The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Child of the Sun Complete Edition
Because Child of the Sun Complete Edition was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.
Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.
This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.
Ekta Kumari
This book is the compilation of seven comic book issues. It's loosely based on ancient Biblical tales and legends. The storyline focuses on Samson and his life before marrying Delilah. As I was not at all interested in reading mythology, I wouldn't have read the book. Though, I like the artwork and the cover page. The thing I liked the most in the sampling is of course its colorful illustrations. Some paintings and graphics are really well done. And as I do like reading comics, I found the sampling entertaining. But the nudity and gore present in the book is really distasteful for me, so I wouldn't be reading the whole book. Having said that, the book does look professionally edited as there was no significant error in the portion I sampled. Lastly, I did see an official review for this read that details the book well.
First Ten review added on January 12, 2020, at 4:30 am by Ekta Kumari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Fu Zaila
The cover isn't anything spectacular and the blurb, reigning on Christian background, didn't catch my attention. The review was positive, however it did warn about nudity and sexual scenes. I have no idea about Samson or Delilah, so the book's context meant little to me. I loved the cover art of the first issue. Ihe contrast of purple and red, and also the fonts used, complemented the colors really well. As mentioned in the review, the small red font on black background was difficult to read. There wasn't any mention of errors in the review, but I found one in the very first sentence which leads me to believe the book isn't edited professionally. The sentence "...their lives were delivered into the hands of a ruthless and wretched people" is grammatically incorrect as 'a' isn't required to describe the subject 'people'. There was little dialogue to accompany the beautifully illustrated pages, which I didn't like. Either way, the storyline of Israelites and Samson didn't interest me, neither do I read comics, so I won't be reading this book.
First Ten review added on January 12, 2020, at 2:15 am by Fu Zaila.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Annelore Trujillo
I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover and title. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. I do not like comic books. I’m not into the pictures the way most people are. For example, I had a hard time telling what was happening in this book so far because there weren’t many captions. I also thought the pictures made it even more gory than it would have been as a normal book. For example, there was one page in which someone was executed by slicing their throat. This is not the type of picture I want to see. I liked that the pictures were detailed. It did seem to be professionally edited.
First Ten review added on January 12, 2020, at 1:23 am by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Lorraine De Vos
I would have chosen to sample this book based on the fact that it is a graphic novel. The first ten pages were impeccably drawn and delivered to my expectations, however the dialogue was a bit meager. There was more adult content than I would normally expect from a depiction of a Bible character, making it unsuitable for children. The book does appear to be professionally edited, and the official OnlineBookClub review was very well researched and written. I will be adding this book to my reading list out of curiosity, as I did not know that Samson was married before meeting Delilah.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 11:10 pm by Lorraine De Vos.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Jeremie Mondejar
I sampled the book, but I cannot dare to read it further; gory scenes and nudity in a comic book aggravate acid reflux for me, which cause vomiting. The title looks science-fiction, but the content based on biblical events. I like the comic idea of biblical events, however, the illustrations, sound offending in the Christian community. For improvements, if possible those letters in the combination of red and black would be easily readable in small screen. I did not notice any errors in the portion I read. The OBC review warns me that this book contains explicit scenes, which make me decline to read it further.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 7:41 pm by Jeremie Mondejar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
ritah
Based on the cover and title, I would have sampled the book out of curiosity. I read the official review and sampled Child of the Sun. I liked the colourful illustrations. I was shocked by the depiction of violence (the beheading and the slaughter of a goat). I'm used to reading descriptions of violence in fiction but seeing them in drawing felt a bit different. The book appeared professionally edited and I saw no areas that need improving. The content itself didn't capture my interest, which is why I won't be reading the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 4:06 pm by ritah.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
