Declare

By: Tim Powers

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

In his 11th novel, Tim Powers takes his unique brand of speculative fiction into uncharted territory, instilling the old-fashioned espionage novel with a healthy dose of the supernatural.

As a young double agent infiltrating the Soviet spy network in Nazi-occupied Paris, Andrew Hale finds himself caught up in a secret, even more ruthless war. Two decades later, a coded message draws Professor Andrew Hale back into Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Elements from his past are gathering in Beirut, including ex-British counterespionage chief and Soviet mole Kim Philby, and a beautiful former Spanish Civil War soldier-turned-intelligence operative, Elena Teresa Ceniza-Bendiga. Soon Hale will be forced to confront again the nightmare that has haunted his adult life: a lethal unfinished operation code-named “Declare.”

From the corridors of Whitehall to the Arabian Desert, from postwar Berlin to the streets of Cold War Moscow, Hale’s desperate quest draws him into international politics and gritty espionage tradecraft—and inexorably drives Hale, Ceniza-Bendiga, and Philby to a deadly confrontation on the high glaciers of Mount Ararat, in the very shadow of the fabulous and perilous biblical Ark.

©2001 Tim Powers (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Dazzling…A tour de force, a brilliant blend of John le Carré spy fiction with the otherworldly.” ( Dean Koontz)

“[Powers] orchestrates reality and fantasy so artfully that the reader is not allowed a moment’s doubt throughout this tall tale.” ( The New Yorker)

“Highly ingenious…No one else writes like Powers, and Declare finds him at the top of his game.” ( San Francisco Chronicle)

Maybe it could have been this way.

Tim Powers weaves together a completely plausible story combining cold war spycraft and the occult. It took me a couple of hours of listening to get into the groove of the story but Simon Prebble's performance kept me listening until the story hooked me. Worth a listen.

Compelling story, convincingly narrated

Intricate, spies, jinn, redemption and damnation, romance and suspense. Great storytelling and narration. Loved it.

Disappointing

This started off well but didn't hold my interest. The characters drawn from history weren't convincing and I think this was the core of my disappointment. The timeline of the story was difficult to follow and as the narrative went on (and on) I stopped caring about where it was going.

I thought the narrator did a good job, although I did notice a couple of entertaining spoonerisms!

Superb. Intriguing. Speculative.

Holes in history are filled in supernaturally by Powers with amazing skill. It's a top notch spy thriller with Lovecraftian underpinnings.

Tim Powers’ absolute best

I have read this book twice and listened to it masterfully read on Audible. It is sui generis. WW2, espionage, and the preternatural.
If you like weird, you will love this. Plus very well written. Powers knows his English lit.

Intriguing, but belabored

What made the experience of listening to Declare the most enjoyable?

An intriguing mashup of old school cold war espionage and supernatural elements.

Any additional comments?

The author has the vexing tendency to say a lot and yet remain vague in order to conceal the secrets of the narrative whilst telling it in a non-linear manner.

Bless Me [Things Are Not as They Seem]

Tim Powers has composed a super spy novel with more than a touch of the supernatural. Told in long story sections out of chronological order, you often learn the reasons why things happen long after you witness them when they occur. Powers has made the editorial choice to tell Andrew Hale’s story out of sequence, and it is very effective; for situations that may at first seem to have a simple explanation take on an entirely new meaning when the full machinations of the plot are revealed. DECLARE has a plot that is intricately baroque in its complexity and interconnectedness and a quixotically satisfying conclusion that pulls in lose strings from every major character. This, to me, is an exceptional Tim Powers novel, displaying all the elements I expect from him: immense historical detail, quirky characters, and a well-ordered sense of the fantastic. The spook business verifiably earns its nick-name here. The characters seem to be real people placed in unreal circumstances so bizarre that you find yourself buying into the weirdness just for the privilege witnessing the story unfold . Some of the players in fact are real historical figures from the world of international espionage. The way Powers manages to weave a complex story under and around the life of Kim Philby, the notorious cold-war spy, is fascinating and gives the novel an air of credibility. I had read the print version of this book years ago and found it to be eerie and unsettling. This audio version seems much less creepy and more accessible. Perhaps I have become desensitized, but I think not. I think it is the very nature of having someone read the book to you. The phenomena is more likely attributed to the sense that you are not alone; the narrator is a companion, your steady voice of reason and a buffer between you and the strangeness of the underworld.

