The political intrigue and inner workings in trade in Japan may not sound amusing to some (it wasn't to me either) but throw in a generational feud, desperate romance and really well written characters with real world (this happened in real life!) drama and you've got a hit! It's worth every page! The historical fiction of the century so far, each book better and better with more added weight, more world gain and loss and more insight into a past little known.