AA1495
Had I not sampled the book, I would not have read it. I usually read pure romance books and do not normally read graphic novels and comics. However, the simple cover made me curious about the content of the book. Further, the image of the sun and the child on the cover matched the title "Child sun", which I thought was clever. Further, the book had a 4/4 OBC review, which gave me a good impression. Having read the sample, I found the formatting of the introduction section very difficult to understand. There should have been more spacing between the headings (for the seven issues in the index). However, the graphics in the book impressed me. They seemed very professional and were eye catching. The reading experience would have been easier, however, with a larger font size for the text. Apart from the formatting of the index, I thought that the book was well edited. Since I do not normally read graphic novels, I will not be reading the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 2:13 pm by AA1495.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
MarisaRose
I don't typically choose to read graphic novels, and books related to biblical stories don't interest me much. So after reading the blurb for "Child of the Sun Complete Edition," I wasn't temped to purchase the book. An OBC review wouldn't sway my opinion in this case because nothing about the book's style or story interested me. I don't know much about graphic novels, but after sampling "Child of the Sun," I will say I was impressed with the artwork found in the book. As stated, I don't read graphic novels, so I can't say if the artwork is on par with the genre, but I did find Van Cleve's work eye catching. I enjoyed the use of color, and I thought the pictures depicting rain were done extremely well. As for the narrative, I don't typically care for graphic novels because they are so light on narrative, and that is definitely the case for this book. There were pages and pages with either little or no words; the story is almost solely told through the graphics. For me, this just isn't the style of book I enjoy and I had a hard time grasping what was going on. I didn't notice any grammatical errors, but as stated, there are very few words in the sample. Based on the style of the book, I don't plan to read any more. As for the story, it's hard to base a decision off of that because I had a hard time understanding what was going on. I will not be purchasing this book today.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 8:34 am by MarisaRose.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Vickie Noel
The title and book cover both look intriguing and would have stimulated my interest outside the program. There's no hint that it's a comic book though, but that really makes no difference to me. After reading more than the required amount as sample, I decided I couldn't stand it anymore. For one thing, I hated Adriana; for a full-time whore, her pompous brazenness really drove me up the wall. I didn't like the fact that Samson was made to go back to her. Also, I couldn't quite figure out the concept the author has in mind in relation to biblical history. And Samson wasn't depicted as muscly, much to my chagrin. So much for being the strongest man. I observed two errors, one was the spelling of the word "shepherd" as "Sheppard" and also, Concord disagreement in the word "love" and the wrong use of the relative pronoun "that" instead of "who" in the sentence, "You're the one that love riddles, why don't you figure it out?" Still, it looked well edited. I saw an OBC but it didn't influence my decision.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 6:34 am by Vickie Noel.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mai Tran
I wouldn’t have read this book as I wasn't familiar with the biblical story about Samson. Once I learned that it’s actually a comic series from the official review, I thought it wouldn’t be too much trouble to give it a quick look. The book seems well-edited, but the illustrations are very confusing. Even after I’ve looked up the story, I’m still having a hard time making sense of the story since there’re scarcely any narrative besides a few words uttered by the characters. I won’t continue to read this book because of this reason.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 5:02 am by Mai Tran.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shrabastee Chakraborty
I do love graphic novels, so the book interested me. The cover was not very revealing, so I was intrigued. However, some of the features the official OBC review mentions suggested I might not like this. After I sampled the first ten pages, I marveled at the awesome illustrations. The text so far was flawless. However,the excessive gore, although quite inevitable because of the theme, was an immediate put-downer for me. Moreover, I would have liked a little bit more text to make the prologue understandable. Consequently, I decided against reading the book.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 2:43 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Verna Coy