Simon Prebble is a fine narrator for this book and imparts a steady pace to the story and a much needed link to reality in a tale that could become absurd with a more melodramatic performance. His portrayal of Kim Philby is particularly good, giving him a vulnerable stutter than brings him down to life. The book does start slow, first building the relationship with the protagonist, but when the dialog and the supernatural plot begin to open up Prebble’s performance elevates his inflection to match.

Satisfying mashup of spies & the supernatural(!)

This is such an oddball concept. On the one hand, a lot of it is a spy thriller set jumping between WWII and the Cold War. But then, there's this entire layer of mysticism and the supernatural pervading the whole thing. It shouldn't work, but it really does.
I read this following Powers' Anubis Gates and On Stranger Tides, which similarly blend history and the supernatural, but feel much more "normal" doing so by focusing on settings that are long enough ago to feel removed from modern society. This somehow makes it work in a drab 20th century setting. Also, I enjoyed both of the other books, but felt they somewhat spiraled out of control with the craziness of their stories. This one gets weird, but it dials things back a bit in a way that I think comes across as a more enjoyably organized piece of writing.
The audio production is solid too, no real complaints there. All in all, just a solid story that combines two distinct genres unexpectedly well. Definite recommend.

Oh Fish. Art Thou Constant???

This is a meticulously imagined and researched supernaturally themed alternate history of some events concerning the Cold War. The description above does a great job of laying out the scenario so I won't try. They story is told in flash backs and nothing is spoon fed to listener/reader. The characters really take time to unfold. It helps if you have some understanding of the time period but it's not necessary. It helps if you are patient and willing to re-listen. The reader does an awesome job and handles voicing the different characters admirably. Very impressive considering he has to pull off American, English, French, Russian, and Arabic accents as well as portray a female character and an arrogant stutterer. This is probably the most dense and difficult to follow of Tim Powers novels. If you find a lot of description and historic detail boring, this book probably isn't for you. If you are looking for something original and well read, then please be my guest. So far it doesn't seem that Audible has really done much to market this book and author. That is really a shame and a crime as both are excellent and worthy of the attention of any discriminating lover of fantasy.

Powers is S T R A N G E !

Would you consider the audio edition of Declare to be better than the print version?

I think it's easier to listen to... maybe? Tim is a very deep writer. He dives deep into his subjects. Far deeper than most writers ever think of going. He will always show you things new and strange and something you'd never ever think of. He is a great story teller. His mind works in strange ways. His tales are a challenge. They make you think. You have to make the effort to understand a Tim Powers book. I think Tim is a really GREAT writer. He is passionate about his subjects. He works very hard to create something new from classic mythology.. and makes you wonder.

What other book might you compare Declare to and why?

My favorite Tim Powers book is "On Stranger Tides". It's one of the VERy BEST books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. and re-reading. Like "Tides" I will need to give this one a few more listens to "get" everything Tim is writing about... his writing is layers deep. Not a quick easy read. His tales are challenging, and magical in their weirdness.

What does Simon Prebble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good reader.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending is quite amazing... brings all these fantastic strange things together at last... oh so strange... as all his books lead up to huge strange amazing events.

Any additional comments?

One read, or one listen will not convey this tale to you. It requires more ... two , three... more to get everything that's going on. Tim Powers is like a madman writing... or a very smart & sane man explaining something extremely mad. His books make you think about them after you are done... He does not "Crank out action adventure books"... he crafts elaborate tales that you will need to experience more than once to grasp. That, or I'm a bit stupid. I'd say, word for word, you sure do get your money's worth with a Tim Powers book. Just thinking of the massive research he must go into to get all the details in his tales. Quite impressive.