Is Shōgun only one season? (yes, but...)

Shōgun, the TV show based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell, recently ended its 10-episode run on FX and Hulu, and it was spectacular. Set in feudal Japan in the 1600s, the show is rich in historical detailed, beautifully photographed, wonderfully acted, and dramatically taut. After its elegiac finale, fans wondered: is that all there is? Will we get further adventures with John Blackthorne and Lord Toronaga?

The short answer is: very probably not. The first season of Shōgun adapted the whole of Clavell's book, so there's no more story to tell. It's possible that showrunner Justin Marks and his team could make one up, but it doesn't sound like he wants to do that. "I don’t know if it’s possible," Marks said the other week. "I don’t know if Clavell could have done it either. That’s probably why he moved on to other books too, right? He knew what he had done. Yeah, it’s a tough one."

However, Clavell did write five other books in what came to be known as his "Asian Saga," each set in a different time with a new set of characters. Besides Shōgun, here is the full set of books:

• Tai-Pan (1966), set in 1841
• Gai-Jin (1993), set in 1862
• King Rat (1962), set in 1945
• Noble House (1981), set in 1963
• Whirlwind (1986), set in 1979

Marks seems more amenable to potentially adapting one of these books. Tai-Pan is set closest in time to Shōgun, although it still takes place centuries later. "Well, I can only speak for myself reading Tai-Pan right now, just apropos of nothing, honestly, and what a great book," he said. "I’ve been reading it and saying, 'Well! He did it again.' But it’s completely different. It’s about Hong Kong in the early days, a totally different world, so it’s not just playing the hits. He’s conjuring new vivid characters that stand 75,000 feet tall all at once. And I think when you look at Shōgun, that’s part of what Clavell did. We were given these characters who were really so colorful and accessible, which is a hard magic to conjure as a novelist and as a writer."

So is Shōgun only one season? Almost certainly yes, but we could see a spiritual successor from the same team, and I hope we do.

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