"With great skill and intelligence...Gai-Jin is just the ticket. It has it all: murders, battles, rapes, earthquakes, sword fights, insanely convoluted political intrigues, and innumerable accounts of 'pillowing' with beautiful women."

"Interesting, exciting...James Clavell fans will love it!"

"Clavell keeps you turning the pages."

"Compelling...The Japanese love fine jubako--lacquered boxes that fit within boxes that are in boxes. In Gai-Jin, James Clavell has written a jubako of a novel."

"Unceasingly satisfying...Clavell is in top-notch form...He again melds plot-driven storytelling and colorful characterization in vibrant collaboration with an exotic, dynamic setting."

"Once you're into it, you...are swept along by spirited storytelling...Clavell writes at full throttle as if infused by the soul of Alexandre Dumas...You get your money's worth if you want to spend it here."

"A grand historical perspective that makes us feel we're understanding how today's Japan came into being...Absorbing...Full of rich characters and complicated action."

Gai-Jin is Shōgun plus!...Great entertainment."

Gai-Jin is major reading. If you like Clavell's other novels, you'll surely sink your teeth into this one. He is a master at capturing the Japanese persona...He dives deep into the complexitites of a monarchic society and the early attempts at cross-cultural negotiations. The result is nothing less than a saga."

"Engrossing...entertaining...the broad portrait is accurate and as colorful as an ancient Kabuki play."

"Exhilarating...a rich, enveloping novel."

"A well-told story...few eras of Japanese history were more violent, turbulent, and politically exasperating than the 1860s...Mr. Clavell revels in the turbulence of political death and rebirth."