Book · 1975
Shōgun
by James Clavell
An English pilot washes ashore in feudal Japan and has to out-scheme daimyo, Jesuits, and his own crew just to stay alive.
What does Reddit think of Shōgun?
Shogun's Reddit life happens almost entirely inside recommendation threads. Of 420 total mentions, 334 sit in r/suggestmeabook, where it turns up as the answer to "longest book you've read" (a re-reader clocks it at 1152 pages, ↑145) and as the veteran-tier entry in beginner-to-expert reading lists (↑286). r/printSF adds 48 mentions, r/Fantasy another 38, filing it under crossover historical fiction that "reads like a fantasy book" (↑50). Mentions fell to 44 in 2024 before nearly doubling to 75 in 2025, tracking the FX adaptation: one commenter draws the line directly, "the show is brilliant but the book is perfect" (↑68). Nobody in the sample argues against it. The disagreements are about shelving, not quality, whether it counts as fantasy, whether it belongs next to Count of Monte Cristo and Pillars of the Earth (↑66, ↑89). That's a book people hand to friends, not one they debate.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Recommendation-list staple in r/suggestmeabook rather than a genre-forum fixture
- · Page count worn as a badge (1152 pages, ↑145) instead of hidden as a warning
- · 2025 mention spike tracking the FX show, with readers ranking the novel above it
- · Genre-shelf argument: historical fiction that reads like fantasy, per r/Fantasy
Common praise
- + A r/suggestmeabook reader re-reads it and still names it the heaviest book in their 1000+ page club at 1152 pages (↑145).
- + One commenter ranks the novel above its own award-winning adaptation: "the show is brilliant but the book is perfect" (↑68).
- + r/Fantasy recommends it to genre readers specifically because it delivers the scope of an epic without needing to be one: "reads like a fantasy book, and is the absolute bomb" (↑50).
- + It gets slotted next to Pillars of the Earth and A Column of Fire as a back-to-back binge, not a one-off (↑89).
Common criticism
- − It barely registers outside recommendation threads: 86 combined mentions across r/printSF and r/Fantasy against 334 in r/suggestmeabook, so genre communities treat it as a footnote rather than a core text.
- − Even fans lead with the page count before the plot, which flags the 1152-page length as the real barrier to picking it up (↑145).
- − One r/Fantasy commenter has to qualify the rec with "it doesn't exactly fit," meaning even its supporters aren't sure which shelf it belongs on (↑50).
Who it's for
Come in ready for a project, not a weekend read: the r/suggestmeabook commenter who counted 1152 pages meant it as a badge, not a complaint (↑145). If the FX show is what brought you here, this crowd thinks you should keep going past the credits, "the show is brilliant but the book is perfect" (↑68). Stack it next to Pillars of the Earth, A Column of Fire, or the Count of Monte Cristo if you're already working through the long historical-fiction shelf (↑89, ↑66). r/Fantasy treats it as a way in for genre readers who want epic scale without an actual fantasy novel (↑50). A shorter book first is the better call if six-figure page counts have stalled you out before.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Shōgun?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“I love historical fiction! For beginners: -The Book Thief -For Whom the Bell Tolls -All Quiet on the Western Front For Veterans: -Half of a Yellow Sun -The Shadow of the Wind -Blood Meridian For Experts: -The Memoirs of Hadrian -Europe Central -Shogun
“A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin. First book is A Game of Thrones. There are kid characters but it’s as far from YA as it gets. The Second Apocalypse by R Scott Bakker. First book is The Darkness That Comes Before. The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham. First book is A Shadow …
“I re-read Shogun recently. 1152 pages. That’s my top 1000+ page novel.
“Shogun is amazing Pillars of the Earth, World without End and A Column of Fire, especially if you read them back to back!
“James Clavell - Shogun.. the show is brilliant but the book is perfect
“*The Count of Monte Cristo* by Alexandre Dumas. (1276 pages) *Shogun* by James Clavell. (1152 pages) [*Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell*](
“Best immersive historical fiction ever: James Clavell's SHOGUN - told from the POV of an Elizabethan pirate who is shipwrecked in 16th century Japan, at a time when the Catholic Jesuit incursion has arrived to convert the inhabitants and finds itself in strong opposition to the feudal Japanese cultu…
“It doesn't exactly fit but Shogun is historical fiction, reads like a fantasy book, and is the absolute bomb.
Convinced? Pick up Shōgun
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with Shōgun — counted from the comments, not curated.
Lonesome Dove
Larry McMurtry
Two aging Texas Rangers drive a stolen cattle herd a thousand miles north, hauling four decades of friendship and regret with them.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
A small-town Alabama lawyer defends a Black man falsely accused of rape while his children watch the town's conscience get tested.
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
Elizabeth Bennet spends five sisters, one entailed estate, and one insufferably proud man learning she judged him wrong.
Dune
Frank Herbert
A duke's son survives his family's betrayal on a desert planet and becomes the prophet who leads its people to war.
The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
A framed sailor rots in an island prison for fourteen years, escapes with a fortune, and spends the rest of the book collecting on every debt of vengeance.
The Three-Body Problem
Liu Cixin
A Chinese radio astronomer's decades-old reply to an alien signal puts Earth on a collision course with an invasion fleet centuries out.
Shōgun — frequently asked
Is Shogun worth reading if I've already seen the FX show?+
Yes, according to the r/suggestmeabook thread that keeps citing it: one commenter puts it bluntly, "the show is brilliant but the book is perfect" (↑68). The novel shows up across 334 r/suggestmeabook mentions as the default answer whenever someone asks for historical fiction, with the show treated as an entry point rather than a substitute.
How long is Shogun, and does the page count matter?+
It runs 1152 pages, and Reddit treats that as part of the pitch, not a warning. A r/suggestmeabook reader names it their longest read at that exact count (↑145), and it's routinely grouped with other 1000+ page novels like the Count of Monte Cristo (1276 pages, ↑66).
Is Shogun fantasy, historical fiction, or something else?+
Historical fiction, with a caveat. r/Fantasy recommends Shogun while admitting "it doesn't exactly fit," then argues it reads like a fantasy book anyway (↑50). That subreddit accounts for 38 of the 420 total mentions, a fraction of r/suggestmeabook's 334, so the fantasy-shelf case is a minority read, not the consensus one.
What should I read after Shogun?+
Reddit's own pairings: Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and A Column of Fire as a back-to-back set (↑89), or the Count of Monte Cristo and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for readers building out a long historical-fiction shelf (↑66). All three come from the same r/suggestmeabook threads that drove 334 of Shogun's 420 mentions.