Book Review of The Mask of Fu-Manchu, by Sax Rohmer

The Mask of Fu-Manchu, by Sax Rohmer
Published By: Titan Books
Published: 2013
Reviewed by: Michael D. Griffiths
Stars: 4 out of 5

The Mask of Fu-Manchu, by Sax Rohmer

The Mask of Fu-Manchu, by Sax Rohmer, is a reprinting of a book that was originally written in England in 1931. In case you have not heard of Fu-Manchu, he is one of the very first arch-villains to appear as a running adversary against a group of heroes. Like many arch-villains, Fu-Manchu is looking for nothing less than world domination. If he cannot get the whole world yet, then he will settle of a culture or two, or perhaps a few countries or in some cases almost an entire continent.
But although charismatic, Fu-Manchu is a figure of the shadows, the type of man that controls politicians and kings, but is not one himself. As would some nemesis to follow, Fu-Manchu also has a strong set of ethics. He would divert a dying village’s water supply to help his workers mine for diamonds, but his word is also his bond and despite his evil manner, he can be trusted to live up to his bargains like a gentleman.

In this story, our stalwart band of English heroes have once again been set on by the subtle strings and manipulations of Fu-Manchu when they unearth ancient artifacts that could rekindle a fanatic uprising among the Muslim people. Fu-Manchu wishes to use these items to set himself up as a new messiah in the Middle East, while the Englishmen seek to keep Fu-Manchu’s hands off them.
After several attempts to steal the artifacts and the murder of their friend, the heroes flee from the city near the dig to Egypt. But the sinister Chinaman has a new tool, a strange mimosa smelling chemical that not only knocks a person unconscious, but can be used to put them in a trance where they can be forced to obey his will. With the use of this drug, Greville helps Fu-Manchu kidnap his bride to be. Using the poor girl as a hostage, they set for a meeting to trade the woman for the artifacts within the largest pyramid.

I do not want to reveal more of the plot for it is a book worth reading. If one has never explored Fu-Manchu, it might be time you started. Many of the classic villain archetypes can find their origins within these pages. Sax Rohmer is a classic English author comparable with Doyle, Wells, and Verne, but remains far less known. The book is fast paced and action packed and leaves you wanting more.
Drawbacks of the book could include a racist aspect that is hard to deny. The threat of “the Yellow Peril,” is quite evident. Other races appear to have little will of their own and are used for tools and must be controlled. This brings up the issue of judging a man by our standards or his. Is Thomas Jefferson evil because he owned slaves? Should we disregard everything he wrote because of this? Or was he, for his time, a progressive thinker that did have valuable ideas to share? In some respects learning the origins of our past in an honest manner could have value and instead of ignoring that realty and pretending it did not happen. Perhaps instead of condemning whole centuries of humanity as evil, because they do not act like us, we can try to understand our own histories.

The Mask of Fu-Manchu was a real pleasure to read. Some of the writing was of a dated style, but this did not misplace to thrill of following these men through their adventure. Whether it is for personal enjoyment, learning more about the history of villains, or for an author to improve his own villains, The Mask of Fu-Manchu is a worthy read.

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Dionysus Caffeine

Sometimes we just need to kick Ass

When this is the case Caffeine we should not Pass

In this world where there is so much to Do

The Pressure can slam onto You

Sometimes a little help can go a long Way

Why not use more tools to control the Chaotic Sway

So let Soda and such flow into Me

And I will race to accomplish all the Goals that I See

For doing one thing is never Enough

Sometimes in life you have to get Rough

During the Night we have Beer and Wine

But in the early hours Caffeine is Divine

So as I set Out

Hear my shout Out

Dionysus send your energy down on Me

So of these tasks I can be Free

Why do I want to be Free

So later I can Party

Dionysus Cola

Learn More about the Heroes of Dionysus Here!

Saving Money (Part II)

Moving through the stygian night, he followed the lanky form of Rick-the-dick. They were passing through the slums of southern New Cluster, which were some of the worse parts of the city and of course where they all lived.

