Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18825 in Books
• Published on: 1975-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 62 pages

Amazon.com Review
The Seven Crystal Balls begins on a light note, as Captain Haddock tries to adjust to his new life as a gentleman following the events of Red Rackham's Treasure. He wears a monocle and frequents the music hall, where in a not-unusual coincidence he and Tintin happen to find General Alcazar (The Broken Ear) and the dreaded diva Bianca Castafiore. However, it's the act of fakir Ragdalam with Madame Yamilah, the amazing clairvoyante, that reveals the central adventure: the scientists excavating the tomb of Racar Capac have incurred the curse of the Inca. Despite the efforts of bungling detectives Thompson ("With a P, as in Philadelphia") and Thomson ("Without a P, as in Venezuela"), the explorers are stricken, and one of Tintin's closest friends disappears mysteriously, leading to a trip to Peru in the second part, Prisoners of the Sun. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

The eeriest adventure
My Tintin obsession began at a very early age, I am most happy to say. The Seven Crystal Balls is the one Tintin book I didn't read before bedtime, for the simple reason that it was too scary! Herge was masterful at creating any scenario and eliciting any reaction from his readers that he wished. In this book he created a spine-tingling supernatural thriller, concluded in the second part of this adventure, Prisoners of the Sun.

Seven Crystal Balls has it's share of laughs as well, provided in particular by Captain Haddock. At the start of the adventure, Haddock desperately trys to relinquish his gruff old sea-dog ways by sporting a monocle and speaking in a very diginified manner. As you can imagine, the results are slightly less than successful.

This adventure seems to focus around darkly lit and heavily furnished rooms, places of scholars and thought that can not combat the evil terrorizing Tintin's world. Prisoners of the Sun takes Tintin to the beautiful countryside of Peru. The contrast is remarkable, the result is beautiful. This two-part adventure is fantastic.

Mysterious Tintin thriller.
Herges Tintin comics are classics and probably the best of the genre. They really are for all ages,some of my best childhood memories are of reading Tintin or Tinni as he is known in Iceland and I still enjoy reading these books today. What makes the Tintin books so good is they seem to have everything in it that make up a good comicbook,originality, interesting characters,adventure,suspense,great humor and well thought out storys. If I had to chose only one Tintin book to take to a desert island I think the seven crystal balls would be it. The book is masterfully drawn like of course all the Tintin books and the story is not just an adventures thriller but it has a mysterious atmosphere to it which i really like.

Tintin and the Seven Crystal Balls
As a prequel to 'Prisoners of the Sun', this adventure has it all. Bianca Castiafore, General Alcazar and the long suffering Nestor play second fiddle to Haddock and Tintin as they attempt to rescue Professor Calculus from kidnappers. Meanwhile an expedition team fall foul of the curse of Rascar Capac, an Inca mummy! This book is excellent; car chases, gun fights, suspense and Captain Haddock to ensure that everything goes far from smoothly! Buy 'Prisoners of the Sun' at the same time, you will not want to wait around to discover where Calculus has gone!