The Beauty and the Beast Affair

 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. generated several successful lines of tie-in media. The Gold Key comic book ran for 22 issues. There was a best-selling line of 23 paperback novels (one of which I reviewed HERE). Twenty-four novels if you count one not published when the line was cancelled but now available online.  And there was a digest-sized magazine, published from 1966 to 1968, that ran for 24 issues. 

Each of the magazines featured an U.N.C.L.E novella (as well as an often-excellent assortment of original crime and spy-fiction tales). Today, we are going to be looking at "The Beauty and the Beast Affair," by Harry Whittington (written under the house name of Robert Hart Davis), which appeared in the March 1966 issue of U.N.C.L.E. magazine.

The title arises from the fact that Sheik Ali Zud, the ruler of the tiny Middle Eastern county of Zabir, considers himself ugly. Thus, the only way he thinks he can get the beautiful Queen Soraya of the neighboring country of Xanra to marry him is to conquer Xanra. THRUSH, for nefarious and ultimately treacherous reasons of its own, agrees to help.

As the story opens, Illya Kuryakin is a prisoner in Zabir. (Actually, he's reported to be dead, but most readers will know that, as a lead character, he's protected by plot armor and will turn up alive. He does so by the second chapter.) Napoleon Solo and an inexperienced female agent named Wanda Mae Kim head for Zabir to find out what's going on.

Soon, there are captures, escapes, and fights, all leading up to a fairly satisfying and explosive conclusion.

Whittington was a great storyteller, so its no surprise that he moves the story along quickly and clearly, with a few nice plot twists along the way. He also does some interesting characterization work with several of the Sheik's soldiers, gradually moving them from opponents of the U.N.C.L.E. agents to allies. 

There's a couple of aspects to the story I had a hard time swallowing. That inexperienced female agent? She's whiny and useless for most of the story. She does get a chance to redeem herself near the end of the book, but who made this woman--a ditz who panics at the drop of a hat-- a spy in the first place? She is simply annoying.

Also, at one point Solo captures a THRUSH agent who is pretending to be the Sheik's head of security, disguised with a Mission Impossible-style latex mask. Solo puts the mask on and assumes that role himself, with no mention of whether his physical build is correct, whether he can imitate the security guy's voice, know his mannerisms, etc. He simply puts on the mask and becomes the other man. I know The Man From U.N.C.L.E.exists in an over-the-top universe, but that seemed to be stretching things a bit too far. 

But, even taking those criticisms into account, "The Beauty and the Beast Affair" was a fun read. The novellas from the magazine are available HERE.