Had I not sampled this book through the First Ten program I would not have picked it up because I don’t go in for “Biblical Fiction’, as it is described in the Amazon description. I also have major issues with any author taking liberties with Biblical Scripture. For these reasons I will not be reading the whole book today despite having received a free copy through the Online Book Club, thanks. Reading the first ten pages confirmed my early impressions of this book. It does take liberties with the story of Samson in the bible by adding and filling out the story of a first wife or woman before Delilah, and adding lurid comic art to the picture as well. Samson was a Judge and a Nazarite, as it is told in the Book of Judges in the Bible. I would recommend readers to familiarize themselves with his original story before attempting this fictional read. Based on what I read, the book is typographically professionally edited. I saw no typographical errors. What I liked most in what I read was the artists rendition of the open sea. Very nicely done painting. I know that people who enjoy fiction and comic books loosely based on biblical characters and sin will likely enjoy this work. As far as improvement, on a personal level, less nudity would have been a good start. I did read the Official Online Book Club review and found it informative, although it did not change my opinion of the book in any way.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 1:54 am by Verna Coy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kelyn
If I had not been a member of this program, it is still likely that the cover and title of this book would have prompted me to pick it up. Both have a very sci-fi feel, and that is one of the genres I enjoy. The author is unknown to me, so that would not affect my decision. The genre and blurb would have pushed me completely in the other direction as they reveal that the comic is literally bits of bible stories put together to form one "bible story." The customer reviews were very positive, but I found them to be somewhat enigmatic, so I do not believe they would have had much effect on my decision. I did not see a review from this program, but as the others were somewhat unrevealing, it may well have tipped the scales one way or the other. Reading the sample quickly convinced me that this was not a book I was interested in continuing. It wasn't the subject matter, the story, or the melding of religions that bothered me either. It was the sheer arrogance Hercules was portrayed as practically oozing from his pores. It was very off-putting. Add in the gore, and you have a definite "no" from me. It was difficult to evaluate this as far as editing as there was so little text, but it seemed to have been professionally edited.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 1:18 am by Kelyn.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
AvidBibliophile
The cover art is certainly eye-catching, especially when paired with the archaic font choice indicative of old world themes. It might be nice for the cover to mention something about this set of tales being graphic novel/comic book in nature because flipping to the first page, it came as quite a surprise to me. While the Amazon product description is sufficient and summarily succinct, I'd like to have seen additional mention of the 7 issue component with differing covers. I liked seeing the utilization of scattered bold font within the speech bubbles, and the nudity seemed tastefully rendered. This book appears to have been professionally edited. The published OBC review, added to the current pair of Amazon user ratings, all give positive remarks and full star recommendations. And while this story does indeed seem to be accented with surreal touches and imaginative flair, I have never been one to read comic books, and graphic novels do not fall within my preferred reading genres; so I will not be reading this one in its entirety.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 12:38 am by AvidBibliophile.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jennifer Donovan Smith
I read the entire first comic, "Issue One." Based on the cover, I was not interested in this book. Compared to the incredible artwork contained in this graphic novel, the cover is lacking. I have not read a graphic novel since high school and have had no interest in doing so, so I was not planning on reading this book despite it being free for Book of the Day. Reading the official Online Book Club review did not change my mind. I am not religious, and the fact that it is based on a biblical character initially was a deterrent for me, but it does not appear from the sample that I read that the book is Christian in nature. Instead, it seems that the author selected Samson as a hero, just as one might have chosen Apollo without subscribing to Ancient Roman religious beliefs.
What changed my mind was the incredible artwork. I'm a little confused about what is going on, but am intrigued enough to continue. (For example, was the prologue just introducing characters, or was there something more I was supposed to pick up on?) I appreciate that the download contained seven full issues, as each issue is rather short. I did not see any errors in the small amount of text present in Issue One. I would just recommend choosing a more clear font for the red letters on the black background of the first page.