Streetlights, that hadn’t worked for a decade, stabbed the earth like black daggers. Overhead, the smog obfuscated any hint of the stars he knew lurked above. Leaving the major streets, Rick weaved through the alleys. These grimy streets had gone from being thoroughfares to hard-bitten squats for all manner of dregs.

Normally, Talon would be put off entering these suspect areas, but the tall imposing figure of Rick-the-dick kept the others at bay. Gazing left and right, he saw gangs of dregs. Many eyed them as potential prey, but they had chosen to keep their distance so far.

“These places are too crowded,” Rick hissed back at him. Talon also thought that these folk probably did something with their dead, other than let PRs drag them away, but he kept his opinions to himself.

The pair moved away from the throbbing seas of dregs and headed for the canals. These canals were dryer than a bucket of sand left in the desert and were now just crumbling monuments to a time when rivers still moved across this part of the city, unless you counted the garbage-choked flashfloods that ripped through New Custer in the spring. These were long gone now, and the canal loomed before them like a dark scar cut into the Earth.

People still malingered here and there, for it was rare to find any sort of isolation within the city limits. They moved closer to the canal. A walkway ran along it, which had once been part of a recreation program, but due to the smog, long gone were the days when one could exercise outside. Such things now belonged only to those rich enough to afford the indoor gyms, or people like him that worked off any nutrition he received through drudgery.

A bridge formed a black arch, which blocked half of the northern city’s lights and created a wide shadow across the trail. Rick headed for it. Talon hesitated at the lip of darkness. “Come on you wuss,” Rick ordered. Normally Talon wouldn’t have gone anywhere near places like this, but supposed that they were the predators now.

To his right, only a thin railing kept path traffic from tumbling into the canal bed far below. To his left, the darkness thickened where the bridge continued into a narrow space between the road and the dirt below. Rick had some sort of light and was shining it into these recesses. Talon hurried closer to the light. Looking back at him, the grim form of Rick nodded, the light reflecting off his archaic glasses. He motioned with his head and Talon saw a tangled sleeping form. The man was so filthy, he nearly camouflaged himself into the dirt below.

“Is he dead?” Talon whispered.

Rick’s response was to kick the man in the shin while he removed a pair of nun-chucks. The man groaned, but made no move to retaliate or even awaken.

“He’s still alive, Rick.”

“That’s a situation which can be easily rectified.” Then with a snarl, Rick tore the old man from his bedding and violently dragged him to the edge of the dirt.

Screaming began and ended quickly, when Rick laid the nun-chucks into the old dreg. Talon couldn’t move as the sick crunches filled the air. Rick beat on him again and again, until there was no doubt that the old man was dead. Then crouching over his victim, Rick began to search the man in the faint hope that he might possess something valuable.

They were right next to the rail that separated them from the long drop into the rocky canal. Without really planning to, Talon rushed forward and gave Rick-the-dick a mighty shove. Rick’s eyes grew wide, more with anger than fear, and he clutched at Talon as his body balanced precariously on the railing. Fingers tore strips of hair from Talon’s mohawk, but with a grunt, Talon grabbed the base of Rick’s boots and upended him backwards over the railing. Rick didn’t even bother to scream when his body plummeted into the debris-choked canal.

Another person might have just fled back to is home and hoped for the best, but Talon knew what sort of end that choice would led him to eventually. He had different ideas.

Learn more about New Cluster and its Heroes here!!!

Worst Case Scenario

Despite his reluctance, Jack decided to go with Bruin’s plan of letting Jack and the Dionysus worshippers try to rescue the healer Felix, while Bruin and Lanna attempted to destroy a Darcarre nest. They made it deep into Boston unopposed, but this also made sense for the Xemmoni no doubt wanted them as far into the city as possible before they set their trap. For the team would be kidding themselves if they didn’t admit there was a trap being set for them. The only questions would be if Felix still lived or if they would be able to live through it themselves. 

Urban Issues

The tension, in the new van Jack had purchased, lay thick and no one had spoken for so long that Phillip’s voice caused him to jerk the wheel. “It’ll be great to have a healer with us, if nothing else. All we need to do is be able to fight our way toward him and he’ll get us ready to fight our way out.”

“I just hope he still lives,” Cleo said, with less optimism in her voice. 

