Blackthorne initially encountered Omi, an up-and-coming local ruler. One would almost need a flow chart to keep track of the various Japanese political power players. Blackthorne’s ship had been the last surviving vessel in its group.ĭuring Blackthorne’s detainment, the politic situation in Japan became known to readers. To simply stay alive, Blackthorne used bluffs involving the threat of a coming fleet. He and the handful of men who also survived from the ship were taken prisoner, their situation seemingly hopeless. It was with this backdrop in mind that a Dutch warship led by an English ship pilot (or ‘anjin-san’ as the Japanese would refer to him) named John Blackthorne encountered a storm that led to the ship landing in Japan. The story was set around the year 1600 and it was based on real-life exploits involving various political and military clashes of the period in Japan. The Taiko, a former leader with similar stature in title to Shogun, had recently died and his son was still too young to take his place.
Instead, there was a ruling council of daimyo, top leaders from different regions across Japan. The “Shogun” story opened during a period when there was no ruling Shogun in Japan. Becoming Shogun meant that one was the head of the military and essentially a dictator. The title was given by the Emperor, who was considered divine and lived a largely secluded life. Basically, anyone could happily (or not) die at any time and there were many shocking twists.įor context regarding the name of the book, Shogun was the highest title given to a ‘mortal’ in Japan. This was primarily due to the predominant religious beliefs in Japan involving reincarnation and/or the emergence of Christianity with its own promises regarding the afterlife. The result was that the reader learned how little the culture of the time thought of killing. In “Shogun,” as soon as the main character arrived in Japan, he witnessed a shocking beheading.
Martin’s “A Song of Fire and Ice.” While “Shogun” didn’t have any supernatural elements in its story, the two works were similar given the focus of both on political power plays and maneuverings amongst a ruling class.Īlso similar was the unpredictability of both works. Back then, it probably would have taken me a full year of periodic reading to finish the book.Īs a faster adult reader, I went back to the novel and found myself frequently comparing “Shogun” to George R.R. Unfortunately, I only made it through 100 pages or so before realizing that my reading pace was much too slow. More than two decades ago in junior high, I was entranced by this book’s stark samurai sword cover. My fiction reading for much of this past summer was James Clavell’s 1975 monster of a novel “Shogun.” Clocking in at 428,000 words, this beast of a book was roughly the size of all three “Lord of the Rings” novels combined. (A word of warning that this article gets deep into the plot particulars of “Shogun” and includes spoilers)
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