The Asian Saga - Overview

Overview

The purpose of the Asian Saga was, according to Clavell—descendant of a family long in service to the British Empire, and who was a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II—to tell "the story of the Anglo-Saxon in Asia". In publication order, the books are:

• King Rat (1962)
• Tai-Pan (1966)
• Shōgun (1975)
• Noble House (1981)
• Whirlwind (1986)
• Gai-Jin (1993)

The name "Asian Saga" was not applied to the series until following the publication of Shōgun. The books are sometimes listed in narrative order:

• Shōgun: set in feudal Japan, 1600
• Tai-Pan: set in Hong Kong, 1841
• Gai-Jin: set in Japan, 1862
• King Rat: set in a Japanese POW camp, Singapore, 1945
• Noble House: set in Hong Kong, 1963
• Whirlwind: set in Iran, 1979

Apart from Shōgun and King Rat, all the books follow the dealings of the great trading company Struan's, the Noble House of Asia (based on Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited), its founder Dirk Struan, and his various descendants. Gai-Jin provides the major link between the Shōgun and Struans storylines, while two characters from King Rat (Robin Grey and Peter Marlowe) appear in Noble House.

Some of the characters make appearances in multiple books, and many characters from one book are referred to in later books. Robert Armstrong, for example, is a major character in both Noble House and Whirlwind. As a tie-in, Linc Bartlett's (Noble House) ancestor appears in James Clavell's 1960 film, "Walk Like A Dragon".

There are dozens of characters throughout the series, with very complex family relationships and a great deal of history that is hinted at but never described in detail. For instance, Peter Marlowe is almost certainly a descendant of Lt. John Marlowe, the captain who married Malcolm Struan and Angelique Richaud against the wishes of Tess Struan, as Clavell refers often to Peter Marlowe's family's long history of naval service. Clavell peppers the entire Asian Saga with these genealogical easter eggs.

After the publication of Whirlwind, Clavell wrote a shorter version of the story which focused on two characters from the book. Entitled Escape: The Love Story from Whirlwind, the book is generally not considered an official part of the Asian Saga and is considered quite rare; nonetheless some reviewers said it helped flesh out several aspects of the original novel.

In 1980 Clavell stated that, beyond Noble House, future entries in the series would include Nippon, set in 1970s Japan, and China, set in the present and future. He died in 1994 after the publication of Gai-Jin; it was reported that he was planning several more entries in the Asian Saga series at the time of his death.