I have always had an interest in Japan and in particular some of their earlier histories with samurai. I initially started reading this story about five years ago or so and then life got in the way. Finally picked it back up and wanted to finish it. This book transported me back to a time period in Japan where there are still ronin, samurai, ninjas, and other interesting characters. It centers on a foreigner from England that was an English pilot on a Dutch warship that lands in Japan. He gets pulled into a major series of events between the varying powers of the day in Japan, including other foreigners from the Catholic church who control much trade. It was my first foray into historical fiction and because of it, I am exploring other books in the genre now. 
 There were many interesting situations that happened and the author painted vivid pictures, even for things that may not be so appetizing: 
 "Here, drink this. Make better. Settle hara." The doctor had a benign smile, Blackthorne drank and gagged on the brew that smelled like ancient bird droppings and mildewed kelp mixed with fermenting leaves on a hot summer's day. The taste was worse. 
 This is a fairly adult book, with adult scenes and lots of violence and killing, which makes sense due to the plot and the characters within the story. I hope to eventually find a copy of the mini series they did of this book for a made for tv movie but have not been able to run across it yet. 
 I ran across an article talking about the historical accuracy of the book, but have not had a chance to give it a read: 
 http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learnin...