First Ten review added on January 11, 2020, at 12:30 am by Jennifer Donovan Smith.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
CrescentMoon
After reading the blurb, I would not pick this book up. I'm not familiar with any biblical figures or bible stories so I actually don't even know who these characters are and I feel like I would be really lost trying to read this book. After reading the first ten pages, I didn't see any spelling or grammar errors. I was really impressed with the illustrations. They were very detailed and drawn with care. I also like the comic book style of the story. It made it fun to read and actually brought back memories of my own youth when I used to read comic books. I found the dialogue easy to follow and I loved the illustrations and artwork. I don't have any suggestions for improvement. There was an onlinebookclub review. However, it encouraged me even more not to want to read the rest of this book because I honestly am not familiar with Sampson or any of the biblical characters. I'm just not the target audience for this book so I won't be reading the rest.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 11:02 pm by CrescentMoon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mrunal Tikekar
Graphics novels are not much to my taste. If this book hadn't been part of this program, I would have not read it. I read the official OnlineBookClub review, and it did little to change my mind. I still sampled the book out of curiosity. The first thing I noticed was a red font on a black page, which made it difficult to read it. Next, the book is a series of gory images and raw violence. Since I have not read the story of Samson I had a difficult time understanding what was going on. The story is told mostly through pictures instead of text. So the little dialogues that are there are the only way to judge the editing of the book. I found it professional. There was nothing that I particularly like about the book, so I will not read the entire book.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 9:54 pm by Mrunal Tikekar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
LV2R
The book cover and title were both good, but I did not know if I wanted to read the book or not. The Amazon blurb described the story as a loose adaptation of the biblical Samson, mixed with other tales and legends. It focused on the first half of Samson’s life and his wife before Delilah. I wanted to see the sample. The first ten pages had mostly very colorful and artistic illustrations with few words. The ferocious people of the Sea warred over the Israelites. A messenger came to a woman, Zlepunith, and a man, Manoah, both from the Tribe of Dan, with surprising news. I best liked the colorful illustrations, especially that the character’s facial features and emotions were shown. The book seems to be edited well, as I did not notice any errors. The OBC review described the book as seven comic book issues depicting an imagined love story between Samson and his young (almost) wife, Adriana. Ancient gods and giants are also in the story. I do not want to read the book because the review mentioned that there are gory scenes, sexual depictions, and full frontal nudity. Though the artwork is fantastic, I also do not like the mix of biblical characters with Greek mythology and other tales.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 9:24 pm by LV2R.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Washboard
This is not a genre I normally read. The cover art and title are both eye-catching. The official review makes the book sound interesting. The sample contained no noticeable errors, but being a comic book, there is very little writing. The artwork is nice though, and introduces the main characters in a way that it is easy to visually tell them apart. While religious stories are not something I typically enjoy, I will hang on to this book to finish eventually, as I am curious to learn more about what trouble Heracles and Sampson are going to find together.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 8:59 pm by Washboard.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
HRichards
I probably wouldn't have picked this book up as I wasn't really impressed with the story or art. Having read the sample I won't be continuing on with the book. The sample deals with an ancient land getting attacked by the Sea People. The action then cuts to Hercules, a fighter, who meets Samson. The writing is fine and I didn't notice any grammar errors. Those who like action comics might like this book. I found the content very violent and sexual and wasn't really interested in that. I read the OBC review of the book and it didn't really change my mind of my opinion of the book.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 7:42 pm by HRichards.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Brenda Creech
When I first saw this book and the title, I suspected it would not be a book I would read. After reading the official review, I was sure I would not read the book. However, since I was going to do this review, I continued to read the first ten pages. The book is well-edited, as I did not encounter any errors. One comment in the review was that this book should not be read by Christians only just because it is a story from the Bible. After reading a portion of the book, my response is many Christians will not wish to read more than a few pages because they will be offended by the content. The nudity and sexual depictions, as well as the gory killings, is not something most Christians will want to read, in my opinion. As for improvements, I believe it would be a much better story if the full-frontal nudity and orgy type settings were eliminated. I have no plans to read the rest of the book as I don't enjoy the type of content it contains.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 6:36 pm by Brenda Creech.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Chelsy Scherba
I really love the artwork. The pictures are beautifully illustrated and really expressive. They tell the story well. There are some rather gory depictions of violence and animal sacrifice, but I suppose it’s in keeping with the times. I like the incorporation of Samson with Heracles. I’m curious as to where the story will progress. I didn’t see any typos or errors, so it looks professional. The review was very positive. I don’t read graphic novels normally, but I got this one for free and I like the biblical theme, so I’ll read more.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 6:16 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Sarah_Khan
At first glance, I would not have picked this up because I am not a fan of religious books. I like the cover and title. I appreciated the short Amazon blurb. I was surprised to see that this was a graphic novel. The book seems well edited. The illustrations were incredibly detailed and I liked that the action was clear and clean, so it was easy to follow the story, which I find is sometimes difficult with graphic novels. The OBC review was positive, but it also mentions there is full-frontal nudity. For this reason, I will not be reading the rest. I do not think the author needs to change anything, I just think I am not part of the right audience.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 5:52 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kajori Sheryl Paul
'Child of the Sun' is a book written by Michael Van Cleve. The title, cover, OBC review and Amazon review did a good job at convincing me to give this book a try.
