The third volume of Son of Samson is another episode in the same series, so it is unlikely to affect readers’ opinions either way. Most things remain relatively constant, so my comments will be brief.

This is the first volume created under time constraints, but thankfully this doesn’t seem to have lessened the quality. Art will be fine for some and turn away others, but they’ll most likely have made that choice in the first volume. Writing continues to be standard, if the morality is a bit shallow, and this volume is a return to form as far as humor is concerned. Sidon also returns as our primary antagonist, so one can hope he will be more integrated into future plots.

Of course, the central incident of this volume is the appearance Branen’s half-sister. I’ve already mentioned how this doesn’t seem to make sense in regard to the souce of Samson’s strength, so I won’t belabor the point. She, however, like many of the other characters, appears to be finished for the time being. If these characters were to return in the plot and develop more the story would be much improved.

During this part of the plot, there is a strange incident concerning Samson’s feat of 300 foxes. Mentioning it was to be expected, but the tone is unusual. Characters express doubt as to the probability of this achievement and they seem like vehicles for potential reader criticism. It ends, of course, with another abrupt realization and apology.

As in the past, there is a significant amount of bonus content, this time including another side story. I’m not sure I like this overall, but this is a better path than trying to stretch out the main story. They may be attempting to give each volume a separate plot theme, so extra content will vary according to how long that takes. As always before, Branen gets a profile… really, by this point I have his height and weight memorized. Still, it’s not a bad use of space and it works as an overall feature for this series.