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crack_van2006-10-26 01:03 am
viviana7.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2006-10-26 01:03 am
Entry tags:
The Lion of Ngambo Affair by C.W.W (NC-17)
Fandom: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E
Pairing: GEN
Author on LJ: st_crispins
Author Website: Author Site
Why this must be read:
Sorry this is late. My broadband connection is a fickle mistress.
Sometimes I will warm to a gen piece if it is both well-written and examines or evolves the qualities of the principals in some way, as in this accomplished novella, set during a power struggle in an emerging African nation.
It may be well within canon to portray superspy Napoleon Solo as the idealistic American and his partner Illya Kuryakin as the pragmatic Russian. But what happens when Napoleon's idealism hits a blank wall of futility? What happens if Illya is forced to choose between his own pragmatic instincts and blind solidarity with Napoleon? The answers may be more emotionally complex than they at first appear.
The Lion of Ngambo is reminiscent of the better-written MFU tv episodes. The writing has grit and flavor and there is a robust cast of supporting characters. The agents are seen wrestling with moral uncertainties, figuring out plot and counterplot without support, their sympathies and relationships evolving as they are drawn ever deeper into a chaotic and dangerous world. Caught up in events they may influence but not determine, they are at odds as much with themselves and each other as with the intervention whose validity and wisdom they question.
Just add a few mental whip-pans and you're there!
The Lion of Ngambo
Pairing: GEN
Author on LJ: st_crispins
Author Website: Author Site
Why this must be read:
Sorry this is late. My broadband connection is a fickle mistress.
Sometimes I will warm to a gen piece if it is both well-written and examines or evolves the qualities of the principals in some way, as in this accomplished novella, set during a power struggle in an emerging African nation.
It may be well within canon to portray superspy Napoleon Solo as the idealistic American and his partner Illya Kuryakin as the pragmatic Russian. But what happens when Napoleon's idealism hits a blank wall of futility? What happens if Illya is forced to choose between his own pragmatic instincts and blind solidarity with Napoleon? The answers may be more emotionally complex than they at first appear.
The Lion of Ngambo is reminiscent of the better-written MFU tv episodes. The writing has grit and flavor and there is a robust cast of supporting characters. The agents are seen wrestling with moral uncertainties, figuring out plot and counterplot without support, their sympathies and relationships evolving as they are drawn ever deeper into a chaotic and dangerous world. Caught up in events they may influence but not determine, they are at odds as much with themselves and each other as with the intervention whose validity and wisdom they question.
Just add a few mental whip-pans and you're there!
The Lion of Ngambo
no subject
no subject
(Anonymous) 2006-12-01 03:24 am (UTC)(link)I'm not sure about the NC-17 tho. I consider it PG-13 --- maybe an R for the violence.