Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar’s collaborative science-fiction novel This Is How You Lose the Time War falls just shy of 200 pages — but is packed with action, budding romance, and tension that leaves you with no choice but to keep turning the page.
Red belongs to The Agency, a future of technological advances so great that humans are equipped with robotic assets. She’s meticulous in all her work, gearing towards winning the impossible war that spans across all time and space. Blue is from Garden, a future where humans have characteristics of plants, in a society akin to a root system. In her missions, Blue leaves her distinct signature in everything she does. Both have climbed the ranks, both seek to win — and both believe they will.
When Red finds a letter with the instructions, “burn before reading,” her curiosity gets the best of her, and it begins the correspondence of these two enemy agents. Starting with what was initially a taunt from one to the other, this book takes us along for the ride of Red and Blue’s growing bond, their time travel assignments, and their ‘will they, won’t they’ romance. Both are skeptical of each other: Is the other feeding information to their own side? Surely they’d both be severely punished, if not killed, if they are discovered to be communing with the enemy? Both feel the competitive urge to have the last word, pulling each other deeper and deeper into their treason.
As Blue and Red cross paths over time, leaving letters for each other along the way, this book delves into topics of betrayal, isolation, the choices we make for those we love, and the cost of war — is this war even winnable? This Is How You Lose the Time War is a character driven novel; while the plot and world building are loose, the reader is kept too focused on Blue and Red to mind. The writing of this book is immersive and beautiful, with passages that will keep you captivated, so you’ll be lost in the pages.
Put This Is How You Lose the Time War on your list of reads; it’s so worth it! This book will leave you wanting more, but also satisfy you with its ending. Originally published in 2019, this novel has won a plethora of awards, like the Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction, and Nebula Award for Best Novella, among others. It was also considered in finals for many other awards. Whether you’re a science fiction fiend, craving action and suspense, or just looking for a quick read, This Is How You Lose the Time War has a little bit of everything.
