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A review by aaronj21
Shōgun by James Clavell
5.0
Vivid, meticulous, and impressively plotted, Shogun earns the reputation it has long enjoyed as a giant of the historical fiction genre.
I’d put off this novel for years, I was intimidated by the length and didn’t connect with it on an initial attempt previously. This time it clicked for me and I’m so glad I gave it another shot. The premise is pretty standard, a European sailor washes up in feudal Japan and has to adapt to this new land and find his place in it or die. Basically it’s The Last Samurai but good.
The writing is perhaps not the most accessible but it does reward the patient reader. If you can make it through the initial chapters centered around Blackthorne and his terrible crew of useless red shirts (really, they are all completely unlikable and just about useless, I found myself actively rooting for their demise), you’re set.
The detail is meticulous, the descriptions are lush, and you really feel like you’re inhabiting this specific time and place. This novel certainly doesn’t fall prey to what I’ve termed “Party City Historical Fiction” i.e. historical fiction that’s shallow, surface level, basically just dressing up it’s characters in period costumes that may or may not be accurate and generally not being concerned with how people of this time period would have actually thought and saw the world.
James Clavell also does an amazing job at pacing and at writing intrigue and espionage well. It’s tricky to juggle several storylines and characters and then depict them plotting against each other effectively, but he certainly did it well. Even during the very last pages I was surprised by turns of events in a way that felt both impactful and made sense within the story. Toronaga is beautifully written and is a phenomenally interesting character to spend time with, he really makes the whole novel work in my opinion.
My only complaint, and it’s a minor one, is that John Blackthorne is basically the OG Mary Sue. He’s the finest pilot to ever sail a ship! He knows English, Portuguese, Dutch, and Latin! He excels at combat and leadership! He can leap tall buildings in a single bound! But beyond his near superhuman accomplishments, there’s the fact that basically everyone who meets him is immediately ready to say “I know I’ve only had this strange Englishman for a day and a half, but if anything ever happened to him I’d kill everyone here and then myself.”. But as I said, this is a minor gripe and isn’t really too distracting while you’re reading the novel.
Overall this is an incredibly worthwhile novel that tells a compelling story. It's worth the time and attention it takes to read and prospective readers shouldn’t be scared off by its exceptional length. It's one of those stories that doesn’t feel quite as long as it is because it’s just that immersive and exciting. Indeed, as I read the final chapters I found myself wishing there were more ahead of me or another book in the series.
I’d put off this novel for years, I was intimidated by the length and didn’t connect with it on an initial attempt previously. This time it clicked for me and I’m so glad I gave it another shot. The premise is pretty standard, a European sailor washes up in feudal Japan and has to adapt to this new land and find his place in it or die. Basically it’s The Last Samurai but good.
The writing is perhaps not the most accessible but it does reward the patient reader. If you can make it through the initial chapters centered around Blackthorne and his terrible crew of useless red shirts (really, they are all completely unlikable and just about useless, I found myself actively rooting for their demise), you’re set.
The detail is meticulous, the descriptions are lush, and you really feel like you’re inhabiting this specific time and place. This novel certainly doesn’t fall prey to what I’ve termed “Party City Historical Fiction” i.e. historical fiction that’s shallow, surface level, basically just dressing up it’s characters in period costumes that may or may not be accurate and generally not being concerned with how people of this time period would have actually thought and saw the world.
James Clavell also does an amazing job at pacing and at writing intrigue and espionage well. It’s tricky to juggle several storylines and characters and then depict them plotting against each other effectively, but he certainly did it well. Even during the very last pages I was surprised by turns of events in a way that felt both impactful and made sense within the story. Toronaga is beautifully written and is a phenomenally interesting character to spend time with, he really makes the whole novel work in my opinion.
My only complaint, and it’s a minor one, is that John Blackthorne is basically the OG Mary Sue. He’s the finest pilot to ever sail a ship! He knows English, Portuguese, Dutch, and Latin! He excels at combat and leadership! He can leap tall buildings in a single bound! But beyond his near superhuman accomplishments, there’s the fact that basically everyone who meets him is immediately ready to say “I know I’ve only had this strange Englishman for a day and a half, but if anything ever happened to him I’d kill everyone here and then myself.”. But as I said, this is a minor gripe and isn’t really too distracting while you’re reading the novel.
Overall this is an incredibly worthwhile novel that tells a compelling story. It's worth the time and attention it takes to read and prospective readers shouldn’t be scared off by its exceptional length. It's one of those stories that doesn’t feel quite as long as it is because it’s just that immersive and exciting. Indeed, as I read the final chapters I found myself wishing there were more ahead of me or another book in the series.