Whereas Suzie Wong was a sympathetic portrait of cheongsam clad prostitutes desperate to survive in the muck and poverty of Hong Kong, Noble House is a lengthy soap opera detailing cheongsam clad dragon ladies and their wealthy husbands and boyfriends. Written in 1981 but set in 1963, Noble House is the flip side view of Hong Kong from another novel set in the colony during the late 1950s, The World of Suzie Wong. I'll pick it up again in a few years, but right now I highly recommend a read. It's a long book and covers so much, but is never boring or slow. Women are just getting into the business world though not treated equally, and even less so by cultures. I find that some of the most interesting parts of the story. Clavell does a wonderful job of differentiating them by personality and culture. At the center of it all is Hong Kong, the hub of commerce in Asia and a focus of the great powers of the time.Īs I stated, there are a lot of characters. There's still resentment and scars from World War II, the US is gradually getting into the Viet Nam war, and spy scandals like Profumo rock Britain. I've read this book several times, and I was still on the edge of my seat with all the villains, the plotting and the politics, all mixed in with actual events of the time. The action moves quickly and there is a lot packed into every day. Events are hampered by gun-running, fires, kidnappings, drug-running, spies, and more characters than I can name. Linc Bartlett and his CFO Casey Tcholok are raiders, determined to get into the Asian market with whoever profits them most. The central premise of the plot is the American company Par-Con that comes to make a deal with either Struan's or their main rival, Rothwell-Gornt (the descendants of Tyler Brock). I like all the Easter eggs for Shogun and stories about the Hag, Dirk, and Tyler Brock. It's probably not necessary to read them to understand this book, but knowing them does lead to better enjoyment here.

Ian is a descendant of Dirk Struan, the pirate and founder of the Noble House, and there are many references back to the previous books in the Asian Saga. The main protagonist is Ian Dunross, tai-pan of the Noble House (the commercial side of Struan's). It is essentially a Chinese city, and the British living there understand that, while it's also a hub in Asia for other great powers like the United States, Russia, and China. The story takes place during one week in 1963 in Hong Kong when it was still run by the British. Every few years, I pull out my copy of Noble House and sit down for a reread of one of my favorite books.

Noble house james clavell review