This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epistolary novel about two enemies’ burning desire across war and across time. Both top soldiers of their opposing factions, Red and Blue travel through eras and alternate universes trying to cultivate the world into the distant future that their respective leaders envision. When Red, of The Agency, receives a taunting letter from Blue, of The Garden, she can’t help but respond to the challenge. And so begins their secret correspondence and deeply complex relationship.
This book was a truly unique, and perhaps a little bizarre, experience. While it is labeled as a science-fiction novella, and it does have the world-building and futuristic aspects of the genre, the story prioritizes romance much more, and there are no scientific explanations or focuses on the inner workings of their world. The story instead highlights the more social and emotional aspects of Red and Blue’s lives as agents integrated into a system beyond themselves. A lot of the traditional science features, such as an explanation as to how the time war came to be, are left behind. It isn’t done in a way that makes the story feel unsatisfying or incomplete, though; the worldbuilding is still masterful. However, it still comes with all the complexities to be expected with communication mixed with time travel, though it’s presented in a well-written and comprehensible manner. Although, El-Mohtar and Gladstone have certainly expanded my vocabulary through this book.
As the two agents traversed through time and explored many different eras, this story was never dull. Their creative ways of writing to each other without the knowledge of their all-seeing commanders never failed to astonish me. The writing is beautiful, emotional, at times brutal, and about as poetic as you can get without literal verse. The two authors masterfully display the lovers’ searching desperation, vulnerability, and developing affection for each other. Their love story is honestly stunning. In just over 200 words and switching between completely separate perspectives, the authors are able to expertly convey Red and Blue’s developing feelings at a realistic yet engrossing rate. As I, as the reader, realized their shocking, though not sudden, love just as they did, I could feel their breathtaking need for each other and understand their heartbreaking longing for each other worlds apart.
To anyone who wants an expertly crafted love story filled with gorgeous language and deep devotion, this book is definitely for you. To anyone that wants an action-packed science-fiction hero’s journey, this book isn’t what you’re looking for, but I’d recommend it anyway. While it’s not a very long read, it’s an extremely meaningful and impactful one. Romance has never resonated with me like this before, and it’s the most I enjoyed a book in a very long time, though not quite as long as Red had to wait for her Blue.
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