The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
aterriblebloom's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
delialynch's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
tamara_mousa's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing saga with a beautiful historical description about the way the British ruled Asia via selling opium to the Chinese in exchange of buying tea.
You can find a summary about it in my blog- https://www.tamarayousefmousa.com/
You can find a summary about it in my blog- https://www.tamarayousefmousa.com/
rahrahsayah's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
charlibirb's review against another edition
5.0
UGH! Such a good book! I can't even. This series is one of my top 5.
mikezad's review against another edition
4.0
Though similar in scale to Shogun, which I consider to be Clavell's magnum opus, I found the story of Dirk Struan in Tai-Pan to be excellent though not nearly on par with Clavell's other work. Nevertheless, this is a great work of historical fiction and I would recommend it to anyone.
I once saw a comment that Clavell's Asian Saga is similar to Game of Throne in terms of scope and detail, complete with cringy sex scenes as well. On that note, call me woke all you want but I did find the novel's characterizations of certain Chinese characters to be somewhat, uh problematic to say the least. I do recognize that this was written in 1966 so certainly I can't hold it to the same cultural standards of today, but yeah there are some depictions of the Chinese which are ignorant at best and somewhat prejudiced at worst.
With that out of the way though this really is a great work of fiction. Something I enjoy about Clavell's novels is that the perspective constantly shifts between the minds of different characters. Similar to Shogun, I thought Tai-Pan did a excellent job of creating European characters who viewed themselves of great importance and dismissed the Chinese to some extent due to the language barrier. Then when the narrative switches to the perspective of the Chinese characters the reader is exposed to the broader context of China and its' history which ultimately demonstrates how little influence the European characters actually have.
I'm hoping to read King Rat or Gai-Jin as my next Clavell novel.
I once saw a comment that Clavell's Asian Saga is similar to Game of Throne in terms of scope and detail, complete with cringy sex scenes as well. On that note, call me woke all you want but I did find the novel's characterizations of certain Chinese characters to be somewhat, uh problematic to say the least. I do recognize that this was written in 1966 so certainly I can't hold it to the same cultural standards of today, but yeah there are some depictions of the Chinese which are ignorant at best and somewhat prejudiced at worst.
With that out of the way though this really is a great work of fiction. Something I enjoy about Clavell's novels is that the perspective constantly shifts between the minds of different characters. Similar to Shogun, I thought Tai-Pan did a excellent job of creating European characters who viewed themselves of great importance and dismissed the Chinese to some extent due to the language barrier. Then when the narrative switches to the perspective of the Chinese characters the reader is exposed to the broader context of China and its' history which ultimately demonstrates how little influence the European characters actually have.
I'm hoping to read King Rat or Gai-Jin as my next Clavell novel.
rosariasantana's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mboi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0