Hardcover, 201 pages
English language
Published July 16, 2019 by Simon and Schuster.
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.
In the ashes of a dying world, Red finds a letter marked “Burn before reading. Signed, Blue.”
So begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents in a war that stretches through the vast reaches of time and space.
Red belongs to the Agency, a post-singularity technotopia. Blue belongs to Garden, a single vast consciousness embedded in all organic matter. Their pasts are bloody and their futures mutually exclusive. They have nothing in common—save that they’re the best, and they’re alone.
Now what began as a battlefield boast grows into a dangerous game, one both Red and Blue are determined to win. Because winning’s what you do in war. Isn’t it?
A tour de force collaboration from …
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.
In the ashes of a dying world, Red finds a letter marked “Burn before reading. Signed, Blue.”
So begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents in a war that stretches through the vast reaches of time and space.
Red belongs to the Agency, a post-singularity technotopia. Blue belongs to Garden, a single vast consciousness embedded in all organic matter. Their pasts are bloody and their futures mutually exclusive. They have nothing in common—save that they’re the best, and they’re alone.
Now what began as a battlefield boast grows into a dangerous game, one both Red and Blue are determined to win. Because winning’s what you do in war. Isn’t it?
A tour de force collaboration from two powerhouse writers that spans the whole of time and space.
What an incredible journey this book was! Filled with delightful prose, beautifully abstract concepts, and a deep, heartfelt tale of two warring lovers across time. If you love sci-fi, romance, and abstract storytelling you'll love this!
A little confusing but also cute & fun
Content warning Historia de amor prohibido a través del tiempo.
Es una novela corta que se centra más en transmitir las emociones de las protagonistas que en la construcción del mundo, los viajes del tiempo, o incluso la historia de amor entre ellas. Aún así se recoge la originalidad de la propuesta sobre todo en partes que es mejor leer.
I must preface this with the fact that I have always disliked time travel in fiction. Not once have I ever enjoyed any depiction of it. I find it frustrating and uncomfortable and this iteration, though definitely a unique take on the topic, was no exception.
This is a very difficult book to pin down and review because it felt like it almost didn't want to be read. While it was extremely formulaic (one chapter told from one of the two protagonists' POV, followed by a letter left by the other, then switch places) the prose was so flowery that I had difficulty understanding just what was supposed to be happening at times. Though I suppose when your two lead characters are literally named 'Red' and 'Blue' it shouldn't be surprising when the rest of the book is absolutely purple. rimshot
There's a war between two factions that both have …
I must preface this with the fact that I have always disliked time travel in fiction. Not once have I ever enjoyed any depiction of it. I find it frustrating and uncomfortable and this iteration, though definitely a unique take on the topic, was no exception.
This is a very difficult book to pin down and review because it felt like it almost didn't want to be read. While it was extremely formulaic (one chapter told from one of the two protagonists' POV, followed by a letter left by the other, then switch places) the prose was so flowery that I had difficulty understanding just what was supposed to be happening at times. Though I suppose when your two lead characters are literally named 'Red' and 'Blue' it shouldn't be surprising when the rest of the book is absolutely purple. rimshot
There's a war between two factions that both have some sort of time traveling technology that is never explained. Why the two factions are warring with each other or for how long (if that's even a possible question to ask) is never explained. And I understand that it's left intentionally vague because it's not the focus of the story the authors wanted to tell, but I found what was happening in the background to be more interesting than what was being handed to me.
A slow and careful romance between two combatants on either side of a deadlocked conflict should be an interesting premise. And there are certainly voiced concerns about possible betrayals and thoughts of, "what if this is just a long con to make me a turncoat?" that I'm glad were brought up. I just struggle to believe that a relationship can arise at all when these characters have no direct in-person interactions with each other and spend entire lifetimes without hearing from one another. I just found that the eventual culminating romance to be unearned and wished that it had resulted in a genuine betrayal or a more tragic note than what I got.
(Also, it feels disingenuous to market this as a "sapphic romance" when the two leads are essentially shapeshifters and have a loose association with gender beyond using she/her pronouns. This didn't feel queer in a way I could recognize.)
