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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book started out a little slower than Shogun. It did a great job of giving you the background of politics and the trade system at the time. But it took a little bit to get into the characters and family background. Once I "knew" the characters, I didn't want to put it down until the end. I loved it!
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My first five-star review of the year, by God!
I thank my joss for this reading experience.
Clavell did it again. As with Shogun, I LIVED this book. I became the Tai-Pan and was walking in his shoes. Clavell is a true master story-crafter.
I was absolutely gutted by the ending of the novel. I knew what I was in for because of reading Shogun (still not over the ending there, either), but it didn’t lessen the impending doom I started to feel around the last third of the book. Struan feels it too and had the intuitive sense of his death (it seems). I shed a tear with he and May-May at the end, by god. They shouldn’t have been on the third floor of a building during a typhoon either, by god!
The villains in this story were horrendous. Gorth especially. Culum taking the rains at the end of the book was inspiring and perfect. The minor characters all immediately seized onto Dirk’s death and tried to eat Culum up, and he gripped the metaphorical sword instead. Dirk would have been proud.
With joss Gai-jin will be just as good.
I thank my joss for this reading experience.
Clavell did it again. As with Shogun, I LIVED this book. I became the Tai-Pan and was walking in his shoes. Clavell is a true master story-crafter.
I was absolutely gutted by the ending of the novel. I knew what I was in for because of reading Shogun (still not over the ending there, either), but it didn’t lessen the impending doom I started to feel around the last third of the book. Struan feels it too and had the intuitive sense of his death (it seems). I shed a tear with he and May-May at the end, by god. They shouldn’t have been on the third floor of a building during a typhoon either, by god!
The villains in this story were horrendous. Gorth especially. Culum taking the rains at the end of the book was inspiring and perfect. The minor characters all immediately seized onto Dirk’s death and tried to eat Culum up, and he gripped the metaphorical sword instead. Dirk would have been proud.
With joss Gai-jin will be just as good.
This is the second chronological entry to James Clavell's to his Asian Saga and it's simply one of the best fictions (historical fiction?) I have ever read. Even better than Shogun in my opinion, which is itself a fantastic piece of writing.
Dirk Straun is a masterpiece of a character, and one of the best main characters I've ever read in a book. He wields power masterfully, adroitly maneuvering in many arenas of life... as a matter of fact, I think his leadership in the book probably warrant a case study in some circles. The way he maneuvers in politics, military, business, economics, personal conflict, persuasion, manipulation, they're nothing short of impressive.
One thing I wish this book had more of is the Chinese culture during that time. Unlike the first book which was more or less a crash course in Japanese samurai culture, this one focused more on the characters. More focus on the Chinese culture would have been amazing, but that's a minor nitpick.
In the end, I cannot recommend enough for readers of all kind to pick this one up. Onto Gai-Jin!
Dirk Straun is a masterpiece of a character, and one of the best main characters I've ever read in a book. He wields power masterfully, adroitly maneuvering in many arenas of life... as a matter of fact, I think his leadership in the book probably warrant a case study in some circles. The way he maneuvers in politics, military, business, economics, personal conflict, persuasion, manipulation, they're nothing short of impressive.
One thing I wish this book had more of is the Chinese culture during that time. Unlike the first book which was more or less a crash course in Japanese samurai culture, this one focused more on the characters. More focus on the Chinese culture would have been amazing, but that's a minor nitpick.
In the end, I cannot recommend enough for readers of all kind to pick this one up. Onto Gai-Jin!
adventurous
medium-paced
do you ever just get a craving for a book? It happened to me with the Asian Saga - just re-read a few of them - love James Clavell.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Fantastic, a sweeping novel chronicling the life of a powerful man. Really great characters, powerful ending. Can't recommend enough.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Slavery, Colonisation