This is the second chronological entry to James Clavell's to his Asian Saga and it's simply one of the best fictions (historical fiction?) I have ever read. Even better than Shogun in my opinion, which is itself a fantastic piece of writing.

Dirk Straun is a masterpiece of a character, and one of the best main characters I've ever read in a book. He wields power masterfully, adroitly maneuvering in many arenas of life... as a matter of fact, I think his leadership in the book probably warrant a case study in some circles. The way he maneuvers in politics, military, business, economics, personal conflict, persuasion, manipulation, they're nothing short of impressive.

One thing I wish this book had more of is the Chinese culture during that time. Unlike the first book which was more or less a crash course in Japanese samurai culture, this one focused more on the characters. More focus on the Chinese culture would have been amazing, but that's a minor nitpick.

In the end, I cannot recommend enough for readers of all kind to pick this one up. Onto Gai-Jin!