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Shogun
- The Epic Novel of Japan
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Series: The Asian Saga, Book 1
- Length: 53 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure
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Tai-Pan
- The Epic Novel of the Founding of Hong Kong: The Asian Saga, Book 2
- By: James Clavell
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 32 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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It is the early 19th century, when European traders and adventurers first began to penetrate the forbidding Chinese mainland. And it is in this exciting time and exotic place that a giant of an Englishman, Dirk Struan, sets out to turn the desolate island of Hong Kong into an impregnable fortress of British power - and to make himself supreme ruler: Tai-Pan!
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Epic
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Gai-Jin
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- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
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The heir to the magnificent English trading company, the Noble House; the direct descendant of the first Toranaga Shōgun, battling to usher his country into the modern age; a beautiful young Frenchwoman forever torn between ambition and desire - their lives intertwine in an exotic land newly open to foreigners, gai-jin, and torn apart by greed, idealism, and terrorism. Their passions mingle with monarchs and diplomats, assassins, courtesans, and spies.
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Be prepared for Japan
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Noble House
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Set in Hong Kong in 1963, the action of Noble House spans scarcely more than a week, but these are days of high adventure: from kidnapping and murder to financial double dealing and natural catastrophes - fire, flood, landslide. Yet they are also days filled with all the mystery and romance of Hong Kong - the heart of Asia - rich in every trade...money, flesh, opium, power.
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The time is World War II. The place is a brutal prison camp deep in Japanese-occupied territory. Here, within the seething mass of humanity, one man, an American corporal, seeks dominance over both captives and captors alike. His weapons are human courage, unblinking understanding of human weaknesses, and total willingness to exploit every opportunity to enlarge his power and corrupt or destroy anyone who stands in his path.
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King Rat: the best Clavell novel.
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what a story
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Whirlwind was a hard listen
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Tai-Pan
- The Epic Novel of the Founding of Hong Kong: The Asian Saga, Book 2
- By: James Clavell
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 32 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
It is the early 19th century, when European traders and adventurers first began to penetrate the forbidding Chinese mainland. And it is in this exciting time and exotic place that a giant of an Englishman, Dirk Struan, sets out to turn the desolate island of Hong Kong into an impregnable fortress of British power - and to make himself supreme ruler: Tai-Pan!
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Epic
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Gai-Jin
- The Epic Novel of the Birth of Modern Japan
- By: James Clavell
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The heir to the magnificent English trading company, the Noble House; the direct descendant of the first Toranaga Shōgun, battling to usher his country into the modern age; a beautiful young Frenchwoman forever torn between ambition and desire - their lives intertwine in an exotic land newly open to foreigners, gai-jin, and torn apart by greed, idealism, and terrorism. Their passions mingle with monarchs and diplomats, assassins, courtesans, and spies.
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Be prepared for Japan
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Noble House
- The Epic Novel of Modern Hong Kong: The Asian Saga, Book 5
- By: James Clavell
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 54 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Set in Hong Kong in 1963, the action of Noble House spans scarcely more than a week, but these are days of high adventure: from kidnapping and murder to financial double dealing and natural catastrophes - fire, flood, landslide. Yet they are also days filled with all the mystery and romance of Hong Kong - the heart of Asia - rich in every trade...money, flesh, opium, power.
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Prescient
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The time is World War II. The place is a brutal prison camp deep in Japanese-occupied territory. Here, within the seething mass of humanity, one man, an American corporal, seeks dominance over both captives and captors alike. His weapons are human courage, unblinking understanding of human weaknesses, and total willingness to exploit every opportunity to enlarge his power and corrupt or destroy anyone who stands in his path.
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King Rat: the best Clavell novel.
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The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi becomes a reluctant hero to a host of people whose lives he has touched and by whom he has been touched. Inevitably, he has to pit his skill against the naked blade of his greatest rival.
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what a story
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Whirlwind was a hard listen
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Poor performance of an exceptional book
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A Brief History of the Samurai
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- By: Jonathan Clements
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- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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From a leading expert in Japanese history, this is one of the first full histories of the art and culture of the Samurai warrior. The Samurai emerged as a warrior caste in Medieval Japan and would have a powerful influence on the history and culture of the country from the next 500 years. Clements also looks at the Samurai wars that tore Japan apart in the 17th and 18th centuries and how the caste was finally demolished in the advent of the mechanized world.
Publisher's Summary
A bold English adventurer; an invincible Japanese warlord; a beautiful woman torn between two ways of life, two ways of love - all brought together in an extraordinary saga of a time and a place aflame with conflict, passion, ambition, lust, and the struggle for power.
