The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Novels

Novels

Two dozen novels were based upon Man from U.N.C.L.E. and published between 1965 and 1968. (For a time, this was the most of any American-produced television series except for Star Trek and Dark Shadows with its 30 or so novels published between 1966 and 1971, though there have now been more original novels published based upon Alias and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) Freed from the limitations of network television, these novels were generally grittier and more violent than the televised episodes. The series sold in the millions, and was the largest TV-novel tie-in franchise until surpassed by Dark Shadows and later by Star Trek.

1. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (a.k.a. The Thousand Coffins Affair) by Michael Avallone. When villages in Africa and Scotland are wiped out by a plague of madness, Solo and Kuryakin dig up a graveyard and a monster named Golgotha.
2. The Doomsday Affair by Harry Whittington. The agents must find the mystery man "Tixe Ylno" before he triggers war between the USA and the USSR.
3. The Copenhagen Affair by John Oram. "UFOs" are buzzing Europe, and the U.N.C.L.E. agents crisscross Denmark to find the factory before THRUSH launches an armed fleet.
4. The Dagger Affair by David McDaniel. DAGGER fanatics have an energy damper that can shut down electrical fields, atomic reactions, and human beings, and even THRUSH is panicked.
5. The Mad Scientist Affair by John T. Phillifent. The agents stop biochemist "King Mike" from poisoning London, then discover his second plan is to contaminate the entire North Sea.
6. The Vampire Affair by David McDaniel. Napoleon and Illya don’t believe in vampires and werewolves, but an U.N.C.L.E. agent died, so they must investigate an ancient castle in Transylvanian Romania.
7. The Radioactive Camel Affair by Peter Leslie. Solo joins a caravan and Kuryakin threads a war zone to reach a missile base deep in the Sudan hinterlands.
8. The Monster Wheel Affair by David McDaniel. The agents canvass the globe and infiltrate a remote island to confirm an inexplicable space station belongs to - Egypt?
9. The Diving Dames Affair by Peter Leslie. The deaths of two merry missionaries lead the agents to the plains of Brazil and a giant dam with no apparent purpose.
10. The Assassination Affair by J. Hunter Holly
11. The Invisibility Affair by Buck Coulson and Gene DeWeese (writing as "Thomas Stratton")
12. The Mind Twisters Affair by "Stratton"
13. The Rainbow Affair by McDaniel
14. The Cross of Gold Affair by Ron Ellik and Fredric Langley (writing as "Fredric Davies")
15. The Utopia Affair by McDaniel
16. The Splintered Sunglasses Affair by Leslie
17. The Hollow Crown Affair by McDaniel
18. The Unfair Fare Affair by Leslie
19. The Power Cube Affair by Phillifent
20. The Corfu Affair by Phillifent
21. The Thinking Machine Affair by Joel Bernard
22. The Stone Cold Dead in the Market Affair by Oram
23. The Finger in the Sky Affair by Leslie
24. The Final Affair by David McDaniel

Volumes 10–15 and 17 of the series were only published in the United States.

Two science-fiction novels – Genius Unlimited by John Rackham (a pseudonym used by Phillifent) and The Arsenal Out of Time by McDaniel – appear to be rewrites of "orphaned" U.N.C.L.E novel outlines or manuscripts.

The Rainbow Affair is notable for its thinly disguised cameo appearances by The Saint, Miss Marple, John Steed, Emma Peel, Tommy Hambledon (at whose flat Solo and Ilya encounter Steed and Peel), Neddie Seagoon, Father Brown, a retired, elderly Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Fu Manchu. The novel uses the same chapter title format that Leslie Charteris used in his Saint novels. (The title of one of the theatrical versions of U.N.C.L.E. episodes, The Spy in the Green Hat, is very close to the title of The Man in the Green Hat, one of the "Hambledon" novels by "Manning Coles.")

Whitman Books also published three hardcover novels aimed at young readers and based upon the series. The first two books break the naming convention "The .... Affair" used by all other U.N.C.L.E. fiction and episodes:

1. The Affair of the Gunrunners' Gold – Brandon Keith
2. The Affair of the Gentle Saboteur – Brandon Keith
3. The Calcutta Affair – George S. Elrick

A children's storybook written by Walter Gibson entitled The Coin of El Diablo Affair was also published.

The aforementioned digest magazine based upon Man from U.N.C.L.E. and often featured original novellas that were not published anywhere else. These novellas, published under the house name "Robert Hart Davis," were actually written by such authors as John Jakes, Dennis Lynds, and Bill Pronzini. There were 24 issues running monthly from February 1966 till January 1968, inclusive.

Science fiction writer Jack Jardine (writing as Larry Maddock) originally came up with an idea for a "Man From U.N.C.L.E." novel called "The Flying Saucer Affair," but it was A) deemed too sci-fi for the series' concept, and B) written shortly before the series' cancellation. He later adapted this novel into his "Agent of T.E.R.R.A." series, which enjoyed a brief run of four titles altogether, and were published by ACE Books. They are:

1. "Agent Of T.E.R.R.A. #1: The Flying Saucer Gambit,"
2. "Agent Of T.E.R.R.A. #2: The Golden Goddess Gambit,"
3. "Agent Of T.E.R.R.A. #3: The Emerald Elephant Gambit," and
4. "Agent Of T.E.R.R.A. #4: The Time Trap Gambit." (This last title dispensed with the "Agent of T.E.R.R.A." moniker.)