Jack glanced at her in the rear view for a moment before saying, “Phillip’s right though. We have just one goal. Grab Felix and go.”

“What if he still refuses to leave with us?” Phillip asked.

“We just have to assume, by this point, he’s knows better. Even if he’s too scared to hit our enemies with us, we can still hide him in some hotel and use him as a healer after our conflicts.” They rode in silence for a while, but then Jack added, “And one more thing. I could care less about coordinating some attack with Bruin. If the Darcarre come at us and lighten his burden, so be it. But I’m not risking our safety to do anything other than rescue Felix.”

Soon they arrived at Felix’s home. It was lit up like the man expected company, and Phillip mumbled, “I hope all those lights are a good sign.”

“Or maybe he’s just trying to keep the Darcarre at bay,” Cleo said.

“Brace yourselves,” Jack said, through clenched teeth, seconds before he hopped the van over the curb, drove across the lawn, and pulled up next to the front steps.

Phillip jumped out of the van first. “So far so good. No sign of anything.”

As one, the trio raced up the steps. Cleo gazed in every direction. “Is it possible that there isn’t a trap set for us here?”

Before he answered, Jack reached for the doorknob. It proved to be unlocked. Looking back over his shoulder, “This is getting strange.”

Phillip’s voice dropped to a whisper as they shut the front door behind them. “His room is upstairs. He’s either there or in the library on this level.”

They checked the library, but found no signs on him. Phillip and Jack lead the way up the stairs while Cleo watched their backs. Approaching Felix’s bedroom, the Stalwarts drew weapons. Again the door was unlocked, Jack opened it, and the men rushed inside.

The sight before them caused even those veteran Stalwarts to draw back and gasp in horror. Felix floated in mid air like he had been crucified on an invisible cross. He moaned slightly, but gave no indication that he was aware of their presence. His naked body showed signs of horrible abuse. Bruises and angry red lacerations covered more parts of his body than not. Only the whites of his eyes were visible, but they only had just enough time to take this in before the healer exploded.

Death of Felix

His very body became weapons and Phillip and Jack cried out as sharpened bones impaled them and viscera blinded their eyes. The men stumbled back into the hallway and struggled to wipe what was once Felix from their faces. Before this could happen, an insane laughter filled Jack’s veins with ice.

He’d heard that laugh before.

“VILE!”

Vile Darken

Jack looked on in horror as Vile Darken himself, both the Earth’s and Jack’s ultimate enemy, stood before him opposite of the stairs. His nemesis’ black sorcerer’s hat did little to contain Darken’s wild mane of unkempt hair. His goatee had become a raged beard since the last time Jack had confronted him, but insanity still burned behind his evil eyes. Tall ebony jack boots met a midnight blue uniform that made the foul villain look like some sort of space pirate. One hand clamped onto a smoking, black cutlass, while the other had Cleo’s body suspended by the neck so that her feet dangled a full foot of the floor.

“Ho, Jack Primus we meet once more, but then again, I’ve meet you so many times over across the Everywhere War, that such encounters tend to lose their uniqueness.”

He has your love in his hands

“Let her go, you horrid freak,” Jack hissed. “Your battle is with me. Let’s finish this!”

“Jack,” Phillip said in a low voice. “Behind us.”

Jack took a second to discover that dozens of Xemmoni rushed into the house behind them. In seconds they would be heading up the stairs at their backs.

Vile’s voice drew Jack back to the dark villain. “I’m been enjoying causing people to explode latterly. You could say it’s my newest trick or perhaps hobby.”

Evil thy name is Vile

Then, before Jack could do anything, Cleo exploded into a thousand gruesome pieces.

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

Vile Darken

YIG Entropy Guide

The Path of Life has Eight Hundred Directions at Once

Each day we are Faced with more Choices then we Realize

Servants of Yig

Are one with the Chaos

Like a Snake they can move in any direction at any Time

But move Forward once the Direction is Chosen

I seek to be like the Snake

Let the Chaos Embrace Me

I Wish to be like the Leaf in the Wind

Which Lands on the Pot of Gold

Let the Chaos Infuse Me

Entropy shall be my Guide

Take me down the right Road

The path of Greatness Awaits

The Journey continues Forever

I am the traveler, who Seeks, Finds, and becomes Complete

Yig

 

Find out more about Followers of Yig Here!!!