James Clavell's Shōgun is a modern classic, a masterpiece of historical fiction that will continue to endure for decades to come.
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What listeners say about Shogun
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jaya Curry
- 03-04-2018
Brilliant story! Brilliantly read!
WoW! What a ride! Shōgun has sat in my bookcase for a few decades waiting for me but it is the original book. Small and ( let's face it) the size of a brick. My eyes could not read it with ease. If it was printed in the size we have become accustom to now or an e-book then no worries. However, to my great delight I happened upon Ralph Lister's fabulous narration of Shōgun by James Clavell. I was fully swept away to 15th Century Japan.
Goodness, talk about Yin and Yang. They, the Japanese ( and the world. It was the time of the Spanish inquisition ) were so bloody brutal yet beloved of the arts, the seasons..... the weather. James Clavell cleverly creates a nexus between you and his protagonist Blackthorn. As Blackthorn is taught how to speak Japanese you also learn. Terrifyingly, I have a very good grasp of manners and politeness if ever I was thrust into that time period 😓
Clavell tells his story with a vibrant delineation at a knife edged pace. You feel you are listening to a true story. The intricacies of each relationship Blackthorn has, be it Samurai, ship mate, lover, his cook are so perfectly portrayed. James Clavell's book truly is a modern day classic. I loved every bit ( although the first chapters were so spine chilling that I 'did' wonder whether I could go on ) and am looking forward to listening to the 2nd book in his Asian Saga series, Tai-Pan.
10 people found this helpful
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- Attila
- 11-06-2016
An absolute epic.
Always wanted to get through this work ever since I was a boy. Not disappointed I made the effort and took the plunge.
It was tiring at the start but by the end I felt like the author had transported me back to feudal Japan and I did not want to leave.
Will continue now with Taipan. I am hook on the Asian Saga.
3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 22-08-2021
Classic story with a wonderful narrator.
Classic story with a wonderful narrator. Story was easy to retain despite taking me quite a while to finish.
1 person found this helpful
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- Glenn
- 10-03-2020
Narration
I found the narration irritating. I read the book many years ago and loved it,
1 person found this helpful
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- Richard
- 19-08-2018
Absolutely magnificent!
I read the book just after it was published in 1975. I enjoyed it immensely. Now in 2018 I came across the Audible version narrated superbly by Ralph Lister. Amongst the cruelty, ceremony and cultural norms of of Japanese life one can understand a bit more about why Japanese culture remains a bastion of defiance against the rising storms of contemporary China. There are advantages in being an Island Nation. I look forward to listening to further audio versions of James Clavell's historical novel, which are not far from history
1 person found this helpful
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- stephen
- 01-03-2022
epic story
brilliant story though if it goes for 90 hours another few chapters for the ending would have been better
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- Grey Dingo
- 18-10-2021
Classic Clavell ruined by narration.
One of my long time favourite novels, I was so looking forward to listening to it. And then this happened. I can't count how many times I almost dumped it, but just grit my teeth and listened on. And then I wondered if I could bear 800 pages of this noise. Sigh indeed. This narrator is simply appalling. Blackthorn, a character I always envisioned as a quiet and authorative leader, is read like he has chronic constipation - an awful growling troll. Young characters sound like reedy scarecrow ancients; the older characters sound like caricatures from a 1930's Ealing Dickensian pub. Inner thoughts are virtually yelled, with no thought to differentiating inner monologue to actual speech. It's almost unbearable. This narrator must stick to children's books, because he does a great job of evoking Captain Pugwash with this excruciating reading. Such a damn shame.
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- Troy G
- 01-10-2021
I found it pretty boring to be honest
I really wanted to like this audiobook, and I listened to it right through to the end (all 54 hours), but the story just seemed to drag on and it was kinda boring.
I tried to read the book a few years ago but never finished it, so was keen to give it another try via audiobook. But there is almost no pay off at the end and some huge developments are just mentioned as an after-thought, which leaves the listener quite annoyed.
I don’t think this is worth the time and effort.
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- Gordon
- 05-09-2021
Epic tale of Japan
you have to wonder if Sebecu was that prevalent!
written from the mind of a westerner but one who had experience as a PoW in Changi.
Brilliant writing to be listening to a book in English that is mainly being spoken by the characters in Japanese, Portuguese and Latin.
Overall, I loved it and wanted it to continue even after 56 hours of listening...
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- Ketokun
- 22-04-2021
good
somewhat hard to follow who did what closer to the end of the book. great story though
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- Rishi Tiwari
- 27-12-2017
What a Journey.
