Sax Rohmer Books in Order (Updated September 8, 2026)

Sax Rohmer was the pen name of Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, an English novelist and short story writer best known for creating Dr. Fu Manchu and his longtime opponent Sir Denis Nayland Smith. Rohmer also created several other recurring characters, including Gaston Max, Paul Harley, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw, and the criminal mastermind Sumuru.

The Fu Manchu sequence is the main reading-order challenge. It runs from The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu in 1913 through Emperor Fu Manchu in 1959, with The Wrath of Fu Manchu appearing posthumously in 1973. Several books were published under different British and American titles, so readers should be careful not to count alternate titles as separate installments.

Where to Begin With Sax Rohmer

Best starting point: begin with The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu if you want Rohmer’s most important series. Readers interested in his detective fiction beyond Fu Manchu can start Gaston Max with The Yellow Claw or Paul Harley with Bat-Wing.

• Fu Manchu: read in publication order, beginning with The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu.
• Gaston Max: four principal novels.
• Paul Harley: two principal lifetime novels, plus later collected material.
• Red Kerry: one novel, related stories, and a later posthumous novel publication.
• Sumuru: five principal novels, published in the 1950s.
• Morris Klaw: supernatural detective stories, most familiar through later collections.

Fu Manchu Books in Publication Order

The core Fu Manchu sequence is best read in publication order. The first three books form the original early cycle, while Rohmer returned to the character after a long gap with The Daughter of Fu Manchu.

1. The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (1913), also published as The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu
2. The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu (1916), also published as The Devil Doctor
3. The Hand of Fu-Manchu (1917), also published as The Si-Fan Mysteries
4. The Daughter of Fu Manchu (1931)
5. The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
6. The Bride of Fu Manchu (1933), also published as Fu Manchu’s Bride
7. The Trail of Fu Manchu (1934)
8. President Fu Manchu (1936)
9. The Drums of Fu Manchu (1939)
10. The Island of Fu Manchu (1940 to 1941, depending on edition)
11. The Shadow of Fu Manchu (1948)
12. Re-Enter Fu Manchu (1957)
13. Emperor Fu Manchu (1959)
14. The Wrath of Fu Manchu (1973, posthumous collection)

Recommended order: use the sequence above. Nayland Smith, Dr. Petrie, Fu Manchu, and later recurring characters develop across the series, and reading later installments first can reveal relationships and circumstances established much earlier.

The Original Fu Manchu Trilogy

The first three books form the original Fu Manchu cycle and are particularly important for new readers.

1. The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu
2. The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu
3. The Hand of Fu-Manchu

These books establish Nayland Smith’s pursuit of Fu Manchu and the secretive Si-Fan organization. The continuing conflict makes publication order substantially better than selecting one volume at random.

Alternate Fu Manchu Titles That Are the Same Books

British and American editions frequently used different titles. These pairs should be counted only once.

• The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu = The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu
• The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu = The Devil Doctor
• The Hand of Fu-Manchu = The Si-Fan Mysteries
• The Bride of Fu Manchu = Fu Manchu’s Bride
• Re-Enter Fu Manchu may also appear as Re-Enter Dr Fu Manchu

These title changes are one of the main reasons Fu Manchu bibliographies can appear to contain more books than Rohmer actually wrote.

Where The Wrath of Fu Manchu Belongs

The Wrath of Fu Manchu was published in 1973, fourteen years after Rohmer’s death. It is a collection of previously published shorter Fu Manchu material rather than a conventional fourteenth novel written at the end of the series.

Best placement: read it after Emperor Fu Manchu if you are completing the books by publication. Readers interested in exact story chronology may encounter some of its material earlier, but publication order is simpler and avoids unnecessary reconstruction.

Are Later Fu Manchu Novels by Other Writers Part of Rohmer’s Series?

Later authors continued the Fu Manchu world, most notably Cay Van Ash. Those books are not part of Sax Rohmer’s original bibliography.

