Declare

De: Tim Powers

Narrado por: Simon Prebble

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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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)

Must be savored.

This is one of those tales that will not appeal to anyone who looks forward to summer blockbusters for their enlightened storytelling and character development.

Rather, it's a gloriously intricate tale focusing on the maneuverings of intelligence services. Not surprisingly, and exactly because intelligence services mostly attempt to outthink and not outfight, things blow up irregularly and progress deliberately.

If you've struggled with a John LeCarre title or found that Umberto Eco moves "too slowly", this is not for you.

Even with the black things from other planes occasionally shredding some hapless dude.

Fantastic weave of reality with believable fiction

What did you love best about Declare?

Author's interpretation.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hale. Main Character. His Realism and Acceptance of his lot in life.

What about Simon Prebble’s performance did you like?

Mr. Prebble has a way of interpreting the story as if he is simply relating his own experiences.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Truths about Soviets?

Interesting history

Tim Powers for some while has taken characters out of history, added a paranormal element and has told the story in that light. This one is hot and cold running war spies. It's a very fun book, but it is disjointed and hard to follow on the timeline. But the characters are a hoot and the look into a spy's life is chilling.

Arguably Powers' best work to date.

I love the insane mash-up of history, science, pseudo-science and outright lunacy that makes up a typical Powers novel. The Drawing of the Dark, On Stranger Tides and The Stress of Her Regard are all particular favorites.

Declare beats them all. It's dense with history, World War II and Cold War spycraft, a contemptible real life villain, Arabian myth, Biblical apocrypha, a first-rate espionage thriller in the world weary vein of Cold War novelists and a longing for lost love.

It's a book to savor and a must-read for any Powers fan or anyone who read the mishmash of ideas in the paragraph above and thought the resulting gumbo sounded pretty good. Amazing book that I'm sorry is now at an end

Crazy and entertaining, richly detailed and fun.

A trusted friend recommended that I read this book because he knows how much I enjoy a good spy story. I found a copy of the book on Amazon and bought it- for a great price too. Then I realized with my schedule I wouldn't have time to read it anytime soon. Fortunately for me I found the audio here.

Declare is a richly detailed, byzantine story of the cold war almost in the style of LeCarre', but with a supernatural angle that Smiley's creator wouldn't dare. But instead of the supernatural angle stopping the story dead in it's tracks it drives the tale forward in many ways.

Powers' story is too complex to explain here simply. Believe me when I say it's a humdinger. What really made this book come to life was the narration. Simon Prebble is in a class by himself. Accents, dialects, foreign languages and genders are no problem for this adept reader. Kim Philby's well known stammer is so well handled that you would swear Prebble is not acting. It's tour de force from beginning to end.

I'm glad I took a chance on this book for many reasons. I'll listen to all 21 hours of this interesting and well told tale many times in the future. Definitely one of the best.