Declare

[phantom power]

A friend of mine lent me this book Declare by Tim Powers. It's mostly a spy-vs-spy novel, but where the spies are all maneuvering for control of a colony of djinn on top of Mt. Ararat. Or, maneuvering to destroy them.

The main characters are the infamous Kim Philby, his fictional half-brother Andrew Hale and their mutual love-interest Elena.

Powers writes that he came up with the story as a sort of diversionary explanation for various oddities in the biographies of Kim Philby and Lawrence of Arabia.

It's probably the most interesting and oddball book I've read in a while.

[Orsino]

1. Yeah, it's terrific.

Possibly his best.

[mike_c]

2. I loved it....

I've read most of Tim Powers' other books, mostly on the strength of my enjoyment of Declare. His others are pretty good, too, but I still think Declare is best.

[phantom power]

3. I see he's written at least one other fantasy novel.

I think I'll check his other stuff out too.