The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 6 books · 1962 to 1993 · Often set in Hong Kong

James Clavell

Historical fictionWartime and twentieth centuryFamily saga

James Clavell, a former prisoner of war of the Japanese, wrote the Asian Saga. Shōgun follows the English pilot John Blackthorne, shipwrecked in feudal Japan; Tai-Pan, Gai-Jin and Noble House follow the Struan trading dynasty of Hong Kong.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip. Story order: Shōgun, Tai-Pan, Gai-Jin, King Rat, Noble House, Whirlwind.

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Who appears in which book

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LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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James Clavell books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Asian Saga

6 books · story order differsFamily sagaWartime and twentieth century
  1. 1King Rat1962With Peter Marlowe · Set in SingaporeBuy on Amazon
  2. 2Tai-Pan1966With Dirk Struan · Set in Hong KongBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Shōgun1975With John Blackthorne · Set in Feudal JapanBuy on Amazon
  4. 4Noble House1981With Ian Dunross · Set in Hong KongBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Whirlwind1986Set in TehranBuy on Amazon
  6. 6Gai-Jin1993With Malcolm Struan · Set in YokohamaBuy on Amazon

Characters

11 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

The Asian Saga