated by Hunt Emerson, Michael Manning, Mary Fleener, Don Marquez, Mark A. Nelson and more great contemporary artists. With a dramatic cover painting by Chris Moore. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A wonderfully illustrated collection of rollicking adventure yarns!
Fromthe haunted excavations of an Egyptian desert tomb to an elegant but mysterious masqued ball in 18th century France, from the rain forests of Central American to the frigid windswept Canadian Arctic, from the 17th century Caribbean seas and naval warfare against the Spanish Armada to the European trenches of World War I, from the streets of New York to the 19th century battleground between the French and English armies in Spain, from the fogbound streets of upper crust London to the stifling, heat of colonial India - Adventure Classics has anthologized a wonderful collection of adventure stories from some of the best loved classic authors who ever put pen to paper. You'll thrill to poetry from Rudyard Kipling and Robert Service, the exploits of Brigadier Gerard from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the exhilarating, heart-stopping action of Zane Grey's manly heroes and buxom, beauteous heroines. You'll lap up the swashbuckling derring-do of Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood and you'll chill to the teeth-chattering horror of Sax Rohmer and Johnston McCulley.

For dedicated readers and classic lovers looking for a lighthearted break from the written page but still hoping to retain a note of seriousness and quality, graphic novels like this Graphic Classics series provide the perfect answer - easy reading, quality artwork that provides a complement to the author's words and the readers' imaginations, an opportunity to sample authors that you might never have read before, a chance to quickly re-read classics that perhaps you read many years ago in your youth but haven't had the chance to reread as an adult.

The only criticism that I can level at this particular volume is that the artwork was exclusively in black and white. That said, I should also single out artist Nick Miller who did a hilarious job illustrating Conan Doyle's Crime of the Brigadier. His portrayal of the dandified Brigadier Gerard's antics outwitting the French Army were simply beyond superb. Some of the facial expressions he captured in his cartoon caricatures were absolutely amazing.

Undoubtedly, you could read this entire collection in less than an hour. But my advice is to slow down! Take time to peruse and absorb each and every delicious panel of art. You'll quickly come to understand how a well-prepared and sensuously illustrated graphic novel can complement and extend an author's ideas and bring an adventure to life in a way that the original writer probably never imagined. I'm definitely going to be looking for more in this wonderful series. Highly recommended.

Graphic SF Reader
A lot of the artwork here is reminiscent of your independent black and white style stuff, which, I suppose, is not too surprising in a case like this.

The text is of course what is supposed to feature.

The highlight would be the work on Zane Grey's Tigre.

The cartoon style on the Brigadier Gerard and Captain Blood stories is nifty, as well.

Ripping good stuff! Tales of pirates, desert sorceresses, lusty women and dangerous men
The mysterious desert.The high plains.The stormy seas.The dense jungles. These are the places where actions speak louder than words, where the sharp retort of a six-gun decides who is right and who is dead, and a blind tiger stalks with preternatural senses and determination. These are the settings for Adventure Tales, a genre of literature prominent in the 1900's, in which many of the finest authors of the period plied their trades.

In this, their 12th volume, Graphic Classics has assembled an anthology of some of the greatest adventure stories of the time, full of hot blood and cold nights, mystery and magic. These classic tales have been interpreted by a host of talented illustrators, lending their own unique insight into the authors original stories. This is their second anthology book, like Volume 10 "Horror Classics," combining many workers in the genre rather than focusing on a specific author.

Some of the best authors are on display here. Robert Louis Stevenson, author of "Treasure Island," Sax Rohmer, creator of Yellow Peril villain Fu Manchu, Alexander Dumas, creator of The Three Musketeers, renowned cowboy author Zane Grey, Damon Runyon, author of "The Idylls of Miss Sarah" which was adapted as the musical "Guys and Dolls,"Rafael Sabatinin master of Pirate Tales and creator of Captain Blood, Johnston McCully creator of the swashbuckling Zorro, Sherlock Holme's creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Rudyard Kipling, author of "The Jungle Books."

Finally, there is O. Henry, whom if it weren't for Graphics Classics, I might have known nothing more of than the sweet Christmas fable, "The Gift of the Magi," rather than met him as a scribbler of dark cowboy adventures.

This volume contains:

The Wind Blew Shrill and Sharp - A lusty sea poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. Skot Olsen provides an excellent and strong sailor to accompany the compelling verse.

In the Valley of the Sorceress - Egypt was a mysterious and magical place at the time, andSax Rohmer weaves a web of desire and danger.An archaeologist attempts to open the hidden tomb of Sorceress Queen Hatasu, but finds his efforts daunted, and his soul beguiled by a beautiful Arab maiden.Illustrator JB Bonivert brings a unique and fanciful style to this classic adventure.

