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Probably a 4.5**** for me. Written back in 1954, Hawaii is Michener's 2nd novel but his historical fiction formula is already set. We take thousands of years of natural history to set the scene, and then we move through the years with a cast of characters and their families. It is there book after book and it never gets old, it never gets dull and it is always both entertaining and educational as I learn a lot about aspects of history and society in each of his books.
Here his style is still the same, but he segments every chapter (there are only 6), and in this way even though we focus on the different peoples who have come to help develop Hawaii they are always blended with the older characters or their families we read about earlier. We have the Tahitians arriving to settle Hawaii, then the Missionaries, the Chinese, Japanese and then the Golden Children (the blending of all races and nationalities). His research is impeccable and his story is both true and what makes him, for me, the best historical fiction author is that his observations and intimations of where the characters and societies are heading are almost always accurate even 60+ years after he wrote this novel. It is seen over and over again in all his works.
James Michener is just a marvelous author, and you know that when you start one of his epic novels you are looking at 900+ pages of reading. But none are wasted or throwaway pages, none are surplus pages written to hit a page requirement. Each and every word and observation is structured in such a way that we truly get the flavor of the islands or any other area he writes about.
Yes, all these years after his death he still is The Godfather of Historical Fiction!