Final installment in the Asian Saga, and whew – I feel like I know Clavell as a writer, as a veteran, as an sociologist, and as a history nerd. This one wasn't my favorite, but at its best it rivaled some parts of King Rat, Noble House, etc.

I learned to fly a helicopter. I read the Koran for the second time (the first was as a POW), I read anything the Shah had written, anything by his sister, by Khomaini. I read about the cults, about Sufism and 100 other books, about the Caucasus, the war years, the partition of Iran between Russia and Britain, I read about Ali, the first of the Imams.

Kind of funny that he was uninterested in the hostage crisis element of the revolution and instead found his own niche in focusing on the exfiltration of helicopters – which provided a perfect tie in with a subset of the existing cast from the aforementioned 20th century Asian Saga books including:

• Robert Armstrong (MI6)
• Andrew Gavallan (inner circle of the Noble House, BIL to Ian Dunross, the current Tai Pan)
• Duncan MacIver (the GOAT)
• Peter Marlowe - his autobiographical stand-in, who by this point has authored the King Rat equivalent

and more. The plot follows several pilots of S-G (partially owned by the Struan-Gornt Noble House) trying to navigate the changing bureaucratic landscape of the new fundamentalist Iran which is becoming increasingly hostile to foreigners and attempting to nationalize the oil industry (including S-G's choppas).

As always, Clavell does a good job of making the reader feel like they're present, and does a fine job of explaining cultural and political norms (oftentimes as they're changing) without deviating too far into hamfisted historical explanation.

This book in particular was fun because the ripple effect of many of the dynamics at play: the story unfolds over a period of three weeks in February 1979, depicting a nation descending into fanaticism and chaos.

Interplay with the Azerbaijani revolution and soviets plucking the strings via Abdollah Khan and Rakoczy respectively, along with the Iran-Toda Japanese efforts to establish a market/relationship was a fun international tie-in which blew up the scope of espionage and wordlstagery throughout the story.

Rakoczy's was one of the most brutal torture scenes in any book I've read, made all the more harrowing by the fact that I know Clavell was well-researched.

A theme which spans all of Clavell's books is the matter of dying well or dying poorly, in the first few books dying well was a matter of honor and preservation of bodily right. Dying poorly is just a threat in this book which is peppered with espionage.

On the eyes and balls and cock of your son, you will serve us?

Not sure whether it's intentional or not, but in all of his cultural pieces, Clavell identifies an idiosyncrasy for "it is what it is in" other books. Previously, it was "karma" or "joss" one's lot in life, and in this book it's "Inshallah" or "as God wills it" whether to good news or too bad death or prosperity.

The Ayotollah being viewed as the 12th imam, prophesied, and if he was viewed as that in Iran, then it would have a major effect throughout the rest of the world.

Hashish boys referenced!!

The final part of the book was so good. Technicalities of helicopter maneuvering, the way the POV shifts around between the characters as they're communicating, and the tension that has been building for the past thousand pages.

MacIver orchestrating all of whirlwind, wheeling and dealing with air traffic control, dealing with hostile green bands, double crossers emergency information and a fucking heart attack and getting out alive is awesome.

Lockhart and Sharazad's death is insane. So many people playing and threatening with grenades, I guess it was bound to happen but holy shit.

In the last chapter, maybe chapter 70 Mark gets off the phone and talks about it being just his luck to find someone which wants to lock him up and he's so real for that.

it’s time I got married. Shit, I don’t wanna get married yet. I’m only 30 and I’ve avoided it so far. It'd just be my bad luck to meet this Parisienne witch in angel's clothing who'll use her wiles to make me so smitten then she’ll destroy my defenses and ruin my resolve! Life‘s too good, far too good, and dredging too much fun.

The religious fervor of the green bands and the mullahs to come over the border of Turkey and demand somebody who's being held prisoner, threaten to kill a police officer and his officers, and then not bat an I at the legitimate threat of force of "burning everything in between the border of Turkey and Tabriz" because that may be the will of God is an impossible for to reckon with reason with rationalize so fucking annoying.

Equally he was convinced that the mullah and his men were prepared to die this very instant, whereas he was not.

I underestimated how much of a friggin tank and war machine Erikki.

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