Wow! Listening to it is an experience really. I downloaded the TV series too after the book finished. What a journey especially for someone who is smitten with Japan. The books isn’t just a story but a time machine showing you the history of a time bygone. The deep insight into the minds of perhaps on of the most unique people on Earth is mesmerising.
And somebody please give Mr. Ralph Lister an Oscar, A Grammy, A Tony, a Nobel Prize or the Holy Grail itself for this stupendous performance. I stand and clap. Take a bow Ralph Sama. Unbelievable performance. The best I have possibly ever came across.
10 people found this helpful
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- Monty
- 06-08-2016
Worthwhile Re-visit to an Adolescent read
A steady albeit full plot with much historical geo-political, nautical and military interest The characters are well fleshed albeit one dimensional. The strength of the novel lies in the cultural clash between Japanese and Elizabethan / European culture and the ensuing conflict both between the Euro/Japanese and Anglican/Catholic interests. Another success is the pacing of the plot and interest which made the completion of a 1000+ page novel entirely manageable.
With reference to the performance, the sound production was disappointing with frequent fading out at the completion of sentences which was a distraction which occurred too frequently to be dismissed as a quirk instead of
editing and sound mixing failure.
9 people found this helpful
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- Multis
- 02-12-2019
Great book with some audio cockups
The story is great and for the most part audiobook is good. However, in some places the volume level goes so low that you can not hear the readers voice. First audiobook with that problem for me, ever.
3 people found this helpful
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- LINZI
- 24-05-2017
a masterpiece
Possibly my favorite book ever. A deep study of cultural and religious fifferences, this book is also a cracking good read. Every day I found myself on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. Every evening I found myself chewing over the deeper concepts. A great book never really leaves you. Shogun has stayed in my thoughts years after my first reading.
3 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-10-2017
Excellent novel, outstandingly read
Epic truly is the right word to describe this journey. Most impressive is Ralph Lister’s ability to take on characters and keep consistent with their idiosyncrasies - that’s talent!
2 people found this helpful
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- Carl Angelo Cepillo
- 12-03-2017
Kept me awake for several nights
I love everythin about it, the storyline, the voice actor, the author. Simply the best story I've ever read. I was just a little disappointed that it ends, i was hoping the story would follow the story of Blackthorne even after the war. Well, shikata ga nai, ne? But the rest is marvelous.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 18-07-2022
Excelente!
muy buena historia y muy bien narrada en el audiolibro. 100% recomendado! cautivando de principio a fin
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- JulesT
- 02-06-2022
The Dialogues are ALL Wrong!
It was very painful for a native Japanese speaker to listen to the dialogues - the way they were structured were so incredibly wrong. A Lord would address his subordinates with "san". A real samurai would never use "neh" at the end of every sentence. A samurai husband would never address his wife with "san". And the order of the names were wrong. We NEVER say our given names before our family names. And lastly, the use of the expression "mama san" is too modern. Mama is an imported word! Back in 1600, it would not have been part of our language.
I am shocked that the editor did not get the dialogue fixed.
I can see why this never really took off in Japan apart from the movie that was only a flash in a pan because (a) it was made in Hollywood and (b) the great Mifune Toshiro was in it.
After overlooking - with much effort - this huge negative, it is an interesting interpretation on what transpired leading up to the great battle of Sekigahara.
Indeed, Ishida Mitsunari lost to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was patient and old and cunning, and became the first Shogun of Tokugawa rule that lasted 300 years.
I listed to this because it was a "must read" recommended to me by an important client.
And it was interesting to see how the culture of shame (Japanese) and the culture of guilt (Christians) were put up side by side in contrast.
As a descendant of Nabeshima Samurai (we have the "Hagakure" a guide on Bushido written by one of our own clansman), I have a very different view of Bushido. It is not a contract with death. Bushido is about completely accepting that life is finite and to live every day as if it was one's last - with honour so that one may die with honour.
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- RedAkai
- 19-02-2022
one of my favorite books
loved this. the narrator was good. the story is gripping and very good. recommended
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- Kindle Customer
- 15-01-2022
Exellent
I have been watchin the movie many years before I discovered the book. I enjoyed the movie very much. But the book was incomparably better. I definitely recommend it.
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- Mrs. S. J. Caldwell
- 17-08-2016
Modern classic historic novel
I picked this novel up having spent time in Japan expecting a predictable cliched view of Japanese history and war and thought it might be a bit dated. What I found was a very well researched and clever historic novel with strong characters and enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged throughout. It skilfully intertwined the differences between East and Western cultures and religions including touching upon early trading history in a compelling story.