Separate continuation: books such as Ten Years Beyond Baker Street and The Fires of Fu Manchu should be listed under their own author rather than inserted into Rohmer’s original sequence.

Gaston Max Books From First Case to Last

Gaston Max is a French detective who appears in four principal Rohmer novels. His series is separate from the Fu Manchu books.

1. The Yellow Claw (1915)
2. The Golden Scorpion (1919)
3. The Day the World Ended (1929 to 1930)
4. Seven Sins (1943)

Recommended order: publication order. The books are not as tightly serialized as the early Fu Manchu novels, but recurring characterization makes it sensible to start with The Yellow Claw.

Paul Harley Books and Cases

Paul Harley is another Rohmer detective. His two principal lifetime novels are:

1. Bat-Wing (1920 to 1921)
2. Fire-Tongue (1921)

Harley also appears in shorter fiction, including The House of the Golden Joss. Later publishers have gathered Paul Harley material into collections that carry much newer publication dates.

Do not treat modern collections as new Rohmer novels: when a twenty-first-century Paul Harley title appears, check whether it is a collection of previously published stories.

Red Kerry Stories and Novels

Daniel “Red” Kerry is connected with Rohmer’s Chinatown crime fiction and appears in both novels and short stories.

1. Dope (1919)
2. The Daughter of Huang Chow, later collected in Tales of Chinatown
3. Kerry’s Kid, later collected in Tales of Chinatown
4. Yellow Shadows (written earlier, published in book form much later)

The late book publication of Yellow Shadows can make it appear to be a modern sequel. It is better understood as historical Rohmer material reaching book form much later.

Sumuru Books in Publication Order

Sumuru is Rohmer’s other major criminal mastermind. The sequence was published during the final decade of his life and has its own set of alternate titles.

1. The Sins of Sumuru (1950), also published as Nude in Mink
2. The Slaves of Sumuru (1951), also published as Sumuru
3. Virgin in Flames (1952 to 1953), also published as The Fire Goddess
4. Sand and Satin (1954), also published as The Return of Sumuru
5. Sinister Madonna (1956)

Order matters: begin with The Sins of Sumuru. Later installments assume the existence and reputation of the organization surrounding Sumuru.

Sumuru Alternate Titles Explained

• The Sins of Sumuru = Nude in Mink
• The Slaves of Sumuru = Sumuru
• Virgin in Flames = The Fire Goddess
• Sand and Satin = The Return of Sumuru

Readers collecting both British and American editions should check these pairs carefully to avoid buying duplicate novels.

Morris Klaw and Rohmer’s Supernatural Detective Fiction

Morris Klaw is an occult investigator associated with a group of supernatural detective stories. Unlike Fu Manchu or Sumuru, Klaw’s publication history is dominated by magazine stories and later collections rather than a long sequence of conventional novels.

Best approach: use a complete Morris Klaw collection if available and read the stories in the collection’s established order. Recent collection dates should not be mistaken for the dates when Rohmer originally wrote the cases.

Sax Rohmer Standalone Novels in Publication Order

Rohmer also wrote many independent novels and books that do not belong to Fu Manchu, Gaston Max, Paul Harley, Red Kerry, or Sumuru.

1. The Sins of Séverac Bablon (1914)
2. The Exploits of Captain O’Hagan (1916)
3. Brood of the Witch Queen (1918)
4. The Orchard of Tears (1918)
5. The Quest of the Sacred Slipper (1919)
6. The Green Eyes of Bâst (1920)
7. Grey Face (1924)
8. Moon of Madness (1927)
9. The Emperor of America (late 1920s)
10. She Who Sleeps (1928)
11. Yu’an Hee See Laughs (1932)
12. The Bat Flies Low (1935)
13. White Velvet (1936)
14. Egyptian Nights (1944), also associated with Bimbashi Baruk of Egypt
15. Hangover House (1949)
16. Wulfheim (1950)
17. The Moon Is Red (1954)

Some of these books contain supernatural or crime elements similar to Rohmer’s recurring-character fiction, but similarity of genre does not make them part of the Fu Manchu series.

