6 h 33 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 33 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Pearls, profit and sudden danger draw ships across the South Pacific—and David Grief knows the stakes.
In Jack London's A Son of the Sun, trade brings adventure to the scattered islands of the South Pacific. David Grief sails between them, buying pearls, copra and other island goods. A seasoned trader with a quick eye, he relies on nerve and sharp judgment when business turns dangerous. Money drives the action, and survival can depend on a fast decision.
These short stories mix peril with rough comedy. The Proud Goat of Aloysius Pankburn and The Jokers of New Gibbons show London's humour; The Devils of Fuatino and A Little Account with Swithin Hall bring threats close. Around the traders, planters, missionaries and island peoples live uneasily together. The stories also reflect racial and imperial attitudes that can make uncomfortable reading.
What you’ll discover
- A trader under pressure Follow David Grief as he meets danger with nerve, cunning and quick judgment.
- Trade with real stakes Discover how pearls, dried coconut meat and profit pull people toward these island shores.
- Humour amid the danger Meet Aloysius Pankburn, whose big ideas face a test in the Pacific.
- Heat, surf and rough talk Step into trading stations where London's direct prose keeps the action clear and moving.
- An uneasy island world Read adventure alongside a troubling picture of race, empire and the trader's place.
Who will love it
You will love it if you enjoy island adventure, clever heroes, treasure hunts, pirates, storms at sea and the sunlit, rough world of South Pacific traders.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A millionaire plays for a small debt
- Hard work can make a man new
- Pirates have taken the island of love
- A joke on a chief costs dearly
- A smooth host hides a stolen island
- A card game decides a young man's soul
- Paper money troubles Fitu-Iva
- Pearls and a hurricane gather at Hikihoho
- What binds the tales together
Who’s who
- David GriefA rich South Seas trader with a golden tan and a love of risk who settles his quarrels with wit and nerve.
- Aloysius PankburnA well-born alcoholic who holds the secret of a lost treasure and learns, under Grief, to become a man.
- MauririThe Goat Man of Fuatino, Grief's blood brother, who swims and climbs where no one else can to save his island.
- KohoThe old cannibal chief of New Gibbon, shrewd and cruel, who longs for the rum his white neighbors forbid.
- Peter GeeA calm, educated pearl buyer of mixed blood, loyal to Grief and too gentlemanly to answer an insult in kind.
- Cornelius DeasyA cheerful drifter who calls himself Fulualea and makes himself Chancellor of Fitu-Iva with paper money and gin.
- Old ParlayA half-mad Frenchman who owns the atoll of Hikihoho and a fortune in pearls, and who hates white men.
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Un hijo del Sol
by Jack London · 1912
David Grief, a millionaire trader, risks his life for fun over a debt of twelve hundred pounds.
Easy read5–10 hours to readEspañol
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In short
What makes a man worth many millions chase a debt of twelve hundred pounds through the Solomon Islands? Because it is fun.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A millionaire plays for a small debt
David Grief owns plantations, ships and trading stations across the South Pacific. Yet he will chase twelve hundred pounds through the Solomon Islands for the sheer fun of it. The first tale shows what kind of man he is.
Harrison Griffiths, a fever-ridden trader, plans to sail away without paying. Grief boards his ketch, the Willi-Waw, and shows an admiralty warrant. Griffiths then holds a rifle on him and demands a signed receipt. Grief answers with a hidden revolver and a leap overboard, while bullets splash around him.
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- First published
- 1912
- Language
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- Easy read
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What is A Son of the Sun about?
It is a set of eight tales about David Grief, a rich trader who roams the South Pacific. In each one he meets a cheat, a pirate, a storm or a bully, and settles it with nerve and wit.
Is A Son of the Sun a novel or short stories?
It is a collection of linked short stories. Each chapter is its own adventure, but David Grief appears in every one, so the book reads like a single long cruise through the islands.
Who is David Grief?
Grief is a trader of English ancestry with plantations, ships and pearl grounds across the Pacific. His skin resists the sun, and he plays the trading game for its excitement, not for the money.
The author
Jack London
1876–1916 · American novelist and journalist
Jack London (1876–1916) was an American author, journalist and social activist. He was born in San Francisco and lived in California. He wrote novels, short stories and essays. His novels include The Call of the Wild (1903), The Sea-Wolf (1904), White Fang (1906) and Martin Eden (1909). He died in California.
More by Jack London
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