King Ottokar's Sceptre

Every now and again you need something uncomplicated to read, and Tintin always does the job for me. King Ottakar's Sceptre would have to be my favourite. Tintin finds a briefcase on a park bench, returns it to its rightful owner, and gets mixed up in a plot to overthrow the king of a small east European state. Who is behind the plot? Why are they after Tintin? And can Tintin warn the king in time? I wish life was more like Tintin. I remember going to the local library when I was young and checking out Tintin books. One a week, we were allowed. They had Tintin, Asterix, and a few Lucky Lukes I think, but maybe I'm remembering that from a French exchange I did in school. I never really got into Asterix, but Tintin was different. Interesting adventures, detailed plots, cunning twists. His world is a simple place. People say what they feel. They don't play games. They don't say they're going to call and then don't. They don't leave their mobiles off when they said they would be in for you to call. If there's a problem, you know somehow you can solve it, and you don't end up feeling like you're wrong all the time. There aren't any messy work pressures, no relationship complications, no girlfriend issues, there's just a boy and his dog solving a crime. I grew up thinking things would be like that, but I was obviously wrong. I wish the world could be more like it is in the books, in basic colours and with a happy ending. But it's not. It's all grey areas and murkiness and there's not a lot you can do about it. Except read the books, and hope, and try and imagine what things would be like. So if you feel lost and alone and it's another long night and you can't get to sleep because you can't stop thinking about everything, why, what, where, when, who - then trust me. Tintin is the answer.

Tintin finds a briefcase in the ark. He returns it to its owner Professor Janus. The scholar will soon travel to Soldavia to study artifacts including the Royal Scepter, which must be in the possession of the king at a yearly ceremony, in order for him to remain in power. As Tintin leaves the professor's apartment he notices that he has been photographed. As he tries to find out why, he stumbles on a plot to steal the scepter... After The Black Island, which was mostly chase scenes and action, it was nice to see some mystery. The story here was fairly straightforward but the way in which it unfolded kept me guessing. For example we don't learn who is after the scepter until it has been stolen and Tintin is trying to find out how and why. This was a good little suspense mystery and up to quality of other books in the Tintin series.

First published in French in 1939, and written at the time that Europe was under the thumb of totalitarianism: Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin.Tintin is taken through a sequence of strange vents to the mythical Kingdom of Syldavia, which we learn much about in this book. The drawings and information which bring this country to life : a combination between Zenda and Albania , are amazing .A plot by Fascists based in neighboring Borduria is hatched to unseat King Muskar, involving the seizure of the symbol of the Syldavian monarchy, the mediaeval King Ottokar's Scepter.Tintin is called to the rescue. Once more these charming comics are an interesting commentary on events at the time, through the eyes of Herge.

In which an escapist Ruritanian fancy turns into an ominous allegory for Nazi aggression. On one of those strolls with which Tintin often commences a new book, the reporter notices a mislaid book on a park bench. He returns it to its owner, the chain-smoking, Freud-lookalike Professor Alembick, an expert on seals (of the heraldic variety), who is about to visit the Balkan principality of Syldavia to look at some rare treasures. When Tintin notices some sinister types hanging around the Professor's apartment, and what seems to be a conspiracy plotting in a Syldavian restaurant, he decides to accompany the Professor. On the eve of their departure, a phone call to Alembick is interrupted by screams, but all seems normal as they leave for Klow, the Syldavian capital. Except that now the short-sighted academic can see sheep from thousands of feet in the air, and no longer smokes.This extraordinary and unique entry in the Tintin canon is priceless for a number of reasons, the foremost of which is the utterly convincing creation of a non-existent realm so consistent in its internal details you can't believe it's not real. Central to this is the travel brochure Tintin reads on the plane to Klow, reproducing in three dazzling full-length pages the history, geography and culture of this great country, including the most amazing pastiche miniature illustrating a medieval battle and an account of the incident that accounts for the importance of the titular sceptre, Byzantine in their colour and beauty. Syldavia is a Ruritanian realm of benevolent monarchs, toy-soldier uniforms, quaint rituals, emblems and customs, all under threat from modernity in the shape of totalitarian imperialism. Its exotic magic is subtly prepared by the lengthy contrasting prelude in Brussels, all drab brown interrupted by the heavy black of the bungling Thom(p)sons. Herge is no sentimentalist, he is alive to the conformity and social rigidity of Syldavian society, but he is also in love with its precarious culture, its nobility and generosity, and makes us love and fear for it too.The topography of Syldavia, with its castles, river-valleys and fir-lined mountains, and its culture, including the part-Byzantine, part-Modiligiani mural surrounding the throne room, offers unending pleasure to the eye. The action sequences, perhaps because the stakes are so high, reach an agonising pitch. Once again a story of such potential gravity is primarily driven by Snowy's appetite, his search for bones providing a feast of visual jokes. The Thom(p)sons are their usual luckless joy, this time a winking Tintin joining in with us in the laughter. Making 'Sceptre' even more perfect is the introduction of another recurring Herge character, the prima donna Signora Bianca Castafiore, that overweight interpreter of operatic waifs whose piercing voice tests even Tintin's goodwill, and prompts the exodus of animal life from forests whenever she drives by.

I thought that this book was really interesting, fun and easy to read. The pictures made it more lively and colourful, and helped make the book really funny. I couldn't put the book down.