Between a Dark and a Darker Place

Lanna rolled onto her back. Her lean body glistened with a layer of perspiration. “I think that was our eighth bout since we checked into this place,” she purred.

Jack’s back was toward her as he slipped on his jeans. “Sounds about right and it works for me.” He smiled over his shoulder, “Eight is Yig’s lucky number.” 

“I hope you’re all happy. You showing up at The Joint pretty much insures that I’ll never work in Boston again. Hell, never go back to Boston again.”

 

Jack stood and watched the waves crash against the shore below them. Rain hammered the coast and showed no signs of slowing. “How long do you think it would have been before they dragged you out of that place whether or not we were around?”

“I’m not sure,” she purred. “I can usually find some what to convince most people that I can be a very useful girl.”

Lanna

He smiled, despite himself. “I’m sure you can. Still allowing some Caradon’s mutated hands to touch you… I’m not sure much is worth such a price.”

“Don’t underestimate mutates, hun. Sometimes they have things that—hey where you going?”

“I need to find Bruin and see where he stands.”

“Wait, you don’t even know where I stand.”

He flashed her another smile. “Nah, I think I do.”

*         *         *

Jack found Bruin and Phillip drinking in the hotel’s small dark bar. Shadows played over both men’s faces and Jack wondered if they had asked the bartender to dim the lights. As he drew in closer, Jack felt pleased that the Stalwart of the dark one had at least removed his hockey mask.

 

“What can I get you?” Phillip asked while hurrying behind the bar.

Jack had learned better than to ask where the bartender might have been and just requested an ale before joining Bruin at the center table. 

The man’s black locks covered his face almost as well as the hockey mask had. The rest of his wardrobe would have made a Darcarre jealous. Black jeans, met a black shirt and high boots. Even his drink looked like ink.

Bruin

“So what have you two been discussing?” He asked.

“Mostly how amazing it is that you all still draw breath,” Bruin said.

Jack leaned in. “So you’re saying we shouldn’t be trying to keep the Xemmoni from claiming the whole city and perhaps initiating a ritual what could damage the war on multiple worlds?”

“I’m not saying that at all,” Bruin whispered. “I’m just saying that I’m surprised your luck hadn’t run out and it probably would have if Lanna and I hadn’t come to your rescue.”

“We’ve been through worse.”

“Again, I’m not surprised. Your blundering methods must lead you into all sorts of trouble.”

“Hey,” Phillip said, before Jack could reply. “We were luring them back into the woods. That worked well for a while.”

“Yes,” the Tezcatlipoca follower said, “but when we’re dealing with a mixture of Magick backed up by technology, secrets don’t keep long.”

Trying to keep his voice even, Jack asked, “So what big innovate plan would you suggest?”

Bruin steepled his fingers. “There are many things I might suggest, but first we have to determine if Felix and Blaze are ready, willing, or able to join in this battle.”

Jack tiffed and took a sip of ale. “That’s your big idea? We would have been doing that anyway.”

Stalwart

“Perhaps, but I have another idea. I know where a Darcarre nest is located. I’d like to hit them where it hurts.”

“You want us all to attack it?”

“Noooooooo, just me and maybe Lanna for back up. I’m immune to their darkness Bestows. I go in, assassinate as many as possible. If any try to flee, Lanna can be waiting for them outside.”

“What if there are too many?” Phillip asked.

“That’s where your team comes in. You will go for Felix. This will perhaps empty out more of the nest when the Darcarre call for back up. Then, hopefully before they reach your battle, the Darcarre will be summoned back their own nest to keep me from slaying them all.” He favored them with a dark grin. “This way, we have a chance to free Felix, keep a huge group of Darcarre out of both our battles, and wipe out a nest all at once.”

Phillip looked over at Jack. “The plan has some merits.”

“True, if it looks like we’re heading toward Felix, they might allow us to continue into the city so we can spring the trap they have undoubtedly set for us there. The downside… they have set a trap for us there.”

“But your predictability will work in our favor instead of against us.”

