Extremely cool and thought-provoking
5 stars
This is a mind-bending book, in a very good way. Not at all what I expected, and superbly engaging. Highly recommended!
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.
This is a mind-bending book, in a very good way. Not at all what I expected, and superbly engaging. Highly recommended!
An interesting story of a two characters on opposite sides of a war fought through time. It begins with Red finding a letter with the words, "Burn before reading," which turns out to be from her adversary, Blue, who teases and challenges her before their next encounter. This time war is fought between two forces, Agency and Garden, who move agents (like Red and Blue) through time to tease and alter events so that, far in the future, victory is theirs.
Each chapter features an event as seen by Red or Blue, in alternate, with a hidden letter discovered by one or the other once victory (or defeat) is tasted by one or the other. But after a few rounds, the tone of the story changes, as both Red and Blue start to talk about their past, and their lives during the war. Then, events happen that show that at …
An interesting story of a two characters on opposite sides of a war fought through time. It begins with Red finding a letter with the words, "Burn before reading," which turns out to be from her adversary, Blue, who teases and challenges her before their next encounter. This time war is fought between two forces, Agency and Garden, who move agents (like Red and Blue) through time to tease and alter events so that, far in the future, victory is theirs.
Each chapter features an event as seen by Red or Blue, in alternate, with a hidden letter discovered by one or the other once victory (or defeat) is tasted by one or the other. But after a few rounds, the tone of the story changes, as both Red and Blue start to talk about their past, and their lives during the war. Then, events happen that show that at some time in the past, their lives have intersected with each other, thought they may not be aware of it at the time. It is then that romance and love being to blossom between the adversaries, an affair that both have to keep hidden from their masters.
At the end, as adversaries, one is given the task of killing the other, with not way out without betraying the other. Yet, there may be a way, and it may involve a shadowy character that has been following their steps, but not revealed until the end of the book.
3.25 ⭐ Update: After finishing, everything in my early review still stands; the writing did get a little easier to read/ understand as things ramped up to the climax, but there was still so much left unexplained and just left open. A nice little love story, but if you don't understand something don't even worry about it 'cause it doesn't really matter, mostly only the letters and the events of the ending do.
- original review _
I started this and will try to get through it, but it seems like this book's biggest uniqueness is also its downfall - the poetic writing. I will not lie that the deeply floral, expressive, and comparison language is wonderful to see/listen to; but when trying to describe ever quickly changing settings, premises, and other details in a sci-fi timeline hopping environment it just as quickly causes confusion, and kills the pacing, as …
3.25 ⭐ Update: After finishing, everything in my early review still stands; the writing did get a little easier to read/ understand as things ramped up to the climax, but there was still so much left unexplained and just left open. A nice little love story, but if you don't understand something don't even worry about it 'cause it doesn't really matter, mostly only the letters and the events of the ending do.
- original review _
I started this and will try to get through it, but it seems like this book's biggest uniqueness is also its downfall - the poetic writing. I will not lie that the deeply floral, expressive, and comparison language is wonderful to see/listen to; but when trying to describe ever quickly changing settings, premises, and other details in a sci-fi timeline hopping environment it just as quickly causes confusion, and kills the pacing, as I find myself re-reading paragraphs multiple times just to understand exactly what something meant or what happened. And this is a very short book too so it is not as bad but still, it's discouraging to find myself taking forever to finish a quick chapter (and I read high fantasy).
Without spoilers, this book is written in alternating characters voices, different settings, and letters back and forth between them. There is a premise but it just kind of throws you into it without explanation (yet as of where I am at). So trying to track what's going on, whose turn it is, and immerse myself into the newest timeline setting and figure out what they are trying to accomplish amid over the top and flowery language, in the span of <10mins before it changes all over again, is daunting
Very enjoyable, quite romantic (even if I'm not that big of a fan of the enemies to lovers trope) and tells us a very important lesson: you win the time war by not writing about paradoxes, meeting your grandparents or much of the details of time travel in general.
Even in the flaws it grows stronger. This is a book that is going to stay with me for a long, long time.
