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crack_van2007-06-09 10:41 am
st-crispins.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2007-06-09 10:41 am
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The Dagger Affair by David McDaniel (PG-13)
Fandom: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: none, gen
Author on LJ: no
Author website:The text for some of the Ace novels can be found at Pulp Fiction
Why this must be read:
Before the term "fanfiction" was coined, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. had it.
By the time The Man from U.N.C.L.E. came along in the mid-1960s, novelizations of films and tie-in novels for television series were nothing new. I remember my mother reading a YA-type novel based on the western series, Maverick to me when I was about seven.
What was new for U.N.C.L.E. were the authors who were contracted to write them. Ace Books, Inc. was one of the first companies to be signed as a licensee of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. tie-in merchandise at a time when the television series was not doing well in the ratings. Nevertheless, an assistant editor at Ace, the later SF legend, Terry Carr, thought a U.N.C.L.E. inspired novel might successfully cash in on the Bond phenomenon. At first, he hired professional suspense writers like Michael Avallone. Over in the U.K., Ace’s counterpart, Souvenir Press, recruited authors John Oram, Peter Leslie, John T. Phillifent, and Joel Bernard, some of whom were experienced genre writers with scientific backgrounds.
But many of these writers just couldn’t get the ‘feel’ of MFU, so Carr turned to the SF community to recruit talented amateurs ---ie: fans. One of the first and, arguably, the best, was David McDaniel who wrote six published novels and one unpublished for Ace(The Final Affair is still available within the fandom as a zine).
McDaniel became interested in U.N.C.L.E. and was particularly fascinated with the concept of Thrush. He’s the one who came up with “The Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity,” an acronym that the producers began using in interviews.
Many fans count McDaniel’s The Vampire Affair as their favorite (it has been recc’d here previously), but for me, it’s his first book, The Dagger Affair that’s best. In it, McDaniel is at his creative and light-hearted best exploring a situation in which U.N.C.L.E. and Thrush actually have to work together to defeat a loose cannon nutcase scientist.
Solo and Kuryakin go to San Francisco where they are introduced to the powerful and erudite Thrush chief, Ward Baldwin and his equally fascinating wife, Irene. The Baldwins were based on the real life Dean and Shirley Dickensheet, well known in LASF circles. The characters give McDaniel an opportunity to construct a more elaborate history for Thrush and to present it from an entirely different perspective.
For example, here’s the Baldwins interrogating a prisoner by handcuffing him to a moving cable car:
"If, on your way to Market, you should decide to unburden yourself to us on the subject of DAGGER, the padlock could be opened in a moment. If, on the other hand, you should decide not to, you will eventually, shall we say, reach the end of the line. At California and Market, the cable runs down around a pulley for the return journey, and you would be drawn, by the handcuffs, through this inch-wide cable slot at a steady nine-point-five miles per hour. You have something like ten minutes to contemplate your choices. I hope you can think clearly while running."
Irene let her husband's comments sink in while another block passed, and the street began to rise. Then she said thoughtfully, "I don't think he'd be pulled all the way through, dear. After all, flesh and bone can only stand so much. I think his hands would just be torn off." She considered this a moment, and added, "Of course the result would be the same, since he would bleed to death in a minute or two."
Baldwin shook his head. "It depends on whether the end of his ulna is small enough to pass through the slot. If it were too large it could shatter and the hand be torn off. But if it fits through, his shoulders would be crushed and his rib cage would follow."
Napoleon felt rather queasy, and glanced at Illya. The dour Russian agent looked somewhat paler than usual, but that could have been the effect of the streetlights. Then he looked at Horne, trotting grimly along beside the car like a fighter doing road-work. It seemed to be having an effect on him too. Not surprising, all things considered . . . .
I’d recommend that anyone writing MFU fanfiction, particularly if it deals with Thrush, to read this witty, clever and thoroughly enjoyable book, the first piece of MFU fanfiction to reach a wide audience.
The Dagger Affair
Pairing: none, gen
Author on LJ: no
Author website:The text for some of the Ace novels can be found at Pulp Fiction
Why this must be read:
Before the term "fanfiction" was coined, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. had it.
By the time The Man from U.N.C.L.E. came along in the mid-1960s, novelizations of films and tie-in novels for television series were nothing new. I remember my mother reading a YA-type novel based on the western series, Maverick to me when I was about seven.
What was new for U.N.C.L.E. were the authors who were contracted to write them. Ace Books, Inc. was one of the first companies to be signed as a licensee of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. tie-in merchandise at a time when the television series was not doing well in the ratings. Nevertheless, an assistant editor at Ace, the later SF legend, Terry Carr, thought a U.N.C.L.E. inspired novel might successfully cash in on the Bond phenomenon. At first, he hired professional suspense writers like Michael Avallone. Over in the U.K., Ace’s counterpart, Souvenir Press, recruited authors John Oram, Peter Leslie, John T. Phillifent, and Joel Bernard, some of whom were experienced genre writers with scientific backgrounds.
But many of these writers just couldn’t get the ‘feel’ of MFU, so Carr turned to the SF community to recruit talented amateurs ---ie: fans. One of the first and, arguably, the best, was David McDaniel who wrote six published novels and one unpublished for Ace(The Final Affair is still available within the fandom as a zine).
McDaniel became interested in U.N.C.L.E. and was particularly fascinated with the concept of Thrush. He’s the one who came up with “The Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity,” an acronym that the producers began using in interviews.
Many fans count McDaniel’s The Vampire Affair as their favorite (it has been recc’d here previously), but for me, it’s his first book, The Dagger Affair that’s best. In it, McDaniel is at his creative and light-hearted best exploring a situation in which U.N.C.L.E. and Thrush actually have to work together to defeat a loose cannon nutcase scientist.
