Sax Rohmer - Other Work

Other Work

Rohmer made friends with escape artist Harry Houdini, who wrote to him in praise of Rohmer's The Romance of Sorcery. Rohmer based his mystery-solving magician character Bazarada on Houdini.

The Orchard of Tears is an odd book in the context of Sax Rohmer's other work. There are no oriental villains or exotic locations; rather, there are gentle rabbits and lambs in pastoral settings and a great deal of philosophical musing. As much as he enjoyed Fu Manchu -- and the notoriety and income the character provided -- Rohmer had other interests and a markedly serious side. The departure from his expected subject matter is plainly signalled by the book's dedication: 'To the slaves of the pomegranate, sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, who drink at the fountain of life, this chalice is offered as a loving-cup'. The Orchard of Tears is Rohmer's most restrained and serious novel.

In The Quest of the Sacred Slipper (1919) terror comes to Britain when a self-centered archeologist unearths one of Islam's holiest relics -- the sacred slipper of the prophet Mohammed. Until it is returned to its rightful people, the implacable Hassan of Allepo vows his reign of death and destruction shall not cease. Behind these inhuman outrages is a secret group of fanatics. Not even the best men of Scotland Yard seem able to apprehend them. For, in some mystical way, this phantom band had never been seen or even heard.

Tales of Chinatown (1922) is a collection of ten stories published in hardcover by Cassell in 1922 and Doubleday, Page and Company in 1922. All the stories first appeared in magazine format. This collection includes a story considered one of his best and also anthologized many times; "Tcheriapin." The story "The Hand of the Mandarin Quong" was rewritten for this; first published as "Hand of the White Sheikh" Rohmer changed the setting to a Chinatown background and published it as "The Mystery of the Shriveled Hand," the title then changed for this collection.

Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen, described by Adrian as "Rohmer's masterpiece". 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. The Sumuru series consist of five books. Rohmer also wrote numerous short stories; "The Master of Hollow Grange" (1920), is a homage to M. R. James' story "Lost Hearts", featuring a mad scientist who preys on children.

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").

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.