The sample of the book leads me to believe that it is a comic book. It is the story of Samson and Adriana. I found some errors. For example, “a" should not have been used before “ruthless" in “ ..into the hands of a ruthless and wretched people". I do not think that it is professionally edited. I like the illustrations. I will give this book a try as I like reading books of this genre.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 5:44 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
MsH2k
I would not have sampled this book if I had not been part of this program. I haven’t read comic books since I was a teen, and I would not have been tempted to read this one. The illustrations in this comic were great but a bit too graphic for my taste as far as depicting blood, gore, and scantily clad men and women. I appreciate that the author is using this platform to relay a story from the Old Testament, but I will not finish the series because of the aforementioned reasons. I am glad I had the opportunity to sample a modern comic book. I did not notice any grammatical errors in the sample pages. The featured OnlineBookClub review confirmed my observations but had no bearing on my decision not to read this book.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 2:20 pm by MsH2k.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
unamilagra
Before sampling this book, I would not have picked it up. I don't like graphic novels, and the OBC review mentioned that there is a lot of nudity, which I also am not a fan of. In reading the first ten pages, I honestly had no idea who was going on. Perhaps one has to be familiar with the Bible to understand this story, and I am not. I couldn't figure out who the characters were or what was happening to them. I do not plan to continue reading this book. I didn't notice any errors in the pages I read.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 1:51 pm by unamilagra.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kaitlyn Canedy
I wasn't sure what to make of the cover or even the title, but I wanted to know what the book was about which is why I read the sample. What I noticed immediately when I read the sample is that it is based on the story of Samson in the Bible. This is the element that I enjoyed the most out of Child of the Sun Complete Edition because it is based on stories in the Bible. I have read quite a few books based on the Bible recently, so I will be passing on this one for now. I don't think there needs to be any improvements made to this book; I would just make sure that people who are not open-minded about religion do not read this one. I didn't see any notable grammatical errors in the sample that I read. The Official OnlineBookClub Review was a bit hard for me to understand but it didn't sway my decision to pass on the book.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 1:50 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kaylee Elmer
Child of the Sun is a graphic novel, so it's not a book I would normally read. According to the review of the book, it tells the story of Samson before he met Delilah. I didn't get much content from the first 10 pages of the book, though. It was a whole lot of blood and gore, which I'm not a fan of. I wish there had been more of a story right away. Even though they were gory, the illustrations were very well done. The color was stunning and it appeared to be professionally edited. However, based on the violence and the graphic novel format, I wouldn't read this book.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 1:21 pm by Kaylee Elmer.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Scerakor
From the cover, blurb, and review of this book, I may have read it. I haven't read too many graphic novels, but have been looking for an ancient epic in which to dip my toes. After reading the first ten pages I didn’t change my mind and therefore will be buying and reading the rest of this book. I loved the artwork and that the author/illustrator didn't shy away from violence. Within the first few pages, the battle scenes in Ugarit and Hatti are just epic. I didn’t see anything specific that I would have wanted to change within the sample that I read, but it did seem well written and edited. The official review did not affect my decision at all.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 12:55 pm by Scerakor.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Howlan
The cover is immaculate and feels powerful. The synopsis is to the point. Coming to the book, I am a big fan of comic books, and thus I and other comic book fans would be attracted to it like moths to a flame. Moreover, the art is pretty amazing, but it is full of gore and mature scenes not meant for an underage reader. Apart from that, the story did not progress much in the sample. Just the encounters of Heracles and Samson, and Samson and Adriana were shown. But it's pretty addictive, and I do not think that I will be the least bit bored while reading this book. Also, since it's a comic, it will be a fast read. So I am going to buy and read this book. No typos were found in the first ten pages. The Official Review is present, and the reviewer feels that the book has a gripping story.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 12:37 pm by Howlan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Theresa Moffitt
I was not drawn to the cover of this book. The title caught my attention but the image didn’t attract me. I wouldn’t have picked this book up based on the cover alone. I haven’t read a review of this book yet. The first ten pages reveal that this is a Graphic novel. The story is told through illustrations in comic book format. The story describes sea people invading Israel. The images are bloody and violent. I didn’t see any errors in the first ten pages so I believe it was professionally edited. However there was very little written story. The story was mostly told through images. I don’t really enjoy reading graphic novels and this one did not pull me into the story enough in the first ten pages to make me want to finish the book so I will not finish this book.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 12:36 pm by Theresa Moffitt.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
cpru68
Readers are taken back in time to the era of biblical times when the Israelites disobeyed God and were given over to ruthless people. This plot line focuses on bloody battles and Samson eventually meeting his first wife. Readers see the messenger who visits Samson’s parents to tell them of his upcoming birth. The book then switches over to Hercules showing off his strength. Samson befriends Hercules and they go to the city of Timnath. This is where Samson meets his first wife.
