This Is How You Lose The Time War

Written by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Narrated by Cynthia Farrell and Emily Woo Zeller

* 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jul 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781508287056

Amal El-Mohtar

Amal El-Mohtar is an award-winning author, editor, and critic. Her short story “Seasons of Glass and Iron” won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards and was a finalist for the World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Aurora, and Eugie Foster awards. She is the author of The Honey Month, a collection of poetry and prose written to the taste of twenty-eight different kinds of honey, and contributes criticism to NPR Books and The New York Times. Her fiction has most recently appeared on Tor and Uncanny Magazine, and in anthologies such as The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories and The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales. She is presently pursuing a PhD at Carleton University and teaches creative writing at the University of Ottawa. She can be found online at @Tithenai.

Reviews for This Is How You Lose The Time War

[Billie Wrobleski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Simply amazing. I could not recommend this book more. Read or listen and enjoy a wonderful tale of two foes becoming intertwined through all of time.

[Akkisuitok · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This reads like a long epic poem, full of lyrical phrases and deeply moving words. Loved it!

[Windhawk2019 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An odd intricate puzzle of a book, this antikythera mechanism of words and clever play. Science fiction written as a love story written as a hate story written as a tightly wound and tangled skein.

Thoroughly enjoyable to the last.

[Lis Carey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful, complex, beautifully constructed novella, a love story between two operatives from opposite sides of a time war.

Red, we gradually learn, is an operative of the side that's building a technologically advanced future culture. Blue is an operative of the side that relies on biological science, the side that is called Garden. They encounter each other, at a distance at first, as they work on their respective assignments, increasingly assigned--as the best operatives each side has--to undo each other's work.

And then they start exchanging letters.

That's dangerous, and they use increasingly complex methods to make their letters secure against their superiors--but of course that can't work forever. Then things get even more complicated.

This story is an absolute delight to listen to.

[Jim Ferguson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is poetry of love, time, betrayal, and rebirth.

[Christina Harrell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book broke me in the best way.

It’s hard to put into words how deeply it moved me. It has a science fiction backdrop but it is above all a love story. The words are beautiful, lyrical. There’s beauty and tragedy and points where you don’t know where one ends and the other begins. It fosters a sense of deep longing. It cracked open my chest and crawled inside, it lives there now. I think this is one of those rare stories that I’m going to find myself coming back to over and over again.

[Tabitha D. · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While it wasn't what I expected it was still an enjoyable and sweet listen with some beautiful writing. There were moments where I teared up more than once. However, I feel like given it's concepts and depths that it is a book that'd benefit from being reread and I plan on doing that in the near future. The performances by the narrators were absolutely wonderful. They really added to the experience which made the characters more real.

[Hello · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sign me up for all the poetry sci-fi out there, please.

[Tara Denis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The language is poetic and rich. A multilayered plot that would reveal new treasures upon re-reading.

[Reg RR · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The writing of this book is so poetic that I honestly do not have enough brain cells for this. There were a lot of things that just went over my head that I had to reread some parts in the ebook while I was listening to the audiobook and even then it really didn't sink in that much. BUT! Despite my struggle, the plot and Red and Blue's dynamics really sucked me in that I just wanted to keep going. I wanted to know what would happen to them both and how things would unfold between them.

The development between Red and Blue and the things they went through was an emotional roller coaster. I wanted things to go positively for both of them but this is war and... this is war. Make of that what you will.

This is definitely a book I want to reread one of these days, in print preferably, so I can absorb and internalize the words better. I feel like this is a book I would read repeatedly.
Despite my difficulties with this book, I still found myself loving it and I really can't explain why. Maybe because it's written in letters between them and I'm a sucker for that kind of writing. Whatever it is, I just really love this book.

P.S. I love Blue's voice in contrast to Red and I really enjoyed how this was narrated.

[sarah wells · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had read it instead of listened to it. I couldn’t keep track of which character was narrating

[Eve Norman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

you NEED to read this. im serious. read it now you don't need information you need to go in blind and read this.

[Klara Mendrek · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Nothing special. More a young adult take on science fiction.

[Jude · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes, there’s a lot of buzz around a book and when you finally read it, you wonder why. And sometimes, you can believe the hype. Everything I heard and read about This Is How You Lose the Time War is true.

In a kind of Romeo and Juliet retelling, it follows two agents of warring entities – Red of the Agency and Blue of Garden – as they learn to know each other through letters. As the story unfolds, they find endlessly creative ways to get these letters to reach the other through time and space. It begins as some sort of taunt between enemies and ends up being the ultimate love letter.

I couldn’t be happier that I decided to listen to the audiobook instead of reading. I think it’s the first time a dual narration makes absolute sense, probably because this novella is written partly in epistolary form.

I got lost in the time travel, all the civilizations and threads, but I have no regrets. I’m not sure the reader is supposed to follow anyway. This is more than a story, it’s an experience. Let yourself get carried away by the music of the words, the poetry, the longing, the beauty of it all.

[Mark Espina · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Everything about this book is pure magic. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve listened to it.

[Samuel Saker Kunkel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just wow. This is the story Isaac Asimov would race to write after he finished reading Song of Achilles. What else could transcend time and space and infinite possibility but hate… and love. Powerful prose, intimate and raw, an incredible amount of story in an economy of words. Just enough, and so, so, so much.

[Han Solo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So. Good. Read. This. Now six more words, to finish.

[Jocelyn joyce · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was beautiful, poetic and heart wrenching and a great read.

[Ellie Fraley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing! I loved the cultural references throughout the novel and the story is so unique! I devoured the audiobook asap. 10/10 recommend!! ?

[Crazed Apps · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was quite a good read, and the ending was lovely.

[KelliJean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Holy fuck. ❤️ this was so beautifully written. Loved every word.

[Kristen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the strangest, most romantic book I've ever read, and I loved every aching moment of it.

P.S. The narration is superb.

[Eva Matijevic · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It gets better with every chapter, but it is far from the praise everyone seems to be singing about it. Characters are a bit too similar, which wouldn’t be such a bad thing if it weren’t for the authors’ lack of writing skill. Pretentious, but a quick read.

[lawilkarama · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Needs a chapter to get into but loved the romantic angle of it

[danish · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you like wordplay and crisp language full of poetic devices and romance, this book is for you.

[debbie13410 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Hated it! I see a lot of people love this book and I can see why because it is poetic. I think this takes a special kind of person to understand this mess. I completed it for the popsugar challenge or else I would have DNF. The book isn't too long so I read it quickly. Two women from different sides of a future time war write each other letters through time.

[K G · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

As recommended, I went into this story totally blind.. and wish I hadn’t. The book was well written and the narration was decent - though both narrators are quite similar.. but the story fell flat. If you’re a fan of time travel/scifi you’ll likely enjoy it more than I did. I also fd the story to be a bit more ya than anything else.

[David DeCorte · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I listened to the audio book, then immediately went out and bought a paper copy and read it. One of the most unique, fascinating, and touching novels I've ever read.

[Steven Enman-Beech · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The best book I've read/listened to in a long time. Inventive, poetic without being inaccessible or too meandering... just meandering enough! Just beautiful. So well read/acted between two skilled voices. One of very few non-annoying time traveling conceits.

Inspiring. Just perfect.

[Branden Harris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pretentious and beautiful. I know I spelled one of those 2 words correctly.