This Is How You Lose the Time War

A reminder of love's ideation and how it can capture our minds as well as our hearts. Beautiful prose in a unique context, let us hope we are upbraid from Red and Blue's future.

Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone's This is How You Lose the Time War boasts a great conceit: a book that's comprised of letters between two soldiers on opposing sides in a war throughout time, as the two soldiers drift throughout the timestream to try to set up future events that will save "their side" in the war. But that conceit is underlined by the way that El-Mohtar and Gladstone approached the book, which is that each would write a chapter and letter, send it to the other one, and the other would respond without pre-planning or coordination, building a world together - and more importantly, building on these characters organically and interestingly as they grew. The result is a surprisingly compelling tale of two people connecting across (literally) time and space, slowly evolving in their understanding of each other as individuals and as "enemies," allowing their relationship to somehow be both specific and universal at the same time. Time War is sometimes more satisfying as a literary exercise than as a pure story; the alternating structure and lack of major plan combine to make the book feel a little shaggy and loose at times, even at its short length, with details that feel relevant being discarded and the plot kind of rushing in all at once. But it doesn't really detract from the richness of Red and Blue as characters, starting their partnership in taunting barbs before connecting through their isolation and loneliness, all while giving hints at an incredible scope to this war that could support a large saga. I never quite unconditionally loved Time War, but I liked it very much; while it occasionally veers into the overly poetic/angsty, it's too interesting and imaginative for me not to find myself drawn in, and the way it brings its characters to life while doing so in a unique form and fashion all makes it a novella whose praise I understand and don't disagree with.

I actually bought this book a few months ago on the recommendation of a reading list, but I never got around to seriously digging into the book. But after getting through another few stories, and after reading about a certain Twitter user whose endorsement went viral, I was intrigued. So I picked it up and almost immediately, I was enthralled. I will say, for a relatively short 200 page novella, this book is remarkably dense and intense. It is a back-and-forth between two warriors of warring factions in a time war. The time war itself is both rather obvious in nature (they travel to different times and places and influence events) and incredibly dense, with interweaving timelines that form and melt based on the actions of the protagonists. I would say that if you are looking for a book that deep dives into finer details of the worldbuilding and time travel system, this isn't the kind of book for you. Instead, the worldbuilding serves as a fascinating tapestry upon which the narrative unfolds. The authors, in my opinion, leave wide room for interpretation, and I found that to be so refreshing for a sci-fi book. I suppose that was a necessity, based on the length of the novella, but it was an excellent one, because it allows so much of the story to revolve around the romance between the characters. And the romance! I can't overstate how great it feels. It's playful, it's teasing, it's as rich as a triple chocolate cookie, and it's thrilling. It felt so lively, I could have seriously guessed that the authors were dating each other (which was not the case, as the afterword mentions, both are married to other people). And the fact that it was a Sapphic romance was perhaps the most delightful part. I'm so used to Sapphic romance being rather plain, or falling into several tropes, but the setting really forced the authors to expand beyond those tropes. And what a delight that was! I would not only recommend this book to lovers of LGBT romances, but to anyone who loves a great romantic tale. It's too good to pass up!

Time travel is interesting. Yeah, but here we have one more reason for war. The espionage is too much. I can't handle more reasons to feel paranoid. I read to escape the heavy stuff or to study writing. But this didn't do either job for me. Cynthia Farrell's (the Narrator) voice was good for the story, but sadly, I didn't feel she saved it. A friend recommended this to me. Time travel piqued my interest. Here, take a look at the blurb: Goodreads Choice AwardNominee for Best Science Fiction (2019) Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters—and fall in love in this thrilling and romantic book from award-winning authors Amal-El Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right? Cowritten by two beloved and award-winning sci-fi writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space. Maybe it was the COVID brain. Maybe I'll try it again someday. Maybe you will love it. It just didn't do it for me.

This is a wonderful story and its amazing how it came together. The prose is beautiful. I recommend everyone should read it.

Op tijd geleverd en in goede staat, dankjewel.

Like many people, I first heard about this book when legitimate and professional news readers had to repeatedly say the username "Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood" on TV and over radio. I remember finding the whole thing utterly hilarious back then, and mentally added the book to my 'to read' list. It was actually much later that a close friend mentioned the book again as something she thought I would like that I actually went out and bought a copy to read. I wish I hadn't waited so long honestly, because I think this might now be one of my absolute favourite books. The story is a scifi, written in the epistolary style between two agents of rival factions in a time war. It starts with them taunting one another, then the language begins to soften, and it's done so artfully that sometimes you don't notice and have to go back a letter and read it again to see the subtle changes in language. It's so poetically written as well, truly lyrical by the end, and the idea and themes are so clever and well executed throughout, I feel like I'm going to re-read this book hundreds of times and still fall in love with it all over again. I've got to admit, usually when I write book reviews I tend not to worry too much about spoilers, simply because I tend to read books that have been out for a few years already. This time I'm being deliberately vague though, because I really think this book is better if you go into it with no expectations. It takes so many twists and turns in the narrative and the ending honestly broke me - I genuinely sobbed all through the last forty pages, I'm not kidding. It's a true enemies to lovers sapphic romance, written in the most dazzling way, with so much poignant yearning dripping from the pages that it destroyed me and healed me over and over again as I read it. It's not a big book, by the way. I think it took me four or so hours to read? I would recommend this book to anyone really, but especially people who enjoy clever narration and beautiful wordplay. I'm excited to read it again!

As all State: beautiful prose, a terrific story, romance and love. But that’s not it. I read it in one go; easy, as it’s not a big book. But I’m unsure if I got it, first time round. Most of it, sure. But there’s a feeling of ... nah. Not 100%. Good reading, you will start to live red en blue, no doubt. Why do I have the feeling this is about just one person?

Came great. No stains, the print is clear and readable, and it doesn't have any weird smells.

Un regalo molto gradito!