Tai Pan

I read 'Shogun' by the same author years ago, back when I was in high school, and I liked the book so much I used one of the names in the book to create an online nickname (not this one) that I used on forums back when they were popular.

Knowing I liked the first book very much I thought I'd start reading the whole series, chronologically, so here I am having read 'Tai-Pan'. At first I felt a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out what was going on and who everyone was, what their relationships were, but I soon found myself completely swept in. There is sooo much intrigue, I don't know how they did it. I would have been a constant ball of anxiety trying to figure out what everyone was planning, what secrets everyone was trying to hide, and not give myself away to the wrong person. But, oh boy, did I love it. As soon as the first puzzle surfaced I was delighted.

The plot is very clever. There are things that happened in the book that I didn't think would have any relevance later, but that I appreciated as they shaped the characters nicely. The care and thought that went into each character is wonderful. The one type of character I probably dislike the most in a book is the one that's just there, the character that has no purpose other than filling the pages, no relevance to the plot, so I am very glad to say that there is none of that nonsense in this book.

Speaking of characters, the one I liked the most is May-May. I liked her fantastical. She was so clever, I liked the way she talked, the way she managed things, the way she could basically do whatever she wanted to. If I were to name another character I liked, I'm not sure I could. Everyone is very well characterised and very complex, but none stood out to me as much. At first I though I would like Mary Sinclair the most, she really had a spark, but she faded really fast, May-May stole the show. For me May-May was the Supreme Lady from start to finish.

The conflict between Struan, the Tai-Pan, and Brock was pretty intense. I enjoyed very much watching (well, reading) them hate each other, but at the same time keeping civil. I tend to say that this conflict lasted for way longer than it should have, but hey, what would I have read then? Plus, it makes sense why they acted the way they did thanks to the way the characters are constructed and the way the plot flows.

And there are so many other plots going on at the same time. There's May-May and her background, there's Gordon Chen and his dealings, there's Mary Sinclair and Horatio Sinclair with their secrets, there's Shevaun Tillman, there's Culum, and on top of all these there's the trade. I didn't even mention everyone or all of the important players (also the order is completely irrelevant). There is a lot going on, you can't get bored reading this book and it's so fun discovering everything and piecing things together.

There's also the themes: legacy, one's own fate, love, cultural differences, honour, and others I can't think of right now. Some of the themes were also found in 'Shogun', but both 'Shogun' and 'Tai-Pan' dealt with them in their own way. Despite the similarities, the books are so very different.

One thing I didn't think will happen while reading 'Tai-Pan' was for me to get emotional. The height of my emotion occurred at the very end of the book, on the last few lines. I felt some sort of vindication when I reached the last lines. My plan is to read the series chronologically and I almost want to skip the following books and read 'Noble House' next. I won't, though.

Well, what else can I say? Brilliant book.