Worth reading but I wasn’t up on all the literary references as much as you need to be. The quality of the writing was obvious and superb, but, oddly for a novella, I felt it a little too long. I wanted the story to move on from the love letter correspondence between Red and Blue one or two letters earlier. The immersion that was achieved for the diverse locations with such brief descriptions was my highlight. There’s a mystery character appearing at the end of each letter, and although readers (esp. any fantasy/SF reader) would spot who that is, when we actually meet them, for the end game, I got more into the romance of it.
This book is beautiful. The POV through lyrical poetical letters was very clever - I felt as though I was implicated by reading the letters. I absolutely loved it - nothing like anything I’ve read before.
This is a fun ride through timelines and consequences. A war fought across time using the butterfly effect to secure victories and deny options to the other side is an interesting battlefield for love to blossom.
Beautiful novella! A lot of it is very abstract, on purpose. Like, how unlikely is it that two agents from rivaling parties both name themselves after colours, Blue and Red? It doesn't matter. Neither do the specific missions. The war events. The time strands.
What does matter, are the letters they send each other. The Seeker following them everywhere, snorting teapots like cocaine. And how they lose and win the time war.
Bonus points for the writing method (the two authors wrote the letters to each other, one after another, and built the universe that way). Bonus points for wlw romance. Bonus points for singing Steven Universe songs while writing the book. Bonus points for posing with swords on the backcover photo.
As the memes foretold, it’s best to go in cold on this one and just let it wash over you. What a wonderfully poetic novella. I’d say it’s worth taking the time to savor the epistles between Red and Blue, but truth be told I just read through it in a single sitting.
If you like books where you don't get all the answers, that aren't necessarily linear, and are more about prose and gut-wrenching heartache, you'll enjoy this book. It's art. If you don't like artsy books, you probably should pick something else to read.
I loved it.
I think I get it, it's jazz- two authors in an experimental flirtation. One author is scifi, the other enjoys regency epistolary romance. A cute experiment that never should have seen the light of day
The cringe. The prose is so awkward, so desperate. It's like Ready Player One, full of snide references- Do you get it? Do you see? Are you worthy of me & my enormous capacity for yellowing Tumblr memes & high-school literary reference?
Yeah, nah. Get in the bin.
I could not stop listening. This book is SO good. Intricate and lovely. Prose this delicious is rarely written.
"This is How You Lose the Time War" asks the reader to perch on the shoulders of two operatives on opposing sides of a time-traveling war.
Each chapter follows "Red" or "Blue" as they scurry up and down timelines and across dimensions. The book is both sweepingly broad and extremely contained and personal.
The settings flit by, dizzying: a temple for mechanized humans, an ancient holy cave, the assassination of Caesar - each sketched with broad, emotional strokes to give the setting an aesthetic. One gets the sense that a great web of cause and effect is being constantly constructed, altered, and destroyed, without ever seeing the full picture.
Against these backdrops, the characters "Red" and "Blue" write to each other - as nemeses, then as friends, ever deeper entangled even as they demolish each other's plans and forces. The letters make up an enormous part of the experience, and …
"This is How You Lose the Time War" asks the reader to perch on the shoulders of two operatives on opposing sides of a time-traveling war.
Each chapter follows "Red" or "Blue" as they scurry up and down timelines and across dimensions. The book is both sweepingly broad and extremely contained and personal.
The settings flit by, dizzying: a temple for mechanized humans, an ancient holy cave, the assassination of Caesar - each sketched with broad, emotional strokes to give the setting an aesthetic. One gets the sense that a great web of cause and effect is being constantly constructed, altered, and destroyed, without ever seeing the full picture.
Against these backdrops, the characters "Red" and "Blue" write to each other - as nemeses, then as friends, ever deeper entangled even as they demolish each other's plans and forces. The letters make up an enormous part of the experience, and they are comic, intimate... poignant. I didn't give a damn about the war - I just wanted these two characters to be alright.
I loved it. I stayed up past midnight every day I was reading, which wasn't long because I had to see what came next and kept reading.
Brilliant and beautiful. Wolfwood was right.
[20240430]
I forgot how wonderful the many and varied literary, historical, and cultural references are. Still loving this on the second read, and I can see myself reading this again and again.
[20240610]
Finished my second read through, and it was every bit as wonderful as the first. More? Just enough time had passed that I was entranced and delighted all over again at each of the witty quips, allusions, hints, and references (both internal and external).
Bigolas Dickolas was right.