Amal El-Mothar and Max Gladsonte's "This is How You Lose the Time War" follows two agents, Red and Blue, on opposite sides of a war that spans all of time and (some of?) space across multiple universes.
Each chapter starts with a snapshot of what each agent is doing to advance their side's cause, whether that's taking part in major historical events or planting the seeds for 'coincidences' in the future, and ends with the discovery of a letter from their counterpart. What begins as acknowledgements of respect, nods across the battlefield, gradually grow into something more.
Fans of science fiction may be disappointed by the lack of focus on the time-traveling, universe-hopping backdrop to this story of star-crossing lovers. Details are sparse, and little is disclosed about the factions or why they are at war other than hints and impressions throughout the book.
The gradual, tip-toeing romance between Red …
Amal El-Mothar and Max Gladsonte's "This is How You Lose the Time War" follows two agents, Red and Blue, on opposite sides of a war that spans all of time and (some of?) space across multiple universes.
Each chapter starts with a snapshot of what each agent is doing to advance their side's cause, whether that's taking part in major historical events or planting the seeds for 'coincidences' in the future, and ends with the discovery of a letter from their counterpart. What begins as acknowledgements of respect, nods across the battlefield, gradually grow into something more.
Fans of science fiction may be disappointed by the lack of focus on the time-traveling, universe-hopping backdrop to this story of star-crossing lovers. Details are sparse, and little is disclosed about the factions or why they are at war other than hints and impressions throughout the book.
The gradual, tip-toeing romance between Red and Blue via their elegantly composed letters is the strength of this book. There is a sweetness as the characters, hovering just beyond what one might call "human", discover that they are capable of such love, and for who should be their mortal enemy, no less. Readers who never tire of "Romeo and Juliette" will find much to love in "This is How You Lose the Time War".
Once into the flow of the correspondence, I knew I wanted to take it slow, only read on my commute, which is ideal given that the chapters are short and I could change trains or transports and divide the chapter into action and letter. I really loved the tone, story, the arch it builds, everything... This is certainly one I will revisit.. it's so imaginative and at the same time relatable.
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 can't decide if this would have worked better (for me) as a short story, or a full length book. If it was longer, it could have expanded on it's ideas. If it had been shorter, it wouldn't have felt so repetetive.
There is some good ideas here, but they deserve better than being hand waved away. How do Red and Blue target their letters to each other across strands of time? If there are certain contested junctures in time, shouldn't they be swarmed with agents, and multiple aspects of the same agents? If the protagonists are just cogs in two massive opposing machines battling for supremacy over all time - why does it seems like they are the only two operators in the field?
I'm not saying this is a bad book, there is a lot good writing here. But it didn't work for me. Two highly subjective stars. …
I can't decide if this would have worked better (for me) as a short story, or a full length book. If it was longer, it could have expanded on it's ideas. If it had been shorter, it wouldn't have felt so repetetive.
There is some good ideas here, but they deserve better than being hand waved away. How do Red and Blue target their letters to each other across strands of time? If there are certain contested junctures in time, shouldn't they be swarmed with agents, and multiple aspects of the same agents? If the protagonists are just cogs in two massive opposing machines battling for supremacy over all time - why does it seems like they are the only two operators in the field?
I'm not saying this is a bad book, there is a lot good writing here. But it didn't work for me. Two highly subjective stars. (I'm going to hold of actually rating as there are so few reviews here yet)
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.
How do you have a love story between two beings separated by war, time and dimensions? With covert letters. They may be written in seeds or lava flows, but letters nevertheless.
I love this book so much. Just gorgeous in execution, and a story delightful in its telling.
I really enjoyed most of Max Gladstones work and I love everything this on paper but in practice it didn't grip me (maybe it was the letter format?)
I've had this sitting on my Kindle for a while, but I'm glad I waited in a way as it was the perfect choice for my last book of the year. Somewhere between a simple love story (but see Blue's thoughts on Romeo and Juliet) and the saving of the entire universe, it fits so much in such a small space and creates so many thoughts and images. A wonderful book, heartily recommended.