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{{quote|''Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.''|''Job 38:4''}}
 
A 2001 [[Spy Fiction|spy novel]] by [[Tim Powers]], '''''Declare''''' follows British agent Andrew Hale through a covert [[Cold War]] operation with roots in the intricacies of [[The Great Game]] and a distinct supernatural bent. It is written as a [[Secret History]], postulating that there are supernatural events occurring behind the scenes of otherwise-mundane occurrancesoccurrences. At its center: he British spy and defector, Kim Philby, and his links with the djinn...
 
Powers has acknowledged that much of the novel was influenced by the works of [[John Le Carre]], while the supernatural occurrancesoccurrences have a distinct [[HPH.P. Lovecraft|Lovecraftian]] flavour to them. See also [[Charles Stross]]'s ''[[The Laundry Series|Laundry]]'' novels; in the afterword of the first novel Stross admits the similarities--the Stale Beer-flavoured spy fiction, and the secret knowledge of the supernatural--but notes that they are coincidental.
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{{tropelist}}
=== Tropes include: ===
* [[The Alcoholic]]: Guy Burgess.
* [[Anachronic Order]]: the first half of the book skips between the present day of 1963, and Hale's time in the SOE in and after World War II.
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* [[Cloak and Dagger]]
* [[Deadly Euphemism]]: "establish the truth" and related phrases, taken from Victorian poet J. K. Stephen's ''To R.B.''
{{quote| ''Only this: or at least, if more,''<br />
''You must know, not think it, and learn, not speak:''<br />
''There is truth to be found on the unknown shore,''<br />
''And many will find where few will seek.'' }}
* [[Depleted Phlebotinum Shells]]: {{spoiler|For a djinn, shapes can be thoughts and thoughts can be actions--and an ellipsoid marked with perpendicular grooves means death.}}
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* [[Grey and Black Morality]]: the Rabkrin are a horrifying lot, though this is because they must appease [[Eldritch Abomination|Machikha Nash]] to safeguard their homeland. The SOE is generally better, though it too has shown no remorse in killing off its own agents--most notably Cassagnac--in order to uphold and pursue Operation Declare.
** That said, individual members of both organizations are sympathetic enough. James Theodora is a decent enough fellow who seems almost relieved that {{spoiler|he wouldn't be able to kill Andrew Hale}}, while Elena's Rabkrin handler visibly shows remorse for his organization's actions, and implies that most members of the Rabkrin feel the same way.
* [[Half -Human Hybrid]]: The king of Wabar. {{spoiler|As a result, only ''half'' of him is [[Taken for Granite]].}}
* [[The Handler]]: James Theodora.
* [[Historical Domain Character]]: Kim Philby and his father, St. John Philby.
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* [[Immortality Immorality]]: As means of avoiding God's judgment.
** Averted by the Kurdish tribesmen that Hale meets before his first attempt on Mount Ararat; though many of them are effectively immortal due to eating the ''amomon'' root, they are generally a nice enough bunch.
* [[Killed to Uphold Thethe Masquerade]]: Operation Declare was noted to have taken the lives of T. E. Lawrence and Lord Kitchener, among others. {{spoiler|By successfully concluding Operation Declare and then by threatening to make it public if he were killed, Andrew Hale manages to escape this fate.}}
* [[Literal Split Personality]]: Both Philby and Burgess could do that, as a result of their link with the djinn. Both of them lost the ability for different reasons.
* [[The Mole]]: Kim Philby, [[Foregone Conclusion|of course.]]
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* [[Posthumous Character]]: Claude Cassagnac is reported to be dead in the first chapter, though we do see him in the chapters set in the 1940s.
* [[Reference Overdosed]]: Hints about the nature of the djinn are often drawn from a variety of archaeological and mythological sources.
** [[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]], especially the stories of Noah and the [[Judgment of Solomon]].
** [[Mesopotamian Mythology]] in general and [[The Epic of Gilgamesh]] in particular.
** [[Arabian Nights (Literature)|The Thousand and One Nights]], as one might expect in a story featuring djinns.
* [[Religion of Evil]]: The Russian cult of Machika Nash, Our Mother of Misfortune.
* [[The Scapegoat]]: Kim Philby plans on using {{spoiler|the ghost of his father, residing in a pet fox (long story)}} as one, to avoid the negative mental consequences of dealing directly with the djinn. {{spoiler|The Russians plan otherwise.}}
* [[Spanish Civil War]]: Part of Elena's backstory.
* {{spoiler|1=[[Split At Birth]]/[[Separated Atat Birth]]}}: A strange variation. {{spoiler|Philby and Hale are not twins, but (unbeknownst to them) half-brothers born exactly 10 years apart; but since they were born on the same date, the djinn perceive them as two halves of one person.}}
* [[Spy Speak]]
* [[Title Drop]]: the word "declare" shows up [[Arc Words|in multiple contexts]], at first fairly insignificant but then becoming more and more important.
* [[Wide -Eyed Idealist]]: Elena, at first. {{spoiler|Cue [[Cold -Blooded Torture]].}}
 
{{reflist}}
{{World Fantasy Award Novel}}
[[Category:Declare{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Spy Literature]]
▲[[Category:Declare]]
[[Category:Literature]]
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