“Easy for you to say,” Jack grumbled. “You’re not in the trap springing group.”

“Yes, I’m in the wipe out a whole nest from the inside by myself group.”

Phillip shrugged. “I’m not sure what else we can try, Jack. We keep thinning their ranks, but more pour into my city every day. At least this way, maybe Bruin can take down a few leaders.”

“Perhaps,” Jack leaned back in his chair. “It’s time for Felix to either join us or leave town. At least with this plan, he’ll have that chance. I do agree with Bruin on one thing. We’ve been mostly spinning our wheels killing the rabble while their leaders probably grow closer to their real agenda.”

“Yes,” Bruin said through clenched teeth. “If we don’t get our act together your end game will be fighting pudwacks and then wondering what’s happening while you and Phillip fade into nothingness.”

Jack stood up. “Alright, we’ll review this with the ladies, but Bruin, I want you to do me a favor.”

“Which is?”

“If you do run into some high ranking Darcarre. Try to take one of them alive.”

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

Apollo Family Blessing

Apollo take my Family into your Arms

Bless us and Keep us from Harm

Turn away other Evil Thoughts and Deeds

Help Protect our Needs

We Strive to Follow a Path that is True

Even if We are often unsure what to Do

 

Take us into your Loving Embrace

As we seek the betterment of the Human Race

It is you that has Sworn to Protect

From the Evil Plotting of Set

In the Night and During the Day

Please help us with the things over which you have Sway  

Learn More About Apollo Stalwarts Here!!!!!!

Darkness and Speed

“Apparently we aren’t the only people that can set traps,” Phillip yelled over at him as he sprayed a group of advancing Caradon with jets of what might have been Merlot. 

Boston

“Yeah, how many damn Xemmoni are here?” Cleo barked. “I feel like if this keeps up we’ll be killing them all tonight.”

Xemmoni

But despite their bravo, Jack knew they were in serious trouble. They had attempted to find Lanna, the Stalwart of Inanna, and figured if Xemmoni guarded her they would have the villains chase their group out into the forest again. However, this time the Xemmoni had prepared themselves and dozens of the dark hearted fiends waited for them. The ebony Darcarre mixed with the wispy rag covered Glooms. The foul twisted bodies of the Caradon had shown up in droves and Jack thought he spied some brown robed Nexus in their midst.

Horde Attack

The first thing the Xemmoni had done was destroy the van the Stalwarts had been using. The second was to surround them outside of the strip joint and do everything in their power to cut the team to pieces. Like usual, the only thing that had kept them breathing was the protection from damage that luckily both Yig and Dionysus afforded their followers.

Lancing Magickal attacks mixed with hurled weapons, for none of the horde wanted to be the first to meet Jack’s axe or Phillip’s enchanted saber. Again the only thing 

keeping their bodies from dissipating into the wind or becoming a chemical soup was the fact that most of the Xemmoni’s Bestows proved too weak to pierce the Stalwart’s protection. Still even the small wounds began to take their toll and as the Xemmoni sensed weakness, they started to close in.

Jack Attack

The group retreated until their backs were against the rear wall of the strip club. “Okay, just because they still outnumber us ten to one, doesn’t mean this is over,” Jack began. “Let’s show these scumbags who really owns Boston.”

The Xemmoni answered with a roar that left their ears ringing. They were about to rush the Stalwarts when those in the rear of their horde began to cry out. 

Jack assumed, correctly, that Lanna might had come to their aid, and this proved true for he could just detect a whirlwind of powder blue tearing into the rear of their enemy, but something else was there a s well. A dark shadow. It moved with a speed the like of which he had rarely witnessed. 

Lanna

The Xemmoni forces wavered and not to be undone, Jack shouted, “Charge!” and he had his Dionysus allies stormed into the front of the Xemmoni ranks. 

Confused and uncertain, their leadership tried to rally their minions until Jack took the Gloom captain’s head off. The rest scattered and Jack and his allies quickly found themselves panting for breath in an alley emptied of all the Xemmoni save for their death and whimpering wounded.