I won’t be finishing this book. I’m not a comic book reader, and the review didn’t sway me to read this one. The review, however, did clear up all of my confusion regarding what this storyline was about. I didn’t understand it at first, and I have read the story of Samson numerous times. I think comic book fans will love the illustrations, and as long as they know what characters are in this, I think it will be enjoyed. It was just a bit confusing for me with having hardly no explanation. A forward at the beginning of this may be helpful.
I didn’t see any mistakes, so I think this was professionally edited. I appreciate the opportunity to have read the opening pages of this and will send it out on my social media for others to enjoy. I probably wouldn’t have found this without the online book club as I generally don’t read comic books.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 11:14 am by cpru68.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
LeDiplomatique
I would have chosen the book based on the title and cover because they are appealing. However, after reading the first ten pages, I sank deeper into confusion. The graphic novel alternates its story between the biblical narrative of Samson and Greek legend of Heracles. It is adult in nature and has bloody illustrations which put me off. Therefore, I will not be reading the book. The book is professionally edited, I did not come across any errors. I most liked the cover illustration because it is colorful. There is nothing to improve since the book may appeal to others the way it is. I read the official review but it did not change my view about the book.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 10:58 am by LeDiplomatique.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Cristina Chifane
I wouldn't have sampled this book without the first ten program as I'm not currently interested in reading biblical tales. However, a loose adaptation of Samson's story sounds interesting, especially since the book focuses on the first half of Samson's life and the love story between Sampon and the little known wife of his youth. The cover looks spectacular, and the title immediately catches the readers' attention. There are only 2 customer reviews, but they both give the book 5 stars. Although I don't usually read graphic novels, I enjoyed sampling Child of the Sun. It has great illustrations accompanied by well-written captions clearly describing what happened in the images. I also liked the author's sense of humor. In terms of editing, I noticed a missing "-s" in the word "bos" from the phrasal verb "bos(s) down" (loc. 24 of 242). Even if the OBC reviewer praises the combination of mythological and biblical elements, I won't be adding this book to my reading list mainly because I prefer the extended version of these stories rather than the shortened version such as the one in this graphic novel.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 10:55 am by Cristina Chifane.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
I never would've chosen to read this book based on first impressions. The cover isn't clear about the subject of the book, and the blurb is a little bit misleading because it never states this is a graphic novel. This last part is mentioned in the Amazon reviews. I'm not into graphic novels or comics and I rarely choose to read religious books so "Child of the Sun Complete Edition", simply, isn't my taste. I read the first ten pages and I can appreciate the art is very well-developed. I liked how Samson stood his ground about his values and about not drinking or worshipping other gods. I also like the way in which Heracles' debauchery is portrayed. The art is a bit too gory and explicit for my taste, but I understand the purpose. However, this is not a book I would enjoy because I don't care about the topic and I don't enjoy comics. I will not buy it or read it. I think the cover could be improved to convey what the story is about and to show off the talented art the novel uses. The blurb should include the fact that this is a graphic novel. The book has an official review that didn't change my mind. It does seem professionally edited and I didn't find any mistakes.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 10:48 am by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mbrooks2518
While I enjoy graphic novels, the plot and setting of this one just didn't capture my interest, so I would not have sampled it without The First Ten. I like that the book re-imagines a well known story and puts it in the form of a graphic novel, introducing the story to a new audience. After reading the official review, I am not interested enough to finish this book. There were no editing errors.
