This Is How You Lose the Time War

* HUGO AWARD WINNER: BEST NOVELLA * NEBULA AND LOCUS AWARDS WINNER: BEST NOVELLA *

"[An] exquisitely crafted tale...Part epistolary romance, part mind-blowing science fiction adventure, this dazzling story unfolds bit by bit, revealing layers of meaning as it plays with cause and effect, wildly imaginative technologies, and increasingly intricate wordplay...This short novel warrants multiple readings to fully unlock its complexities." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From award-winning authors Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone comes an enthralling, romantic novel spanning time and space about two time-traveling rivals who fall in love and must change the past to ensure their future.

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandment 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, becomes something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Except the discovery of their bond would mean the death of each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win. 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.

BUY THE BOOK

224 pages

Average rating: 6.85

645 RATINGS

|

50 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

jjmill
Jan 30, 2025
3/10 stars
No☺️
Anonymous
Jan 11, 2025
4/10 stars
2.5 stars

first of all, i didn’t know about the tweet but i’m glad some people who like this book have found it through a tweet!

secondly, this book felt a bit… gimmicky? like i enjoyed it occasionally but a lot of it just felt half done. it read more like a fun idea for a story than an actual finished book. i didn’t really care for the half explanations of the sci fi threads, and the central relationship was just—there. which isn’t a compliment for a relationship… i think it suffered from tell, not show
Dave R
Jan 08, 2025
10/10 stars
Beautifully lyrical and poetic
Anonymous
Jan 07, 2025
8/10 stars
This was a two star read for the first 60% because I didn’t know what the heck was going on (and also generally I’m not a fan of letter exchange as a plot device), but really came together in the back half. I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone who isn’t into pretty experimental prose, but I think in the end it does something cool and made me feel something and I’ll award points for that in my reviews.
HarboredInPages
Dec 16, 2024
8/10 stars
BEAUTIFUL!

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.