Shōgun

Shogun is the story of an english sailor that shipwrecks on the coast of japan. Really though its a story about the clash of radically different cultures. James Clavell manages to pull of a bit of a magic trick with this book. You start the book feeling like a foreigner to the story, the english sailor is lost and confused, and so are you. Slowly but surely though, you learn to understand and love the japanese way. By the end of the book it feels like you've been culturally assimilated! The scope is huge without sacrificing the intricate details and the character development is very well done.

Historical Accuracy aside, Shogun is a masterpiece of historical fiction. Be warned though, this book will make you really really want to visit Japan.

I saw the TV mini-series first before I read the book and even though the TV adaptation was good, the source material was even better.

June 2020: Reading this for a second time in 20 years during a nationwide lock-down due to the pandemic and it took me two months to finish it. Not because it hasn't aged well but the lock-down sapped all my will to read. Anyway, Shogun still holds up. Timeless classic.

Executive Summary: Started slow and ended too fast (impressive for such a long book) with some good parts in between the periodic lulls to the plot.

Audiobook: Ralph Lister did a pretty good job. He does a few voices. This book is massive, and the audio reflects that at a whopping 53.5 hours. It's by far the longest audiobook I've listened to (and I've listened to all of Wheel of Time).

I think doing this in audio helped me make it through the slower parts, but I wouldn't call it a must listen. It's a decent option though. If I were to do it over again, I'd probably have listened at 1.25 speed (something I almost never do) to cut down on the sheer length.

Full Review
I've long been a fan of Japan, Samurai and Bushido. Most of what I know of it comes from anime and Kurosowa films though. This is considered historical fiction I believe, so I imagine it's a little more accurate than those other things I've watched. Certainly the anime (Ninja Scroll I'm looking at you).

This book has been on my radar for awhile, and has been recommended to me by a few friends. I didn't finally get around to picking it up until it was on sale earlier this year.

I thought this book started really slow. I don't like any of Blackthorne's crew and for me the story didn't start to pick up until he was away from them.

I loved the deep dive into feudal Japan, but I found my focus drifting every few sessions. The underlying story of the power struggle between the various Daimos to fill the power vacuum left by the previous shogun was excellent. I just felt there were too many lulls along the way.

I'm not a huge fan of romance subplots, but I thought the one in this book was pretty good. For me that's saying something. Fans of romance may have a differing opinion.

My biggest disappointment with the book wasn't the slow start or the lulls. It was that after so many hours invested listening, the ending felt rushed. I know there are other books, but I feel like a lot could have been cut out to spend more time on Toronaga's plotting.

Overall I'm glad I finally picked this book up. I liked it, but didn't love it as much as I was hoping. I probably won't be continuing on with the rest of the series, which appears as though it doesn't continue the lingering threads of this book anyways.