reading list
Asian Saga (3): Gai-Jin
James Clavell
published: 1993, read: 12/30/24
1234 pages, genre: Historical Fiction
rating: 6/10, normalized: 5.556/10
-1.138σ worse than average
-1.658σ or -1.493/10 worse than average in Historical Fiction genre
-2.116σ or -1.561/10 worse than average by James Clavell
This book struggles for the same reason Shōgun did – it's too long for too little. And since the gambit has already been played out in the preceding two novels in the series, the penalty for slow development is more severe. Additionally, Tai-Pan stages a novel-over-novel arc of familial indebtedness that is just entirely ignored in this novel which is a bummer!
Tess Struan being the most formidable character in the series and not hardly getting any screen time is a bit of a miss. Continuation of the Struan bloodline sans any of the significance of the pacts made with Chen is also a miss.
There are definitely some notable scenes, but a lot of it is posturing and internal family feud.
related
| Read | Author | Title | Pages | Published | Genre | Rating | Rating' | Tags | Recommended by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/30/24 | James Clavell | Gai-Jin Asian Saga (3) | 1234 | 1993 | Historical Fiction | 6.000 | 5.556 | ||
| 10/25/24 | James Clavell | Tai-Pan Asian Saga (2) | 896 | 1966 | Historical Fiction | 7.958 | 7.731 | Trade & PiratesChina | |
| 5/20/25 | James Clavell | Noble House Asian Saga (5) | 1284 | 1981 | Historical Fiction | 8.333 | 8.148 | China | |
| 5/13/24 | James Clavell | Shōgun Asian Saga (1) | 1299 | 1975 | Historical Fiction | 7.583 | 7.315 | Japan | Jeff W. |
| 8/30/25 | James Clavell | Whirlwind Asian Saga (6) | 1200 | 1986 | Historical Fiction | 7.688 | 7.431 | ||
| 2/23/25 | James Clavell | King Rat Asian Saga (4) | 544 | 1962 | Historical Fiction | 7.800 | 7.556 | ||
| 10/18/25 | Shūsaku Endō | Silence | 256 | 1969 | Historical Fiction | 8.000 | 7.778 | Japan | |
| 10/22/26 | Yu Miri | Tokyo Ueno Station | 192 | 2021 | Fiction | 6.000 | 5.556 | Japan | |
| 9/24/26 | Osamu Dazai | No Longer Human | 177 | 1948 | Fiction | 7.650 | 7.389 | Japan | |
| 9/21/26 | Yoko Ogawa | The Memory Police | 288 | 1994 | Sci-Fi | 4.000 | 3.333 | Japan | |
| 7/29/26 | Min Jin Lee | Pachinko | 544 | 2017 | Fiction | 6.583 | 6.204 | Japan | |
| 2/16/26 | Natsuo Kirino | Out | 416 | 1992 | Fiction | 5.000 | 4.444 | Japan | |
| 5/19/25 | Yasuki Tanaka | Volume 6 Summertime Rendering (6) | 480 | 2017 | Graphic Novel | 6.250 | 5.833 | Japan | Will C. |
| 5/13/25 | Yasuki Tanaka | Volume 5 Summertime Rendering (5) | 433 | 2017 | Graphic Novel | 6.850 | 6.500 | Japan | Will C. |
| 4/29/25 | Yasuki Tanaka | Volume 4 Summertime Rendering (4) | 425 | 2017 | Graphic Novel | 7.000 | 6.667 | Japan | Will C. |
| 4/14/25 | Elisa Shua Dusapin | The Pachinko Parlor | 164 | 2018 | Fiction | 7.850 | 7.611 | Japan | |
| 3/31/25 | Yasuki Tanaka | Volume 3 Summertime Rendering (3) | 411 | 2017 | Graphic Novel | 7.600 | 7.333 | Japan | Will C. |
| 3/7/25 | Yasuki Tanaka | Volume 2 Summertime Rendering (2) | 378 | 2017 | Graphic Novel | 7.000 | 6.667 | Japan | Will C. |
| 2/28/25 | Yasuki Tanaka | Volume 1 Summertime Rendering (1) | 352 | 2017 | Graphic Novel | 7.250 | 6.944 | Japan | Will C. |
| 1/9/25 | Junji Ito | Uzumaki | 648 | 2013 | Graphic Novel | 7.250 | 6.944 | Japan | Will C. |
| 9/26/24 | Haruki Murakami | Kafka on the Shore | 505 | 2002 | Fiction | 5.875 | 5.417 | Japan | |
| 6/28/24 | Te-Ping Chen | The Land of Big Numbers | 236 | 2021 | Fiction | 5.625 | 5.139 | China | |
| 2/2/23 | Peter Leeson | The Invisible Hook | 288 | 2009 | Non-Fiction | 7.500 | 7.222 | Trade & Pirates | Misha |
| 10/20/16 | Charles Dickens | A Tale of Two Cities | 544 | 1859 | Fiction | 6.750 | 6.389 | referenced | |
| 7/11/26 | Kirill Eskov | The Gospel of Afranius | 212 | 1995 | Historical Fiction | 7.875 | 7.639 | Mikhail Bulgakov | |
| 6/26/26 | William T. Vollmann | Europe Central | 832 | 2005 | Historical Fiction | 8.550 | 8.389 | ||
| 2/14/26 | James A. Michener | Centennial | 1104 | 1974 | Historical Fiction | 7.750 | 7.500 | Grandpa | |
| 12/20/25 | Joshua Wheeler | The High Heaven: A Novel | 304 | 2025 | Historical Fiction | 7.717 | 7.463 | ||
| 12/4/25 | Thomas Pynchon | Mason & Dixon | 773 | 1977 | Historical Fiction | 8.000 | 7.778 | ||
| 11/23/25 | Mathias Énard | Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants | 144 | 2010 | Historical Fiction | 7.200 | 6.889 | Dasha | |
| 10/7/25 | Thomas Pynchon | Vineland | 385 | 1990 | Historical Fiction | 7.900 | 7.667 | ||
| 1/28/25 | Stephen King | 11/22/63 | 849 | 2011 | Historical Fiction | 8.000 | 7.778 | Grandma | |
| 10/10/24 | Thomas Pynchon | Gravity's Rainbow | 887 | 1973 | Historical Fiction | 8.500 | 8.333 | ||
| 9/23/24 | John Steinbeck | The Moon is Down | 126 | 1942 | Historical Fiction | 7.250 | 6.944 | ||
| 9/13/24 | Abraham Verghese | Cutting for Stone | 658 | 2009 | Historical Fiction | 7.050 | 6.722 | Mom | |
| 8/4/24 | Claire Keegan | Small Things Like These | 116 | 2020 | Historical Fiction | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 6/24/24 | Umberto Eco | The Name of the Rose | 692 | 1980 | Historical Fiction | 7.750 | 7.500 | ||
| 2/1/24 | Neal Stephenson | Cryptonomicon | 1172 | 1999 | Historical Fiction | 8.563 | 8.403 | ||
| 12/27/23 | Michael Chabon | The Yiddish Policeman’s Union | 468 | 2007 | Historical Fiction | 7.000 | 6.667 | ||
| 9/17/23 | R. F. Kuang | The Poppy War The Poppy War (1) | 651 | 2018 | Historical Fiction | 4.333 | 3.704 | roon | |
| 9/10/23 | Susan Meissner | The Nature of Fragile Things | 385 | 2021 | Historical Fiction | 6.250 | 5.833 | Mom | |
| 10/10/17 | Naguib Mahfouz | The Thief and the Dogs | 162 | 1961 | Historical Fiction | 7.250 | 6.944 | Steg |