Solo and Kuryakin go to San Francisco where they are introduced to the powerful and erudite Thrush chief, Ward Baldwin and his equally fascinating wife, Irene. The Baldwins were based on the real life Dean and Shirley Dickensheet, well known in LASF circles. The characters give McDaniel an opportunity to construct a more elaborate history for Thrush and to present it from an entirely different perspective.
For example, here’s the Baldwins interrogating a prisoner by handcuffing him to a moving cable car:
"If, on your way to Market, you should decide to unburden yourself to us on the subject of DAGGER, the padlock could be opened in a moment. If, on the other hand, you should decide not to, you will eventually, shall we say, reach the end of the line. At California and Market, the cable runs down around a pulley for the return journey, and you would be drawn, by the handcuffs, through this inch-wide cable slot at a steady nine-point-five miles per hour. You have something like ten minutes to contemplate your choices. I hope you can think clearly while running."
Irene let her husband's comments sink in while another block passed, and the street began to rise. Then she said thoughtfully, "I don't think he'd be pulled all the way through, dear. After all, flesh and bone can only stand so much. I think his hands would just be torn off." She considered this a moment, and added, "Of course the result would be the same, since he would bleed to death in a minute or two."
Baldwin shook his head. "It depends on whether the end of his ulna is small enough to pass through the slot. If it were too large it could shatter and the hand be torn off. But if it fits through, his shoulders would be crushed and his rib cage would follow."
Napoleon felt rather queasy, and glanced at Illya. The dour Russian agent looked somewhat paler than usual, but that could have been the effect of the streetlights. Then he looked at Horne, trotting grimly along beside the car like a fighter doing road-work. It seemed to be having an effect on him too. Not surprising, all things considered . . . .
I’d recommend that anyone writing MFU fanfiction, particularly if it deals with Thrush, to read this witty, clever and thoroughly enjoyable book, the first piece of MFU fanfiction to reach a wide audience.
The Dagger Affair
no subject
no subject
I always liked this passage:
The Russian smiled slightly. "I was about to comment on your lateness. It is 5:51 by my watch."
Napoleon smiled indulgently. "Your watch is fast." He held up his wrist. "5:46 on the nose."
"Then the master clock in the airport building is off by five minutes also. I set mine by it some seven minutes ago just as I boarded."
Napoleon stared at his own timepiece, which hummed ever so softly. Then he scowled. "So much for that. This battery-powered chronometer is supposed to be guaranteed accurate to two seconds a month. And it was set by WWV not a week ago."
"Must have a lose wire. I prefer the old-fashioned type. Springs and gears have less that can go wrong with them and are easier to fix when they do."
Napoleon said nothing. He was proud of his watch, and it had let him down. He set it ahead, looked at it a moment, shrugged, and set it back three hours. He'd adjust it to the second when they got to Los Angeles.
You see Illya and technology, Napoleon and his expensive wardrobe and the typical interaction between the agents all in one scene.
San Francisco street cars!
I don't know if it's sad, after all, how many people think of Rice-A-Roni when they hear San Francisco because of television?
But now I really want to know, did it look like you could attach someone to the cable? I swear I have no intention of doing so, even if Mrs. Baldwin asks me. For all my problems with the overall novel, I loved every second of that scene.
Re: San Francisco street cars!
I must be in the minority -- I always think of Bill Cosby:
"They got a street up there called Lombard Street that goes straight down and they're not satisfied with you killing yourself that way--they put grooves and curves in there, and they got flowers where they've buried the people who have killed themselves there! [audience reacts with cheers and applause] Yeah, Lombard Street, wonderful street."
I couldn't get close enough to the groove to really check without being struck by a car (this was daytime, IIRC the UNCLE scene is in the early morning) but yeah, it looks like you could do it.
The Dagger Affair
Re: The Dagger Affair
And though I love Ace #10, it's anything but light.
Re: The Dagger Affair
Dagger continues to be a fun read. I like the idea of lighter recs!
The Dagger Affair
I love McDaniel's vision of Thrush. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin are intelligent, charismatic, and even honourable. Their complete lack of compassion for humanity is a far more believable and entertaining version of evil than the standard TV villains. It scares me a little how easily Mrs. Baldwin could recruit me.
However, McDaniel's characterization of both Napoleon and Illya in this particular novel got on my nerves. His Napoleon struck me as a fumbling, clueless incompetent, whose only virtue was his honesty in admitting his partner's genius in all things. At one point, Napoleon detailed a brilliant plan, and I thought, at last, some indication of why he's C.E.A. But no, it was all Illya's idea. Again. I love a strong and brilliant Illya, but I felt that in The Dagger Affair he was Illya Sue. Too perfect to be a human being or an interesting character.
I want to emphasize, however, that I'm not criticizing your decision to recommend this novel. If there was a MfU required reading list, I believe that The Dagger Affair should be included because of McDaniel's compelling version of Thrush. Plus, this novel the groundwork for the cool sequel, which contains what I consider to be the canon version of Thrush Central. I'm just thankful that in McDaniel's later novels, Napoleon and Illya had much more of an equal partnership.
Re: The Dagger Affair
I'm not sure it bothered me all that much but it was McDaniel's first try at it. What sticks in my mind the most was the Baldwin's and the Thrush material. As you say, it's really the best grounding for a good understanding of Thrush.
Although Illya is the enigmatic one, I think Solo is actually more difficult to get right. Early fanfic almost always favored Illya and Solo came off a bumbler even worse than in this book.
Thankfully, for the most part, that's changed now.