To Live in Interesting Times
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | To Live in Interesting Times |
| Author(s): | Taliesin |
| Date(s): | 1997 |
| Length: | |
| Genre(s): | slash, AU |
| Fandom(s): | Man from U.N.C.L.E. |
| Relationship(s): | |
| External Links: | online here |
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To Live in Interesting Timesis a Man from U.N.C.L.E. story by Taliesin.
It has a sequel called Sufficient Unto the Day.
It was published in the zine Relative Secrecy #1 and is online.
Reactions and Reviews
Taliesin needs no introduction. She’s not only a prolific writer, but she edits the popular, award-winning slash zine, Relative Secrecy.Of all her many stories, however, this is my favorite and certainly one of the most memorable. It’s set in a bleak AU universe, a dystopian near-future (and considering our current state of politics, not so hard to imagine) and it’s narrated by an unnamed narrator who will become Illya Kuryakin. This narrator has had the misjudgment to ally himself with a politician of principle and ideals, and runs afoul of the new, oppressive regime ruling Russia.
A political prisoner, he manages to escape into an unforgiving wilderness where he’s picked up and taken to a secret hospital by a mysterious stranger... Fans will recognize this as Napoleon Solo, of course, but a canon Solo turned inside out --- darker, chillier, more dangerous than we’ve ever encountered before. Our narrator, now called Illya Kuryakin, is recruited into an underground version of U.N.C.L.E. in which the stakes are even higher and the job far more soul-killing than they are in the canon series.
The man named Solo takes Kuryakin under his wing and they become partners and eventually lovers, working together on murderous assignments (in every sense of the word) until Kuryakin decides he’s had enough violence and killing. But of course, as he makes us all too aware no one ever quits this U.N.C.L.E.[1]
This is one of my favorite stories as well, not only for the writing, which is crisp and sharp and punches right through the reader, but also for the universe she's created. It's harsh, but it's brilliant.[2]
It was the first AU MFU story I ever read and the best; with Nyssa and Jane Faiefax, Taliesin with this story (and sequels), was the author who converted me to slash, at a time I saw it only as a self indulging fantasy. As for the AU thing, there is a saying according which we can see the shadows of future (future projects long shadows behind).[3]
One of my very, very favorite MFU stories for a lot of reasons. But I think it's more accurate to say this story is an AR, or Alternate Reality. We're still in the universe of UNCLE, which is still called UNCLE, the basic principles of the Command are there, but the rules of reality have changed. They're much harsher, which immediately sets up for a scenario of heavier angst, deeper emotion. I love that stuff and Taliesin did an incredible job with it in this story.[4]
I must admit, I probably liked this story, too, because it reminded me of the Escape/MFU universe that Nan and I write. The world is similarly bleak and oppressed (Thrush has taken over) but Solo and Illya are somewhat different (certainly less colder) than they are portrayed here. But I like a dark Solo and the black apparel, etc. is reminiscent of the roles RV has played elsewhere, notably Gault, in Roger Corman's Battle Beyond the Stars. Most of that movie is so-so but RV has several kick ass scenes in which he plays a character much like the Solo here.[5]
[remarking on two stories in the print zine: To Live in Interesting Times & Sufficient Unto the Day] These two A/Us have almost nothing in common with MFU canon, although fans of La Femme Nikita will recognize the mood and premise. Nevertheless, they're beautifully written, and a haunting portrayal of a possible NS and IK in a (very) worst-case scenario.[6]