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Summary: Excellent
Review: Very original and exciting. Great characters - skillfully written. Highly recommended
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Summary: Powers books are superb interactive adventures
Review: You do not ever find it easy in a Powers novel. His assumption is that you have been an interactive part of the world in your existence on this planet. He assumes that you are literate. That you have been aware of public events, both domestic and international. That your education included US and World History, Literature, Science, Psychology. He assumes that you are well read in a multitude of subjects. Proceding from this assumption he writes novels that stretch your knowledge base, your imagination and your sense of wonder. You may have to delve into areas of thought that you'd forgotten or missed. You may have to work to keep the intricate plotting from tangling in your mind. You may actually have to learn something new to finish the book. But when you have, you feel a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.I have read all of Mr Powers' books and this book, Declare, he has created amazingly believable characters. Having some knowledge of Kim Philby and the spy scandals in which he was involved, I am amazed that this novel could be written around actual history and create an alternate version of what might have occured without transgressing from verifiable events. The suplemental characters are real and heartfelt in nature. The step-by-step development of the characters and their motivations was not tedious to me, more to the point, the development bound me to the characters in a way that made some of his previous writings seem simplistic. By including reality in this novel, with more depth than Last Call or Earthquake Weather, where reality intrudes only rarely, like rasins in a cake, I felt a greater sense of wonder when the mystical aspects of the book entered the story. I had bought into the novel so well that when the protagonist confronts the djinn in the desert I felts chills. And when assaulted by the stones floating over the sands, well, I hope he is able to duplicate and surpass this book and look forward to the resultant tale.
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Summary: ABSOLUTELY STUNNING HISTORICAL FANTASY/ESPIONAGE TALE!
Review: Although my favorite Tim Powers novels will always be The Stress of Her Regard, The Anubis Gates, Last Call, and On Stranger Tides, there is no doubt that Declare belongs in the top ranks of fantasy novels this or any year. Marketed as straight espionage fiction (which may or may not be a mistake), the novel weaves a subtle web of supernatural strands around various political events and time periods, successfully constructing an elaborate subtext based on elements as varied as World War 2, Middle East politics and folklore, the infamous Kim Philby British spy case, the Arabian Nights and Biblical references (of which the title is one). Oh, and add a tragic and very believable love story between characters fated to resurface as enemies. Tim Powers is the foremost American magic realist, and a novel such as Declare can only serve to reiterate and drive home the point. Please look for my brief review also at bookpage.com (March 2001)!
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Summary: Nothing is what you think it is
Review: If I had to sum up Tim Powers' work with one sentence, that would be it: nothing is what you think it is. You think poker is a game? Wrong! (it's a numerological ritual involving the ancient forces once codified as Tarot Trumps, see "Last Call") You think Romantic Poets were prone to exagerration? Wrong! (they were involved with vampiric forces, see "The stress of her regard") And if you thought the Cold War was about Stalin's paranoia or world communism, this book should set you straight: it was merely a continuation of a conflict brewing since 1883, when a Russian expedition to Mount Ararat came back with...something. This is a marvelous tale, involving Kim Philby, djinns, ankhs, angels, secret services galore and a hapless Brit called Andrew Hale whose surprising parentage qualified him to be an important pawn in the weirdest chapter of the Great Game. I enjoyed the book a lot, BUT... it's a little slow to get going, wobbling back and forth between 1963, 1948, 1941 and earlier. Bits of it are still a little unclear to me (such as the spectacular events near the Berlin Wall in 1945 - what was the purpose of all that and how did it end?) but I'm enjoying the aftertaste of this heady mix. If you know Tim Powers then this book needs no recommendation except that I thought it was lots better than, say, "Earthquake weather" and if you don't know him and enjoy having your preconceptions screwed around with, give this book a try. And after you finish it, read "Last Call" as well. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I bought this book in hardcover, just as I did with "Earthquake Weather". Boy, was I disappointed. Now don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Mr Powers. His California "trilogy" simply blew me away. I read it many times. However here are my thoughts on "Declare". If I wanted to read a good spy novel, I would read Le Carre. This book has too little action, too much buildup, too many details. It reads like a travelogue, with a sprinkle of curious historical facts and fictions. What a disappointment. After two weeks, I am still struggling to finish the tome.
