This analysis is outdated. Please reanalyze.

Ask Fakespot Chat questions about this productAlpha

Initializing Fakespot Chat

error

System error,

Loading suggested questions

Suggested Questions

athena-arrow

Suggested Questions

No suggested questions were found

Please note: The content is generated by an AI language model based on reviews. We are constantly improving the accuracy, however, its outputs may contain errors or offensive content from certain reviews. Please report any errors or offensive content to us. Also, please note that we will not collect your questions unless you click the thumbs up/down button to provide feedback. The answers displayed will be stored by us so if another Fakespotter asks a similar question we can provide them an answer faster. Your feedback will only help us make Fakespot Chat better! By using Fakespot Chat, you agree to Fakespot's terms of use and privacy notice.

Pros & Cons

Update Pros and Cons
The AI used to provide these results are constantly improving. These results might change.

Pros

Powers uses well-crafted flashback scenes to create his secret history and spiritual thriller. He finds some living but none sane. He trades wolfe’s bewildering aporia for an intricately crafted historical puzzle. Powers manages to work them into hist...  Read More

The story itself is quite fascinating. I wanted to read it again as soon as i was finished. The ending doesn't spoil the story, it's just slightly untrue to the author's stated influences.

This book requires some dedication on the reader's part, at 500+ pages, but the payoff is worth it. What an amazing feat. Job 38:4 is one of the very few books i re-read every year or so.

Powers' complex and very deliberately structured plot slowly unveils these entangled characters. The multiple story lines converge admirably at a compelling contemporary *. We find out a lot of things near the beginning that happen near the end but ha...  Read More

Andrew hale, elena teresa ceniza-bendiga, and kim philby are the book's central characters. Hale is a former british spy who finds himself drawn back into the shadowy world of a former operation gone bad. Elena is a strong character because hale-who h...  Read More



Cons

What declare lacks in entertainment it compensates for it's ability to put me to sleep. It's a cheap trick which comes across as presumptuous. All emotional attempts seem contrived and two dimensional.

Was this feature helpful?

Highlights

The AI used to provide these results are constantly improving. These results might change.

Quality


Book 1 deals firmly with the characters and introduces a few supernatural elements - nothing to distract you from a ripping ww2...  Read More


Starting with the astonishing figure of kim philby, powers goes whole-hawg into the world of wwii and cold war espionage.


The story is rooted in real history, but my ignorance of the subjects it covers means i likely didn't get as much enjoyment out...  Read More


The religious message of the book is linked with the political message: for powers, at the heart of communism lies a rebellion against god.

Competitiveness


Russia in the early 20th century,and the dark and twisty dealings of east and west in the post-war world you've got to read this.

Overview

  • How are reviewers describing this item?
    novel, good, supernatural, best and real.
  • Our engine has profiled the reviewer patterns and has determined that there is minimal deception involved.
  • Our engine has determined that the review content quality is high and informative.
  • Our engine has discovered that over 90% high quality reviews are present.
  • This product had a total of 686 reviews as of our last analysis date on Sep 9 2023.

Helpful InsightsBETA

The AI used to provide these results are constantly improving. These results might change.

    Posted by a reviewer on Amazon

    Tim powers 2001 novel declare is another of those books that are better than ok but not quite good enough for very good


    Posted by a reviewer on Amazon

    If youve read any powers before youve got a good idea what to expect he takes some historical facts in this case a lot of world war iicold war stuff mostly driven by the life of kim philby so i highly recommend you read the wikipedia article on him material on his father st


    Posted by a reviewer on Amazon

    Lawrence might be useful too and intersperses them with weird things for a different interpretation


    Posted by a reviewer on Amazon

    The writing is good though it does suffer quite a bit by the pacing issue most of his historical fiction is prone to


    Posted by a reviewer on Amazon

    Its an interesting way to present the story but it is a bit frustrating and confusing


    Posted by a reviewer on Amazon

    Personally id have preferred a much more linear telling


    Posted by a reviewer on Amazon

    Since then ive occasionally run into him at conventions but i couldnt call him more than an acquaintance

Review Count History
Loading...
Price History
Loading...

Ask Fakespot Chat questions about this productAlpha

Initializing Fakespot Chat

error

System error,

Loading suggested questions

Suggested Questions

athena-arrow

Suggested Questions

No suggested questions were found

Please note: The content is generated by an AI language model based on reviews. We are constantly improving the accuracy, however, its outputs may contain errors or offensive content from certain reviews. Please report any errors or offensive content to us. Also, please note that we will not collect your questions unless you click the thumbs up/down button to provide feedback. The answers displayed will be stored by us so if another Fakespotter asks a similar question we can provide them an answer faster. Your feedback will only help us make Fakespot Chat better! By using Fakespot Chat, you agree to Fakespot's terms of use and privacy notice.

Add Fakespot to your browser, Secure Shopping on the go.

Supported on Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Bestbuy, and many more.

Download Fakespot for Browsers
Download for the Chrome Web store
Download for Firefox Addons
1 million plus shoppers trust Fakespot