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.
“[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.
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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *This Is How You Lose the Time War* is a beautifully written, poetic sci-fi novella centered on a unique enemies-to-lovers romance. Review...
I wish this was a limited series that I could watch. The imagery used in this book would be better understood seen than read. I liked the premise of the story so much but had trouble visualizing it.
I’m already excited to reread this book! It started out with an incredible humor and transitioned into being hauntingly beautiful.. I’m in absolutely pieces because of this book
This one was just not for me. Had to force myself through it (coming close to DNFing). The conceit is interesting - two agents on opposing sides of a (time) war fall in love, but the love doesn’t really feel earned and we don’t know the characters well enough to be vested. I was able to guess the identity of the seeker quite early. This one just didn’t thrill me.
This book, or at least a good part of it, felt like stepping into a series of beautifully written letters about something unfolding between two “someones” named Red and Blue, but without much context about where they come from, how their worlds work, or even why they’ve started writing to each other in the first place. There are historical references scattered throughout, and some I could place and visualize. But the shifting timelines, past, present, and far future are presented in fragments, which made it hard for me to connect with the book. That said, the prose is undeniably gorgeous. Some of the scenes I was able to visualize, which, I admit, were painted beautifully, were dreamlike - memorable enough to haunt me throughout the day, during coffee breaks, and in moments lost in the commute, but without any understanding of their purpose or bigger picture.
The latter part, however, leads to a fascinating payoff and starts making more sense. The fundamental themes, as I understood them, seem to be the war between technology and nature and the idea that love can thwart well-laid plans, even the deeply entrenched ones. It also leaves a hopeful note, suggesting that when combined, nature and technology can thrive. It was an interesting read, but with a few notes.
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