If you like Shōgun, read these other great historical novels by James Clavell
By Joel Wagler
Noble House (1981), set in 1963, approximately 1,400 pages
This is the largest book of the bunch and one of the most ambitious literary projects ever attempted. You might think that is hyperbole, but the number of characters and intermingling plotlines is staggering.
Despite the heft of the tome, Noble House takes place over the course of a single week in 1963 and continues the story first introduced in Tai-pan. The Struans and the Brocks are still rivals and plotting to maintain, or get, the upper hand as the top European trading company in Asia. Like Tai-Pan, Noble House takes place in Hong Kong, but the timeline places it firmly in the height of the Cold War and when Hong Kong was working to establish itself as an international financial and trade center.
This story encompasses just about everything, including Communist spy rings, bank runs, horse racing, financial intrigue and natural disasters. If multiple points of view aren't your thing, or if you have trouble keeping dozens of characters straight in your head, or if 20 or so convoluted, intertwined plot lines aren't your cup of tea, then this isn't the book for you.
Those things, however, are what make this book a masterpiece in detailed storytelling. It's probably the best book in the series. Few books can capture the scope of a place at such a narrow point of time. It's brilliant.
This book was also made into a mini-series in 1988 starring Pierce Brosnan, but could be in line for an updated version like Shōgun.