U.N.C.L.E. Under Wraps
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | U.N.C.L.E. Under Wraps |
| Publisher: | File 40 Press |
| Editor(s): | Linda White |
| Date(s): | 2001 |
| Series?: | |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Man from UNCLE |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | online zine flyer with story excerpts |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
U.N.C.L.E. Under Wraps is a slash 205-page anthology of fiction by Linda White. Bev is the cover artist, and it contains no interior art. These are reprinted zine stories from the author's "Third Level Universe." It was the winner of a 2002 FanQ.
From the zine's foreword: "For those readers who are long-time fans... relax and enjoy. No more leafing through the old zines, trying to figure out which story comes next, no more pleading with friends to let you borrow that treasured out-of-print zine to fill in that gap. They're all here."
About the Third Level Universe
Linda White created The Third Level universe, one where partnered agents become increasingly dependent on each other, until the 3rd level, where they taste each others' food, need to be in the same room, preferably in the same bed. Different partnered pairs find different ways to cope. Since this is a slash zine, you can guess how Illya & Napoleon manage. These 19 stories were published in many zines from 1995-2000, collected for the first time & printed in chronological order. This zine does NOT include any third level stories written by other authors.
From a 2004 comment at Crack Van:
L. White is deservedly well known throughout U.N.C.L.E. fandom for her Third Level slash universe. She does angst and light-hearted humor equally well, and she especially loves to write well-plotted mysteries. She also has a unique perspective on canon, namely that the partnered agents are psychically connected. Some of the pairings are two straight agents (April and Mark for instance), or one straight and one gay (some original characters), or both gay (Kuryakin and Solo, who comes to that realization about his orientation, rather poignantly, about a third of the way through her series). Unfortunately, most of the stories, including some of my favorite ones, are only available in print. The one I offer here, however, will give readers a taste of L’s writing, particularly her facility with original characters. If you like it, go take a look at her Third Level universe site on File 40 and by all means, track down the zines containing her work. [1]
Table of Contents
- The Sleepless Nights Affair (Part 1, Part 2) (reprinted from Relative Secrecy #1) (1)
- The Party Time Affair (reprinted from Relative Secrecy #1) (10)
- The Spies Like Us Affair (reprinted from Classified Affairs #6) (33)
- Beneath the Warrior's Armor (reprinted from Classified Affairs #2) (52)
- Love Letters (reprinted from We Have Each Other #2) (70)
- After Querido (reprinted from Relative Secrecy #2) (75)
- Luck Is No Lady (reprinted from Classified Affairs #1) (78)
- A Minor Difficulty (reprinted from We Have Each Other #1) (83)
- The Fake Affair Affair (reprinted from Classified Affairs #3) (91)
- The What Are Friends For Affair (reprinted from Classified Affairs #4) (105)
- The Hard Day's Night Affair (reprinted from Relative Secrecy #1) (111)
- The Morning After the Hard Day's Night Affair (reprinted from Relative Secrecy #1) (122)
- The Blue Christmas Affair (reprinted from Night Moves #2) (126)
- A Secret for Dessert (reprinted from Classified Affairs #1) (137)
- The Truth is Stranger than Fiction Affair (reprinted from Relative Secrecy #2) (141)
- The Broken Man Affair (reprinted from Relative Secrecy #2) (154)
- The So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed Affair (reprinted from Classified Affairs #4) (164)
- The Dangerous Man Affair (reprinted from Relative Secrecy #4) (176)
- The Last Resort Affair (reprinted from We Have Each Other #3) (184)
Reactions and Reviews
[A Minor Difficulty]: One of my favorites in the Third Level Universe. A look at the NS/IK relationship from Mark Slate's POV, with the three agents working together on a dangerous case against a mysterious foe. [2]
[After Querido]: I first read this story when I was too new to the fandom to really appreciate the depth and detail of this characterization. Even so, I fell in love with the complex, fascinating layers of both Napoleon and Illya in this short rumination. Now that I know the characters better, I appreciate the story that much more.This piece is part of Linda's Third Level universe, but I don't think you even have to know what that means to enjoy the story. Linda certainly has a very *specific* vision of the guys and their relationship and, as presented here, it's quite accessible and believable.
Linda also writes *beautifully*. After Querido is one of the more "literary" stories I've read in this fandom. The poetic language has a rhythmic cadence that is almost hypnotic, as in this paragraph -- my favorite passage of any fanfiction story:
You count the scars on my body. You touch them with your fingertips and your lips, and you count them out loud sometimes, in Russian. And we remember where I got them. I do the same for yours, and we remember those wounds, too. It pulls us together, it binds us in ways normal people can't understand. The invisible thread of life sewing us one to the other, stitching into my wound and out, into your wound and out, back and forth, until we are wound up together, inextricably woven into the same tapestry of remembered suffering. [3]