Flight 714 takes Tintin and Co. to an Unknown Island

We meet Tintin & Co. again on board of flight 714 to Sydney. They are going to Australia to attend an astronomical conference. Tintin is the famous Belgian sleuth, a comic character created by Herge and loved all over the world. He has many adventures in different parts of the world and is inseparable from his dog Snowy. The regular gang and friends of Tintin in these adventures are Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus. They all live in a mansion, Marlinspike which is managed with the help of their able butler Nester, who was once upon a time, a small time crook. In many of these adventures we find the official detective force represented by Thomson and Thompson, twins and the worst bunglers ever found outside a P.G. Wodehouse novel. In Tintin and Flight 714 Nestor and Thompson and Thomson do not feature.

We join our friends Tintin, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus and Snowy disembarking at Kemajoran Airport in Djakarta, Java, their last stop before Sydney, Australia. In the terminal hilarity breaks out and finds its most unlikely victim- the millionaire who never laughs- Mr. Carriedas. He owns untold riches but has not laughed in years. Our Professor Calculus without any conscious effort makes him laugh twice in a short span of time. Mr. Carreidas offers the gang a flight in his private jet to Sydney.

Tintin finds out that the jet is pilot by his old friend Skut but a lot of the regular crew has fallen ill. New crew has taken its place and Tintin is uneasy about the fact. His fears are not misplaced and we find our friends in a soup, a mess and a lot of ketchup. They are kidnapped by men of Rastapopulous and taken to a small nondescript island. Rastapopulous wants the bank account number of the millionaire and he has ways to make Carriedas spak the truth! Tintin & Co. wriggle out of this one with great difficulty and some ET help.

Flight 714 is another good Tintin read but I have enjoyed other titles like The Castafiore Emerald and Tintin in Tibet more. According to me, this one is a 4 star book. The characters of the book are still true to their nature, Captain Haddock
Still chants billions of blistering blue barnacles and Tintin still chases shadows and dangers. Professor Calculus is lost in his own world, not paying any heed to threats lurking around. But there are just too many elements mixed in one plot. But first, the good things.

There is good humor in the book but in patches. As usual, the interactions between Professor Calculus and rest of the world are hilarious. Particularly funny are the dialogues between Mr. Carriedas and Professor Claculus, as Carriedas is new to the game of Professor being hard of hearing. Also, funny are the spells of truthfulness that attack the villain Rastapopulous and Carriedas after they get injected with truth serum.

But I took off 1 star from this book because I feel there are just too many elements crammed in one book. Flight 714 has a kidnapping, crash landing, truth serum, a prototype of advanced airliner, a spaceship, an island, revolution in planning by natives, hypnotism, telepathy and what not. So many elements just give a crowded effect and break the pace of the book.

Still, Flight 714 is an above average book and is worth reading. However, if you want to pick up Tintin for the first time, there are better books out there. Some of my other Tintin reviews are-

The Castafiore Emerald
http://www.epinions.com/content_168562888324

Tintin in Tibet
http://www.epinions.com/content_166687444612

Tintin and the Picaros
http://www.epinions.com/content_167905693316