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Rating: 
Summary: Tintin and Snowy find a big mystery to solve in Syldavia
Review: "El Cetro De Ottokar" ("King Ottokar's Sceptre") is Las Aventuras de Tintin in which our intrepid hero gets to do a lot of deductive reasoning. Certainly there are more actual clues than Hergé usually includes in his mysteries. Tintin encounters Professor Alembik, who studies seals (no, not the friendly little animals but the things you stamp into wax on official papers). This seems a harmless career choice but Tintin finds that both he and the good professor are embroiled with secret agents and a plot against the King of Syldavia. It seems there is a major loophole in the laws of the monarchy, for if the King were to lose possession of King Ottokar's Sceptre, he would lose the right to rule and have to abdicate. This would work to the advantage of the bad guys across the border in Borduria, so it is up to Tintin and Milu to save the day. They are aided in this endeavor by the Hernandez and Fernandez; to be precise, they endeavor to aid. "El Cetro De Ottokar" was produced by Hergé in 1939 and the more you know about Europe on the eve of the Second World War, the more you are likely to see lurking behind the characters and actions of this Tintin adventure. However, it is hard to tell if Hergé is trying to make any sort of a point; certainly during the war it was clear Tintin lived in a different world, so I am loathe to see anything beyond a compelling narrative. This is an actual mystery, where clues need to be solved and mysterious developments need to be explained. On top of all that throw in the ongoing perilous situations that our hero and his faithful terrier find themselves in time and time again in these early adventures. Oh, and there is also Tintin's first meeting with Bianca Castafiore, which is not exactly something I am inclined to celebrate, but that is just me. A very solid offering from Hergé.
Rating:
Summary: Tintin and Snowy find a big mystery to solve in Syldavia
Review: "El Cetro De Ottokar" ("King Ottokar's Sceptre") is Las Aventuras de Tintin in which our intrepid hero gets to do a lot of deductive reasoning. Certainly there are more actual clues than Hergé usually includes in his mysteries. Tintin encounters Professor Alembik, who studies seals (no, not the friendly little animals but the things you stamp into wax on official papers). This seems a harmless career choice but Tintin finds that both he and the good professor are embroiled with secret agents and a plot against the King of Syldavia. It seems there is a major loophole in the laws of the monarchy, for if the King were to lose possession of King Ottokar's Sceptre, he would lose the right to rule and have to abdicate. This would work to the advantage of the bad guys across the border in Borduria, so it is up to Tintin and Milu to save the day. They are aided in this endeavor by the Hernandez and Fernandez; to be precise, they endeavor to aid. "El Cetro De Ottokar" was produced by Hergé in 1939 and the more you know about Europe on the eve of the Second World War, the more you are likely to see lurking behind the characters and actions of this Tintin adventure. However, it is hard to tell if Hergé is trying to make any sort of a point; certainly during the war it was clear Tintin lived in a different world, so I am loathe to see anything beyond a compelling narrative. This is an actual mystery, where clues need to be solved and mysterious developments need to be explained. On top of all that throw in the ongoing perilous situations that our hero and his faithful terrier find themselves in time and time again in these early adventures. Oh, and there is also Tintin's first meeting with Bianca Castafiore, which is not exactly something I am inclined to celebrate, but that is just me. A very solid offering from Hergé.
Rating:
Summary: To the rescue of a little Balkan Kingdom under siege
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: My house is named after this book, incidentally: Syldavia.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: My house is named after this book, incidentally: Syldavia.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: East European mystery and suspense
Review: 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.
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