The Masked Ball - By Alexander Dumas.A short and dark tale of heartbreak and desire, accompanied by a hedonistic masked ball where people seek to drown their loneliness and hide their faces.Michael Manning provides a dark atmosphere, heavy with black spaces, as an appropriate accompaniment.

Tigre - The jungles of Mexico are the setting for this tale of lust and revenge.By Zane Grey, an old farmer is a master of wild animals, particularly his blind brutish tiger named Tigre.The only thing he can't tame is his young and pretty wife. Who stalks who in the dense jungle?A straight-forward but perfect comic book adaptation by Don Marquez, particularly of the lovely Senora.

The Shooting of Dan McGrew - A popular cowboy poem by Robert W. Service, adapted with humor and pathos by Hunt Emerson. A lonely miner, a dangerous gambler, and the lady that's known as Lou.

Two Men Named Collins - Damon Runyon gives us a sad and silently heroic of two soldiers who share the same name.On is lonely and ugly, one is popular and handsome.But the one holds the secret of the other, and nobility is not always what it seems.Illustrator Noel Tuazon does a spectacular adaptation of this tail, lending even more weight and atmospher to the yarn.

Blood Money -An adventure of Rafael Sabatinin's celebrated rouge Captain Blood.A straight-forward comic book adaptation by Kevin Atkinson, this is a clever celebration of the key to Captain Bloods success.Pure luck.

Gunga Din -Rudyard Kipling gives us a blood-rousing poem of an Indian water bearer and the Thuggee wars.The prose is amazing. "But when it comes to slaughter, you will do your work on water, an' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im that's got it."Great illustrations by Mary Fleener, this was the first time I had read this classic poem.

The Man without a Shadow - An Irish short story author, this is a companion piece to "A Day-Dream" which appears in "Horror Classics."A whimsical adaptation by Milton Knight of a clever tale.

The Mystery of the Semi-Detached - I always knew Edith Nesbit as the author of the children's tales "The Boxcar Children," but little did I know she had this tale of murder and ghosts in her.With excellent Victorianesque illustrations by Antonella Caputo.

The Stolen Story - Johnston McCully is best known for swashbuckling, but this tale of fictional theft is equally gripping. A man's dreams are met, although they turn into a nightmare.With appropriately grotesque illustrations by Chris Pelletiere.

The Crime of the Brigadier - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had many characters, one of them Brigadier Gerard, a teller of tall-tales and adventurer in Napoleon's army.This funny yarn is comically adapted by Nick Miller is a suiting style.

The Roads We Take -Another black tale of cowboys by O. Henry, a story of betrayal, and a man's true character.Outlaw Shark Dodson saw two roads ahead of him, both leading to the same ending.A bleak story, with a perfect adaptation by Pedro Lopez.So good I immediately read it again after finishing it.

As exciting, wild, and spooky to read as its predecessors
The twelfth volume in the "Adventure Classics" series of graphic novels and short story collections, the reader is treated to some of the finest adventure writing by some of the most talented authors, and adapted to the graphic novel format by illustrators and artists of matching caliber. The stories comprising this issue include: "In the Valley of the Sorceress" by Sax Rohmer, ill. by J. B. Bonivert; "The Masked Ball" by Alexandre Dumas, ill. by Michael Manning; "Two Men Named Collins" by Damon Runyon, ill. by Noel Tuazon; "Tigre" by Zane Grey, ill. by Don Marquez; "Blood Money" by Rafael Sabatini, ill. by Kevin Atkinson; "The Stolen Story" by Johnston McCulley, ill. by Chris Pelletiere; "Gunga Din", by Rudyard Kipling, ill. by Mary Fleener, and more. Thrilling tales of the past century brought to life in a wide variety of bold, black-and-white styles make Adventure Classics Volume 12 as exciting, wild, and spooky to read as its predecessors.
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Customer Reviews (2)

PICKING UP WHERE POPS LEFT OFF...
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.

"A brow like Shakespeare, a face like Satan..."
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. ;-) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Delightfully Anachronistic
Nobody these days would have the guts to publish -- or even write -- the fabulous Fu Manchu novels by Sax Rohmer. By spineless modern "Politically Correct" sensibilities, these books are wildly racist: The heroes talk of their mission to save the "White Race" from the evil plots of Dr. Fu Manchu, who is the living embodiment of the "Yellow Peril." Such things are not allowed, nowadays.

But whether that's good or bad is a different subject. One must bear in mind that when these books were written, that's the way the world WAS. That's how people thought.

The "PC" whitewashing may have largely removed Fu Manchu from the popular consciousness now, but for over 40 years Sax Rohmer's tales were bestsellers -- and the nefarious Dr. Fu Manchu was ranked right up there with such literary terrors as Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and Mr. Hyde.

And if you can look past the superficial "racism," you might discover why Fu Manchu once held such infamy: Sax Rohmer knew how to write a damned fine story. ... Read more

Product Description
Witchcult, Satanism, Sorcery, Lycanthropy ... Read more