Lanna walked toward them wearing a grin and little else. She appeared to have not bothered to put on as much as a long sleeve shirt before joining in the fray. Yet, despite her exposed female perfection, it proved to be the other figure that drew his attention.

This second figure garbed himself completely in black save a goalie mask that Jason wouldn’t have minded barrowing. For a weapon he held a long hockey stick, which had both side of its end covered in a thick assortment of gleaming blades. He looked a bit like a Grim Reaper that had taken up the sport of hockey.

Bruin

To his side he felt Cleo tense and Phillip leaned in close enough to say, “You’ve met us all now.” Then louder, “allow me to introduce the last surviving Stalwart of Boston that you have yet to speak to. The man of Tezcatlipoca, Bruin.”

“This should prove interesting.”

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

Zombie Apocalypse Day One

Rollie remained uncertain as the woman who’d been dragged onto the sidewalk burst into a high pitched scream, which competed with the giant bouncer who already missed bitefuls of his arm.

“What the hell’s going on?” Will yelled, as he tried to pull the man in the blood splattered suit away from Diamond.

At the door

The other bouncer, Jack, took a more direct path and smashed the man straight in the face with the heel of his boot. This knocked the psycho away from the bleeding black bouncer, but the man in the suit still wouldn’t stay down.

But Rollie became distracted by Sammy’s yells for help. While the three men stayed busy with the freak in the suit, this new madman had already all but killed the woman on the sidewalk. Her friend hit the prone man with a wooden chair, but it didn’t keep him from drawing another mouthful of flesh away from the screaming woman’s face. Rollie winced, but ran toward the conflict.

As he passed Sammy, he yelled, “What about the cops?”

“I can’t get through. The lines are busy!” She yelled.

“Isn’t that supposed to be impossible?” he said, but then had more immediate problems. The woman with the chair hadn’t been able to accomplish much other than get the flesh craving murderer’s attention and the blood soaked man, lurched to his feet and stumbled toward her. The woman let out a scream and fled.

With a moan, the killer’s eyes moved, locked onto Sammy, and he headed her way.

He’s coming for you

“Sammy, run. Lock the doors, but let us in when we’re ready, please.” She nodded and took off.

The murderer’s clumsy body had been slowed by climbing over the small wall that separated the courtyard from the street and Rollie wondered if some sort of drug could have fried their brains or maybe it was a chemical spill. Soon, however, such speculation got dismissed, for the man’s milky eyes locked onto Rollie’s and it headed his way.

“Son of a… Now what the hell am I going to do?”

Looking around for a weapon didn’t help much, but a few potted plants decorated the area and a large circular serving tray lay on the waitress bar. He picked up a large potted plant. “I hate to do this—oh screw it. You just ate a lady’s face.” The plant went flying, but Rollie had never been much of an athlete and it only clipped the guy’s shoulder. The second one landed in the center of the bastard’s chest and sent him sprawling, but he didn’t remain down long. With a groan, it came after him. Rollie could also hear more screams echoing in the strip mall past the restaurant and wondered how many people might be going mad.

Zombie Mailman

The crazed man rushed at him and Rollie had just enough time to pick up the serving tray and hold it before him like some sort of third rate shield. The man’s face was coated in blood and it glared and snapped at him over the tray. It fought against him with an insane fury. Rollie started to whimper as he was pushed back against the outer wall of Scallywags.

Suddenly the man was pulled away from him and flung over a table. Will looked over at him, “Quit fooling around.”

“Fooling around…” he stuttered. “I was trying-”

“Just come on!” Jack shouted. “Whatever the hell they are, there seems to be more.” Jack helped his wounded co-worker, while his other hands fumbled for his keys.

Looking back over his shoulder, Rollie saw two things. The first was the man in the suit, who no longer moved. His blood froze and he hoped that Will hadn’t helped kill someone. But the second was what appeared to be another three figures stumbling and moaning like the man before him who had already regained his footing.

Wet Zombie

“Come on, buddy,” Will said, guiding him toward the door into Scallywags, “I know you have a big heart, but I think these people just want to eat it.”

Jack was still fumbling for his keys when Sammy opened the door. A moment later the four men had rushed inside.

Check in every Saturday for a new chapter in the Eternal Aftermath!

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Insane