The Secret Origin of Sumuru

by Rick Lai

5.5×8.5, 28 pages
Limited Edition of only 68 copies

All proceeds from the sale of The Secret Origin of Sumuru ($680) will be donated to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in Rick Lai’s name.

Meteor House is honored to publish The Secret Origin of Sumuru, as a tribute to the great pulp and Wold Newton scholar Rick Lai, who sadly passed away in April 2024.

Sumuru is a female criminal mastermind whose exploits were chronicled by Sax Rohmer. Creative Mythographer extraordinaire Rick Lai theorized that Sumuru was in fact born in the lost city of Opar and that she founded her secret society, the Order of Our Lady (dedicated to creating a worldwide matriarchal dictatorship), in the last years of the 19th century.

This chapbook includes Rick’s article, “Astar of Opar: The Secret Origin of Sumuru,” as well as “The Sumuru Chronology,” and “Ave Atque Vale Rick Lai,” the latter two pieces both by Win Scott Eckert.

The Secret Origin of Sumuru is a short run limited edition of only 68 copies. It debuted at PulpFest/FarmerCon and sold very well. We only have about 25 remaining copies and we expect them to sell out quickly.

Meteor House Charity Chapbook

Price: $10.00

Rick Lai began writing articles in the 1980s expanding on the Wold Newton Universe concepts of Philip José Farmer for pulp magazine fanzines. Most of these articles have been collected by Altus Press. His short stories have appeared regularly in the Tales of the Shadowmen anthologies published by Black Coat Press and some have been collected by Wild Cat Books. Rick is survived by his loving wife and children.