I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys historic novels or anyone with an interest in Japanese history and culture.
The narration is excellent and the book is brought to life by Ralph Lister.
23 people found this helpful
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- Turquelblue
- 09-07-2016
Best historical adventure novel ever?
Any additional comments?
Take historical fact , probably little known to the reader, as the frame of a book. Cover this skeleton in interlocking elements of adventure, political intrigue, romance and tragedy whilst continuously educating the reader in Japanese culture , language and reaction to first contact with Europeans and you produce Shogun.I first read the book shortly after it was published and time has not diminished my view that it is a masterpiece of its genre. Revisiting it in audio form was a delight given the excellent performance by Ralph Lister, although I leave it to others to comment on his Japanese pronunciation.Warning: You will be addicted for 53 hours!
21 people found this helpful
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- B. Miller
- 27-05-2019
awful narration
don't waste your time - the reading of this book by Ralph Lister is almost unlistenable and I gave up after an hour so.
8 people found this helpful
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- P A Youngs
- 23-05-2016
Spellbound...
An absolute must! I read the book years ago and the audio is a compliment. James Clavell is an incredible author and the narrator was excellent, with huge empathy and characters.
Totally recommend, you wouldn't be disappointed
23 people found this helpful
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- Mr
- 14-09-2018
Don’t waste your time
After reading the book an audio book seemed a great idea..... until I got this one.
The editing is rubbish, the narrative gets cut off at the end of sentences as if the editor was trying to save time.
So you lose a word or part of a word.
And this narrator seems to have everybody in a bad mood shouting at each other rather than conversing- as in the book , but who knows? Maybe in medieval Japan they were all hard of hearing!
I’ve looked for the book with a different narrator but there isn’t one on Audible.
So this one gets returned and I’ll spend my credit elsewhere.
22 people found this helpful
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- Jayceeme
- 16-03-2019
Narration really grates
I read and thoroughly enjoyed this saga, many more years ago than I care to admit. So, when this came up in a "twofor deal" I snapped it up looking forward to a pleasant few hours of escapism. Sadly the narration of Blackthorne, the central character, about whom the whole book revolves, and, as such would be leading the whole book. Grated on my nerves and ears, becoming unbearable before the end of chapter two.
To have him sound "annoyed, angry, unreasonably gruff, growling, and shouty", as if on the verge of killing someone?" annoyed.
Growling through every sentence, whilst other characters "spoke" normal conversational tones, was off-putting to say the least.
Ultimately leading me to disconnect both from the book and my earphones! Others may not notice, the book is engrossing, but when all one can hear is an unreal interpretation of the "hero". Sorry but I gave up.
6 people found this helpful
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- Ian Cottingham
- 22-08-2016
Time machine to Old Japan
What did you like most about Shogun?
Complete immersion in the atmosphere from a very sympathetic and knowledgeable view. One of those stories that sweep you up and give you a physical experience of 'being there'.
What did you like best about this story?
History peopled with well described credible characters a la Hillary Mantel
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
All the characters come over in high resolution...and the love affair between the lead characters is beautiful and heart-rending
Any additional comments?
Narrator needs to warm to the role....took a few hours before he got into the characters so don't be discouraged by the first few hours...hang in there for an emotional roller-coaster
13 people found this helpful
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- average joe
- 05-10-2016
Great story; poor audio
How could the performance have been better?
The volume randomly dips towards the end of sentences, rudely interrupting what is an amazing story.
28 people found this helpful
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- dzadams
- 03-02-2016
Brilliant
This is the fourth time I have read, watched and listened to this fascinating book. I was very surprised how the audio book was just as good as reading it.
16 people found this helpful
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- Janine
- 20-07-2016
Breathtaking!
This book is rightfully considered a classic, the depth and scope of of it breathtaking.
Brief synopsis: Set in the late 1500's during Queen Elizabeth I 's reign, a ship makes it to Japan, the first Protestants to do so. The English know about Japan, but it is a closely guarded secret of Catholic Spanish and Portuguese trade.
The pilot of the ship, John Blackthorne, is a rarity in that he is well educated and articulate and manages to adapt to the Japanese rigid caste structure and culture. He survives and thrives where the majority of Europeans are unable to. He becomes a pawn in the deep plans of a Lord Toranaga while planning to take the Religious wars of Europe to the Jesuit silk trade monopoly.
Japanese society is described in loving detail, bringing it to life in a way that Europeans can access. It is an alien society to the West.
The narration is great, the story superb. IMO, the best of the Asian Saga.
21 people found this helpful
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