And then how barbarian words come even to replace Japanese! Or barbarian words standing in for the words of other barbarian tongues! If you'll excuse this vassal's petulant tongue, Sire, it's enough to make one fart dust, so sorry. This humble vassal speaks more to the text and how Japanese is interwoven with the barbarian words in so many places. I am not speaking of the slow-to-develop romance between Mariko and the Anjin-san nor even of the dueling political machinations of Toranaga and Ishido. I'm sure my Lord would agree that parts of the story can become quite tedious. But the arc it follows is like a peregrine's path through the sky: long but fast and with vicious twists along what might otherwise have seemed a predictable path. Neh? The scope is so vast, the characters and settings are so many, the head is liable to spin at times, so sorry. If however, my Lord insists it, then I shall endeavor to offer up some humble thoughts regarding its mighty, even epic narrative.

So sorry, I am not worthy of the honor of reviewing this novel. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Sh ō gun is, as the New York Times put it, '.not only something you read-you live it.' Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Sh ō gun. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Sh ō gun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book.

As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne's loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen-Nippon.

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