Disappointed by Tim Powers’ Novel Declare
I finally had to abandon Tim Powers’ supernatural spy novel, Declare. I read over 200 pages into it and just couldn’t go any further. I really enjoyed Powers’ earlier novel, The Anubis Gates, and I had high hopes for Declare after reading reviews. But the book didn’t evoke any emotional reaction from me at all. I never really connected with Hale, the main character, and I didn’t care for the way Powers’ narrator alternated back and forth between the 1940s and the 1960s.
I think part of the problem was my unfamiliarity with many of the historical references in the book. If the characters or the story would have captivated me more, I would have done a little research into the history, but it just wasn’t worth the time. As a point of comparison, when I began reading Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series, I only had a surface knowledge of nautical terms and Napleonic history, but I was so interested in Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin that I bought companion books to help me understand the story better. I had no such desire with Declare.
I was intrigued by the religious elements in the book, but not enough to keep reading. Fans of spy novels may have better luck with it than I did.
Disappointing.
Declare takes a while to get going, but it does pick up. I abandoned it the first time I tried to read it, but I recently picked it up again. I’m over two thirds of the way into it now and it’s certainly keeping my attention. I think it’ll lead to a nice satisfying conclusion. You’re probably right that it helps to know more about the period and events in which Powers sets his novels, though – for any Powers book. I know very little about the stuff he sets this book in, but I know a few things, enough to have some really fun moments (“Oh, so THAT’S what the deal was with Philby and his pet fox!”).
More to the point, though, this seems to be shaping up to be a very Catholic novel. I just finished the bit about Elena in the Lubianka, which was very dark and twisted but ended with Elena being prevented from becoming a soulless puppet by, at a climactic moment, invoking Our Lady. That part was absolutely flippin’ awesome. 🙂 Now I’m eager to get back to it on my lunch break.