Web of Islands — John Griffin

On one level, "Web of Islands" is the story of Hawaii and the Asia-Pacific region in the second half of the 20th Century, covering the years from the end of World War II and Hawaii's Statehood to the Millennium and beyond. But even more this novel is about the multiracial people who shaped the islands in a dramatic time that still echoes in the 50th state. "Web of Islands" is a separate narrative that can stand alone for any reader. Yet it is also a sequel to the author's earlier novel, "Halfway to Asia" which focused on key figures in the 1950s when a colonial Hawaii underwent a social revolution and won Statehood. Now we see the central characters over three generations and the turmoil that includes the Vietnam War and the political, social and economic storms that hit Hawaii in the march to the 21st Century. So here again are old friends and sometimes foes: Tony O'Donovan, a journalist who has turned down the CIA and academia to find a role in Hawaii; Tats Nakata, the World War II Nisei hero turned political kingmaker; Chas Carter, the playboy professor, TV host and actor who drifts to homosexuality; Harold Wang, who takes his family business out of Chinatown to the world stage as he struggles to help Republicans regain power in a Democratic Hawaii; John Kahana, who moves from teacher to hotel manager to prominent attorney while remaining true to his Hawaiian heritage; and Whitney Bradford, a product of the old white elite who adapts his family business and himself to a time of liberal change and deal making. Mix in generation-gap battles with their children and grandchildren, a variety of lovers and new spouses, the social revolution of the 1960s and '70s, and fears that Hawaii isbeing ruined in the process of booming tourism and other development. Finally, top it all off with a massive volcanic eruption that both reshapes Hawaii's biggest island and shows the power and beauty of the old mythology. Scientists say such an eruption is still possible, maybe even likely. The rest of the novel's story of social change is not only possible, much of it is akin to what has happened in a Hawaii still growing physically and evolving socially.