Shike: Time Of Dragons (1981)

How good was this? So good, that in the midst of reading I went back and lowered the rating of the book I read before because the storytelling in this one was so superior. This is one of those page turners I practically inhaled, one of those books that you're yawning over not because it's boring, but Dear Lord is that dawn breaking and have you stayed up all night reading?

So, why isn't this five stars? Well, because it's not quite for me a five star book. Robert Shea did write a book I consider one of my favorite works of historical fiction, All Things Are Lights and for me this book didn't match it in impact. For one, that other book was more moving--even causing me to cry at one point which is rare for me. For another, strangely enough, Shike was less impressive because I know more about Feudal Japan, the setting of the book, then I knew about the Albigensian Crusade when I read All Things Are Lights. I had no idea there had been a Christian crusade against Christians nor had ever heard about the Cathars or known that they had threatened the monolithic hold of the Roman Catholic Church over medieval Europe--so the subject was shocking, exciting and fresh. I was also very young when I read that book, and I have read a lot of works of history, and a lot of historical fiction since then. In other words--I'm pickier, and I don't have a nostalgic gauze over my eyes, and I have to admit this isn't comparable not only to the likes of Tolstoy, Hugo or Dickens it doesn't match the brilliance of works by Mary Renault, Robert Graves, Umberto Eco, Dorothy Dunnett, Patrick O'Brian, Hilary Mantel or Sharon Kay Penman. It doesn't have the style or complexity or depth. I had to grin seeing on LibraryThing that someone had used the tag "trashy."

And it's a mish mash historically--and that does bug me. It conflates the events of the Gempei War (1180–1185) and the reign of Kublai Khan and the threatened Mongol invasions (1259-1281). It's like mixing the events of the English War of the Roses with the Spanish Armada. The hero of Shike is loosely based on a historical figure, a Japanese warrior monk named Saitō no Musashibō Benkei. In the book named Jebu, he's made out to be the son of a Mongolian father and Japanese mother, and the book takes us from Japan to China and the Mongolian empire and back. Similarly, Clavell's Shogun, a book it's hard not to compare this to, is based on a real historical figure--but that book hews closer to a unified course of historical events.

So, yes, all that's true, but it's still also true I found this book near unputdownable. The book had no dull spots, had a good balance between love story, domestic matters and war, adventure and daring do. The scenes of fighting whether duels or battles were gripping and spooled before my eyes like an exciting action film. It made me want to read books on Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan and Heian Japan. Shea certainly made the Mongols sound fascinating and scary--like Star Trek's Borg--resistance is futile. Or seems so. This review covers the first book Time of the Dragon, but it's really just half of one novel, concluding with Last of the Zinja. Robert Shea's son has made available the complete Shike novel here under a Creative Commons license for all to read for free online.

I should also mention I've seen this book tagged or shelved as fantasy. It's not. Not any more so than say Mary Renault in say Bull from the Sea. There are prophecies and visions that seem to be true and are taken seriously, but trust me, there are no dragons beyond those embroidered and painted on banners. ( )

Excellent adventure set in medieval Japan during the attempted mongol invasion. Well written and engrossing tale. ( )