The Seven Crystal Balls

Nostalgia was one of the big motivations for getting this book, but the story is a lot of fun, and Hergé's illustrations are amazing in their detail and liveliness. I have always preferred the French jokes to the English translations, so that's another reason to get this edition.

Tintin and Captain Haddock go to a psychic show. There an Indian fakir puts his assistant into a trance. She forsees a mysterious illness striking a photographer on a recent expedition to recover Incan artifacts. One by one the researchers on the expedition fall into mysterious comas. Near each lies a shattered crystal ball... For some comic relief here Captain Haddock tries hard to be oh so proper (he has recently aquired his ancestral estate and title). He is fixated on wearing a monocle at all times. This is an involved mystery with many clever bits of detective work and technology used by the characters. This particular book is definitely the first of two parts and doesn't stand alone. At the end of this one Tintin and the Captain are off in pursuit of a potential villain. But we still don't know what was in the crystal balls or how it connects to the Incan curse, and a major character has been kidnapped and not reunited with the heros. So you will have to read Prisoners of the Sun to not be left hanging after this one. If you are reading this to help learn French, Tintin comics are good for reading at a French 2 level. There are a lot of words that aren't basic vocabulary but it is still easy to follow the story because the writing and pictures tend to reinforce each other. However this is a two part mystery and you are going to be reading two books, so if this is overload then try another Tintin comic instead.

First, be aware that the exciting Tintin adventure that begins here in "Les Sept Boules de Cristal" ("The Seven Crystal Balls") is concluded in "Le Temple Du Soleil" ("Prisoners of the Sun"), so make sure you have the second volume close at hand for when you finish this one. As our story begins, Tintin is on the train reading how the Sanders-Hardiman Ethnographic Expedition has returned a trip to Peru and Bolivia. The gentleman reading over Tintin's shoulder predicts trouble, drawing a parallel between what happened with the curse of King Tut-Ankh-Amen's tomb and these explorers violating the Inca's burial chambers. "What'd we say if the Egyptians or the Peruvians came over here and started digging up our kings?," asks the gentleman; What'd we say then, eh?" The comment is important, not only because tragedy does strike the seven members of the expedition as they fall prey to the Boules de Cristal of the book's title, but also because one of the themes that Hergé develops in this particular epic is the respect Europeans should have for other cultures and ways of life. This point has been implicit in many of Tintin's adventures, but it is a dominant element this time around. Assisted by his good friend Captain Haddock, Tintin becomes embroiled in the mystery, which takes a more personal turn when Professor Tournesol is kidnapped. One interesting twist in this story is that Milou actually ends up causing more trouble than Dupont and Dupond. There is a seriousness to what happens in "Les Sept Boules de Cristal" and "Le Temple Du Soleil" that reflects a significant turning point in Hergé's work, laying the ground work for his greatest tales, the two-part Moon story and "Tintin au Tibet." The ability of Hergé to grow as a storyteller over the course of his distinguished career is impressive and these stories deserve the accolades they have received and the affection with which they have been embraced by generations of readers. It is never too late to enjoy les Aventures de Tintin.