The first page of text had dark red words on a black and dark grey background, which made it a bit hard to read. This could be improved simply by making the red lighter.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 10:29 am by Mbrooks2518.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Emy Katherine
I do not read comic books, so I would not have read the book based on the genre. As I am not interested in reading a book that focuses on Samson's life and how he fell in love with a woman named Adriana, I did not change my mind after reading the first ten pages and OBC review. I must say, though, I was amazed by the detailed, colorful illustrations. Also, I agree with the OBC reviewer on the archaic language used by the author. I did not find any typos or grammatical errors, so the book seemed to be professionally edited. I am not the target audience, but it will surely appeal to those who enjoy reading biblical graphic novels.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 9:19 am by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Laura Lee
I have to say, your cover is astounding. The art, the colors, the font, all really grabbed my attention. The blurb on Amazon was good and interested me enough to try your sample pages. I also read the OnlineBookClub review which was also very helpful as it explained more about the book then I could pick up from the sample pages.
The thing I found very helpful about the book club review that was missing from the Amazon blurb was that the book club review explained that this was more than a simple retelling of a Bible story. The graphic novel also worked in various ancient gods and heroes. I liked that element of it as it wove a rich tapestry by bringing in other ancient gods and heroes.
That said, it jangled a startling note to read about Zeus. I would have expected that a story about the Philistines, or Sea People, would have focused on their gods rather than the Greek gods. To be fair, however, aside from Dagon, there may not be enough known about the Philistine gods to incorporate more than just their chief god into the story.
The artwork in this graphic novel is outstanding. I can really see why people choose to read graphic novels. The artwork on the cover is gripping enough that, combined with the blurb and the book club review, drew me in to try the sample pages. The reviews on Amazon didn't weigh in so much, but that artwork on the cover really did. I won't be finishing the book, however, simply because it is not a genre I read and I prefer words. However, I am impressed with the artwork and how it advanced the plot with a minimum of words. That was impressive. Good job! There really wasn't anything I'd change, other than (if possible) work in Philistine rather than Greek gods. But if there isn't enough known about Philistine gods to do so, or if readers aren't aware enough of Philistine gods to know that is who is being used, I can see why Greek gods would be the default pantheon of choice.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 8:43 am by Laura Lee.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
gen_g
I have come across a positive review of this book, and it has piqued my interest. There are a couple of minor errors which I have found, although they may be stylistic choices. For example, on loc 25, in the green speech bubble (there is only 1), there is a missing comma in "In my eyes(,) I could see..." to separate the introductory clause. I would suggest that the book be sent for another editing, and it would also be good if some reading instructions were give (either left to right, or right to left, since being someone who also reads manga, I am very used to the right-to-left format). I also appreciate that the author has provided a prologue detailing the wars in various areas, like in Thebes in 1300BC, Hatti, and Ugarit. Thereafter, in the main story, we see Heracles win yet another fight, which garners the attention of many fathers looking for husbands for their daughters. However, I will not be reading this, as I'm currently not in the market for comics.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 8:29 am by gen_g.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Nikolas Farmakis
This book is a graphic novel highlighting the life of Samson and Heracles. I would not have read this book, as I was not intrigued by the cover, the title, or the genre. I will not read this book, as I found it boring and I do not like graphic novels. I also did not like the violence and profanity it contained. The sample I read did not contain errors, so this book has been professionally edited. What I liked most about this book was the author's creativity and originality. However, to improve, he should add more emotion, tension, and suspense, and he should remove the profanity from the book. The book had an Official OnlineBookClub review, which did not affect my opinion.
First Ten review added on January 10, 2020, at 7:44 am by Nikolas Farmakis.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 18%
Child of the Sun Complete Edition earned a score of 18%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 18% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
Go to main Bookshelves page for Child of the Sun Complete Edition
