Les 7 Boules de Cristal (The Seven Crystal Balls. (1948) by Hergé is the thirteenth Tintin adventure and the first half of a two-part mystery steeped in Inca curses and archaeological intrigue. The story begins when members of Professor Calculus’s expedition—who unearthed the mummy of Inca ruler Rascar Capac—fall into mysterious comas, each stricken after a crystal shatters near them. Tintin and Captain Haddock investigate, leading to a cliffhanger that sets up Le Temple du Soleil (Prisoners of the Sun).
Hergé masterfully blends horror elements (the mummy’s malevolent grin, eerie séance scenes) with humor, particularly through Haddock’s outbursts and the bumbling Dupondt brothers. The eerie atmosphere and tight pacing make it one of the series’ most suspenseful entries.
A perfect fusion of adventure and the supernatural, leaving readers desperate to turn the next page.
