David McDaniel (1939–1977)

A silly camp addition to the U.N.C.L.E. novel series that is U.N.C.L.E. in name only. You could easily switch out the character names and it wouldn’t make much difference. I don’t know who these two guys were in this book but they weren’t the Solo and Kuryakin I know.

It’s only saved by the last 30 pages when the culprits behind the nefarious goings on are revealed (although this feels a bit tacked on) and we get some U.N.C.L.E. style action at last.

The fourth of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. tie-in novels sees our favorite agents teaming up with the members of their traditional nemesis organization, Thrush, to combat a new threat to mankind.

This is a fun read in which the obstacle they need to overcome is little more than a footnote in a nicely observed examination of how the two different organizations operate and the connections between them.

David McDaniel is best known for his "Man From U.N.C.L.E." novels. This might be his only SF novel. Written in 1967 it fits nicely into the slew of adolescent SF books published in the "Golden Age" of SF.

If I had read this as a teen I would give it 4 stars. It's a young man's space adventure. There's plenty of danger, a good buddy and a smart beautiful woman to keep him in line. What more could you ask?

Napoleon was SO cool and I so wanted to be him until I realized I didn't.