Tales of Chinatown and Other Story Collections

Rohmer’s short fiction is important because recurring characters sometimes appear in stories outside their principal novels. Major collections include Tales of Chinatown, The Haunting of Low Fennel, and various supernatural or mystery collections published during and after his lifetime.

Tales of Chinatown is particularly relevant to Red Kerry readers because it contains The Daughter of Huang Chow and Kerry’s Kid.

Later anthologies frequently reuse these stories, so readers should compare contents before counting every collection as entirely new material.

The Book of Fu-Manchu and Omnibus Editions

Rohmer’s early Fu Manchu novels have repeatedly been collected into omnibus editions. The Book of Fu-Manchu, published in 1929, brought together the early cycle rather than adding a new installment.

Later Fu Manchu omnibus volumes similarly combine novels that already appear individually in the series.

Optional: an omnibus can replace the individual books it contains, but it should not be counted as an additional novel after those same works.

Publication Order or Chronological Order for Fu Manchu?

Publication order is the safest and simplest recommendation. Fu Manchu continuity broadly moves forward as Rohmer published it, and there is little benefit in constructing an elaborate internal chronology.

The larger issue is publication format. Short stories later collected in The Wrath of Fu Manchu may have appeared earlier than the book itself, but moving the collection around is unnecessary for a first reading.

Recommended rule: read the thirteen principal lifetime Fu Manchu novels in publication order, then finish with the posthumous collection.

A Short Sax Rohmer Reading Route

Readers who want a representative selection without completing every Rohmer book can use this route:

1. The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu
2. The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu
3. The Hand of Fu-Manchu
4. The Daughter of Fu Manchu
5. The Yellow Claw
6. Bat-Wing
7. Dope
8. Brood of the Witch Queen
9. The Sins of Sumuru

This is a sampling route rather than one continuity. It introduces Rohmer through Fu Manchu and then moves into his detective, crime, supernatural, and later criminal-mastermind fiction.

Sax Rohmer’s Final Books and Publication Status

Sax Rohmer died in June 1959. Emperor Fu Manchu was published in 1959 and stands as the final Fu Manchu novel published in his lifetime.

The Wrath of Fu Manchu appeared posthumously in 1973. Other modern Rohmer releases consist largely of restored stories, collections, reprints, and material gathered from periodicals.

There are no forthcoming newly written Sax Rohmer novels.

Questions Readers Ask About Sax Rohmer

What is the first Fu Manchu book?

The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, published in 1913, is the first book. American readers may encounter the same work as The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu.

How many Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu books are there?

The standard Rohmer sequence contains thirteen principal lifetime novels followed by the posthumous collection The Wrath of Fu Manchu, producing fourteen commonly listed books.

Are The Devil Doctor and The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu the same book?

Yes. They are alternate titles for the second Fu Manchu novel.

Are The Si-Fan Mysteries and The Hand of Fu-Manchu different books?

No. They are alternate titles for the third Fu Manchu book.

What order should I read the Sumuru books?

Read The Sins of Sumuru, The Slaves of Sumuru, Virgin in Flames, Sand and Satin, and Sinister Madonna in publication order.

Is Gaston Max connected to Fu Manchu?

No. Gaston Max is a separate recurring detective and has his own sequence beginning with The Yellow Claw.

Did other authors continue Fu Manchu?

Yes. Later writers produced authorized or related continuations, but those books should remain separate from Rohmer’s own original bibliography.

The Most Reliable Sax Rohmer Reading Order

For Fu Manchu, start with The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu and continue in publication order through Emperor Fu Manchu, then read The Wrath of Fu Manchu as posthumous supplemental material.

Keep Gaston Max, Paul Harley, Red Kerry, Sumuru, and Morris Klaw in their own sequences. Rohmer’s standalones can be read independently.

The main practical challenge is alternate titles. Checking British and American title variants before purchasing is more important than reconstructing an internal chronology.