Book Review - Shōgun, Part One: The Asian Saga, Book 1.1
Chapter 1: The Stranger from the West
The story kicks off with a bang as we're introduced to the main character, John Blackthorne, an English navigator aboard the Dutch ship Erasmus. Their ship, battered by a storm, finds itself off the coast of Japan, a land virtually unknown to Europeans in the 17th century. Blackthorne's world is turned upside down as he encounters the strict hierarchy and foreign customs of Japan. He soon realizes that survival depends on adapting to this unfamiliar culture.