The New York Times said the book was not as notable as King Rat but was "almost an archetype of pure story telling.

Extension of their barbaric and selfish work in America, Africa, India and NOW China, TaiPan is a closer look at these Barbarians way of thinking! You can't make the protagonist laugh at every obstacle for 700 pages and then make him die from a natural disaster in a page without the reader feeling cheated. I never felt like I couldn't put the book down or had to read to the end of a chapter because half the time I didn't even know what I was reading about.Clavell was born in Australia, but lived most of his life, after his war service and years as a POW in Java, in Britain, the USA and Canada. They hate and despise each other, but more than once as the plot unfolds they find themselves allied in a common cause.

There aren't really good guys and bad guys (except, you know, Imperialism), just competing interests and agendas. In the end, he is unfortunately not much more than another low hurdle or toothless lion that Struan overcomes with ease, which is a shame because Struan's personal relationship with Brock is actually one of the more interesting parts of the story.The truth is that, as likable and charming as he is, even to the reader, Struan is a very poorly written character. Tai-Pan” is a tale of ambition, power, and the high-stakes world of international commerce, offering a rich portrayal of Hong Kong’s tumultuous history during the height of the British Empire.