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Summary: The only thing I didn't like...
Review: is that at some point you come to a conclusion. This was a fantastic tour of Europe and the UK. Powers characters are always fascinating and real, and the story such that you do not want to put the book down and will think about it once you have.
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Summary: Beware the Tim Powers "book trap"!
Review: There's something about a Tim Powers book that makes me reluctant to start it. Perhaps it's the knowledge that the blasted thing will take over my life for the time I spend reading it. "Declare" sat on my shelf for a month, and it seems my trepidation was justified. "Declare" drew me in and kept me there. The intricacy of the plotting (I found myself flipping back and forth many times), faultless pacing, the words chosen with a jewler's precision, the mix of history and fantasy... It was both a pleasure and a deeply unsettling experience- my mind raced every evening after I forced myself to put it down, trying to assimilate, trying *not* to draw conclusions too soon. Right down to the ending, I was consistently and happily surprised- and the climactic scene was so vividly presented that the words disappeared behind the images they conjured. "Declare" is, perhaps, not quite as mythically transcendent as "Last Call", but it is more bound to history as well. It surpasses "Earthquke Weather", which fell a little flat for me. One last note: I must disagree with Patrick Shiffrar's complaint. When I started reading, I had very little knowledge of the Philby case; I have a bit more experience with the other topics, but certainly not in any great depth. Yet I had no trouble with these elements in "Declare"; they did not interfere with my enjoyment at all. Besides, I *like* that Powers is a demanding author. He makes me *want* to look up his references, and then re-read his books. It's what makes reading them so rewarding.
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Summary: The Problem With Tim Powers
Review: The problem with reading a Tim Powers book, and, believe me, it is a problem of the best kind, is that Mr. Powers overestimates the intelligence of his readers. If only other authors had such a problem. "Declare" can be called a brilliant novel, if only. If only you know about Kim Philby, Lawrence of Arabia, Rudyard Kipling, Arabic folklore, djinn etc. I have read everything that Mr. Powers has written and I have only one suggestion to make to him. Please include a foreword to your novels that states the following; if you want to enjoy this novel to the fullest, please read the following books first. Mr. Powers assumes that the reader is conversant with all the historical events that he bases his wonderful stories on, but, unfortunately, this isn't always the case. When I first read "Stress of Her Regard" I thought it was rather dry and contrived. But then I did a little research into the lives of Byron and Shelley and realized what a brilliant book it is. (A little knowledge of the Arthurian legends, specifically the Fisher King lore, is also of great benefit when reading much of Powers' work.) Don't get me wrong. I love the fact that Mr. Powers writes with the basic assumption that his readers are intelligent and have read these basic source materials. But it would be great for him/or his publishers to give us a short reading list in the preface in order that we might fully appreciate his genius. Just an opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely amazing
Review: Tim Powers is the true heir to his mentor and friend, Philip K. Dick. I think "Declare" can be read as a sequel to "VALIS," PKD's loopy masterpiece of people caught up in insane-seeming spiritual quests. "Declare" ranks with "The Anubis Gates" and "Last Call" as flawlessly plotted, brilliantly written works exposing the weirdest underpinnings of our oh-so-humdrum world. Its incorporation of real history with plausible fantastic speculation (wait'll you find out what REALLY kept Stalin in power) makes it Powers's most ambitious and most successful work to date. Keep 'em coming, Mr. Powers!
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Summary: espionage with a twist
Review: With a cryptic phone call, Andrew Hale is summoned from his comfortable University position, and finds he can never really retire from the secret government agency that has guided his entire life. His latest assignment is to bring to completion Operation Declare, a mission gone disasterously wrong under his leadership twenty years before. As the story unfolds we find spies and counter-spies, and catch a glimpse of the wheels-within-wheels machinations of an ultra-secret service. 'Declare' is primarily a novel of espionage, in the tradition of John le Carre, but in the hands of Tim Powers the tale takes on a supernatural cast. Powers masterfully weaves facts and fantasy in a compelling story told across decades and continents. This novel is a must-have for Powers fans, and a great read for anyone who likes a complicated spy-thriller, and is willing to believe that there are beings greater than ourselves afoot in the universe.
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