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Month in review

Reviews:
Bronte's Book Club by Kristiana Gregory
Cat and Mouse by Günter Grass
Destination Moon by Georges Remi Hergé
Doctor Who and the Three Doctors by Terrance Dicks
The Egyptian Box by Jane Louise Curry
Explorers on the Moon by Georges Remi Hergé
Fairy Glade and Other Enchanting Stories by Dawn Beaumont-Lane
Firehorn by Robert Reed
Fishing, for Christians by Tim Roux
The Girls by Helen Yglesias
The Glenn Miller Conspiracy by Hunton Downs
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
Harriet's Hare by Dick King-Smith
I Spy Fantasy by Jean Marzollo
Land of Black Gold by Georges Remi Hergé
The Motorman's Coat by John Kessel
The Mouse, The Cat and Grandmother's Hat by Nancy Willard
Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman
Mysterious Magical Circus Family Kids: The Chocolate Cake Turkey Lip Crumb Trail Mystery Adventure by R. Hawk Starkey
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
One Bright Star to Guide Them by Mark C. Wright
Poor Puppy by Nick Bruel
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
A Rebel in Time by Harry Harrison
Retrograde Summer by John Varley
The Second Ship by Richard Phillips
The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson
She and I: A Fugue by Michael R. Brown
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke by Roald Dahl
A Walk in the Rainforest by Kristin Joy Pratt
Warrior from Heaven by Kermit Zarley



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3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
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Destination Moon: 07/20/09

In honor of the first moon landing that happened on this day in 1969, I'm reviewing Destination Moon by Georges Remi Herge. It was first written 19 years before the landing and translated a decade before.

Destination Moon starts where Land of Black Gold ends. Tintin is home but is soon sent to Syldavia to witness a test flight of a moon rocket that will go around to the darkside of the Moon and photograph it.

Destination Moon is better paced than Land of Black Gold, probably because it's not suffering from such a severe editing job. It also provides an interesting look at how space travel was imagined before there was space travel. It's quaint in places but no worse than a typical science fiction of this vintage.

The book balances 1950s hard science fiction with the usual Tintin goofiness. There are gags with Thompson and Thomson. The Captain needs to have his whiskey and his pipe. Snowy gets himself into trouble and Tintin out of it. Meanwhile the rocket ship is your typical pulp science fiction three-point deal.

The book ends with the space program advancing from the unmanned flight to one that will be manned by Tintin (why?), the Captain (again why?), Dr. Calculus (huh?) and some other guy. Of course they're needed to have the adventures in the next book, Explorers on the Moon.

Comments (6)


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Comment #1: Monday, July, 20, 2009 at 22:09:39

sumthinblue

I loooove Tintin!

Blogged about Tintin love here.



Comment #2: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 15:58:04

Pussreboots

Yours is the third blog post I've seen in recent days about Tintin.


Comment #3: Tuesday, July, 21, 2009 at 04:50:10

Chris Tregenza

Your comments about Block Gold are spot on. The two moon books are massively better thanks to their coherent plot.



Comment #4: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 16:00:12

Pussreboots

Of the three Tintins I've read recently, my favorite was Explorers on the Moon.



Comment #5: Tuesday, July, 21, 2009 at 09:22:11

Sheila DeChantal

Cute review. I love how you are honoring the first moon landing....



Comment #6: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 16:05:22

Pussreboots

Thanks. I can't post any memories of the actual event because I missed all the excitement. I'm a little too young to have experienced it first hand. Maybe in the future I'll see a landing.



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