** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

A Son of the Sun is based on Jack London novels. While I've never been a Jack London reader, I found this graphic novel to be beautifully illustrated, with that old-fashioned grit and colour of classic books, and well paced, with a great plot.

A Son of the Sun, by Fabian Nury
★★★★☆
80 Pages

Let's start with the simple stuff:

Would I read it again?: Yes!
Genre: Comic, Graphic Novel, Adventure
Content Warning: deals with alcoholism, gambling, slavery, suicide, racism


Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty:

David Grief is an interesting lead character. He has everything he could want at his disposal, wealth, respect, a business empire, but he has nothing really to live for since the woman he loved committed suicide. There are a whole host of other traders and sailors, but he's the main plot, and by far the most interesting.

There are hints that this “Parlay” character is the one bringing them all together, but that Grief is the only one not invited, and we don't really know why until they reach Parlay's island. The slow trickle of information and backstory was really well done, I loved the snippets of flashbacks and the hints that were littered throughout, but never too heavily relied on.

The writing style is great, for a graphic novel. It gives the same kind of detail and background as a novel could, but in a condensed form and keeping only to the bullet point facts that we need to know to follow the story. The plot was well paced and told a great story about the dangers of greed, lust, and love. About how pride could hurt yourself more than anyone else, in the end. And that last panel was a perfect ending.

The one fault I had – the reason it's not a 5 star review – is because the format of the pdf meant that it was hard to read. If it had been in comic form (cbr/cbz) then I could have used a comic reader to read each individual panel. However, that option wasn't available, so I had to enlarge the page, which meant that the page took a moment to adjust and sometimes didn't; I often ended up with blurry text that was hard to read, no matter how far I zoomed in. It made for a difficult reading experience and I missed a few speech bubbles, for the simple fact they were too small and too blurry to read, which, in the end, affected the flow and ease of reading.

However, the story still managed to come through, so I'd still read it again.

Although it's currently not available on paperback, I'd definitely buy it. I'm also going to get the original novel, and read that. This graphic novel was a great introduction to Jack London's work, for me, and I'm eager to read more from both this author and him.

Definitely worth checking out. The story is good and so is the artwork. It's definitely worth the read if you enjoyed the short story.

As a child growing up in the fifties and sixties I relied on books movies and comics for entertainment. One of my favourite comic series was Classics Illustrated who reproduced great Classic novels in the form of a comic. Many of these novels were also made into movies. The Classics Illustrated comic was a step between a novel and a movie. It was an illustrated version of the novel that you could keep and read over and over. This book is the closest I have seen to a Classics Illustrated comic book for many years. It is fitting that it contains a couple of Jack London's classic short stories. It is well written and well illustrated throughout. Unlike many graphic novels of today which rely on the illustrations to set the scene there is still a lot of reading required in this book to understand the tale fully.

Based on some short stories of Jack London and adapted into a thrill, page turning graphic novel.
The text is clear, the illustrations logical and well drawn. Split into two parts it is about the high seas, a time of exploration, exploitation and enslavement by white trades in the Solomon Islands.
Two individuals stand out; Parlay who settled and found wealth in pearls but equally tragedy in life for the natives he joined made him king but death awaited the pearl divers and fortune deserted him. And David Grief a chancer and entrepreneur who the natives call ‘The Son of the Sun’. He has not been invited to the pearl auction which is surprising as his wealth outstrips all of the original invitees. He however will attend at any cost; he must first reclaim a debt from a trader he has heard is cashing up to leave the islands.
Full of action and the power of the sea and it’s accompanied issues of tide, current and weather. This is a male orientated comic of duels, pistols and double-crosses. The traders are simple men but Parley and Grief seem almost spirit-led but with a touch of evil on their shoulder where a pirate might expect a parrot.
Little humour, plenty of fights, blood and gore.
I liked the action. The characters of Grief and Parlay were well formed and believable. Many of the rest were less explored but interesting all the same, especially native sailor Mapouhi.
I also liked the clear racist views that mirror something of today’s elitist and inward-looking communities. For the treatment given to a young princess will enrage the reader I trust and her response shock and appall I hope.
It is a story of its time but it cuts through bigotry and colonial zeal to offer in David Grief perhaps a role model, by no means perfect but a beacon in his generation.

What seems a very atypical Jack London adventure, of traders, pearl dealers and pirates trying to screw each other over. It's not bad, not by a long chalk, but you have to be in the mood for old-fashioned narratives for this book to work.

A beautiful graphic novel and a great adaption of Jack London's work. Definitely recommended.

This is an adaptation of some of the stories by Jack London. An old man in the Solomon Isles is selling his pearls. As traders sail to his island to buy them, old debts are fought over and pain from the past is confronted. This is a swashbuckling adventure story on the high seas. The artwork is good and draws the reader into an old era of guns, debts, wealth, slaves and colonies.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

'A Son of the Sun' by Fabien Nury with illustrations by Eric Henninot is an adaptation of stories from Jack London. I was unfamiliar with these stories, but this one was a good one.

A man named Parlay is dying, and he is putting the word out that his vast collection of pearls is going up for auction. A man named David Grief hears of it, but is told that he is not invited. The reasons for that become clear as we learn of Parlay's past and his daughter Armande. Grief has his own reasons for being there, but what is Parlay's true intention for having this auction?

It's definitely a tale of its time, with not much in the way of political correctness. There is cruelty and darkness. There are some interesting tricks along the way.

The art is quite good. It fits the story and feels like a Classics Illustrated story. I really liked the style.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.