This Is How You Lose the Time War
Ratings1,133
Average rating3.9
I'm glad I stuck with this. Almost DNF! The middle part of this story seemed very slow in terms of plot. But wow what an ending!
Ik zie wat de auteurs wilden doen met dit verhaal en het idee vind ik fantastisch. Net iets voor een aflevering (of meer) van Doctor Who. Maar door de manier van vertellen, denk ik dat je te veel mist bij het eerste keer lezen en dat je eigenlijk bijna verplicht bent om nogmaals te lezen, wat ik misschien ooit wel eens zal doen.
I feel like there aren't words I could use to describe my feelings towards this book, so I will list my favorite quotes, the ones that hooked me, that broke me, that build me back up, and the ones I hope will stay with me.
“Red likes to feel, it's a fetish. Now, she feels fear”
“You invigored your Shift's war effort and, in so doing, invigorated me”
“Tell me something true, or tell me nothing at all”
“I wanted to be seen. The need dug into the heart of me”
“Ask the pilgrims how the labyrinth came to be, and they offer answers varied as their sins”
“And this letter is a knife at my neck, if cutting's what you want”
“You are yourself, and so remain, as I remain”
“I could have swallowed this valley whole and still not have sated my hunger for the thought”
“But I am a songbird running out of air, and I must breathe”
“Maybe I've over-read the simple word with which you close your letter (but I can never over-read you, and the word you chose is not simple)”
“Wha will I do sky? Bluebird, iris, ultramarine, how can there be more when this is done”
I enjoyed the volley and the format and the poetry of it. The audiobook is good, just I'd imagine print would be much easier to follow.
A strange romp through poetic prose. An amazing correspondence to dive into.
I started this book and found myself needing to surrender to not understanding, to letting the knowing grow in the experiencing of it. It was a feeling and a rising clarity that beautifully mirrored the story itself.
That is the one word I would use to describe this book - beautiful. It was unlike anything I have read before and it was a joy to experience.
Lovely, lovely little story.
A wild ride. I struggled at first, persisted thanks to prior recommendations from two dear friends, and it started paying off past the one-third mark. I feel rewarded... but YMMV. What helped me was getting into a different headspace: switching off the physics-and-math parts of my brain, shushing the occasional snarky thought. And—this was harder—distancing myself from the authors' casual attitude toward violence: it's a war, I get it, but there is no hint that all those dying in it are anything but pawns. (There are many chess and Go references throughout the book. It is traditional, though, and in my opinion good form, to temper those with empathy when the pieces are human.)
Once in the right mindset, I really loved most of it. Part of that is, admittedly, a personal soft spot I have for well-penned billets-doux. These may have been over the top in their burning and yearning, and omg their floridness, but they worked for me. (Again, YMMV). I liked the professionalism: the admiration of two lonely craftspersons for each others' skill and selves — also the authors' and editors' respect for the reader, recognizing that this is a difficult book, and not dumbing it down. I loved the female-centeredness, not only the main protagonists but all throughout the book, the recognition of women as major influences across worlds and timelines. The language... I two-thirds loved? It could soar gracefully, it also bogged down at times. The pervasive metaphors — weaving, gardening, seeds, chess/Go, Romeo and Juliet — were at first promising but never actually developed anywhere... or, perhaps more likely, I'm not smart enough to see how/if they did.
I can easily imagine timelines in which I rate this book five stars; perhaps because the book is different, perhaps because I am. It's mildly entertaining to ponder those; also to look out the window and see a scrub jay and wonder; and to mull Chaos Theory and fantasize about being able to predict consequences of ripple effects. Those were fun side effects from reading — but my real take-home was a reminder of the preciousness of connection and the need to preserve it; to swap words with those I love.
This book is so beautifully written. The temporal espionage quietly simmers underneath the back and forth between Red and Blue. As the book progresses, Red and Blue's familiarity with each other subtly evolves through every letter as even their names change Blue to Indigo and so on. The unraveling of time lines, duty, and what's right and what's wrong are gentle and menacing at the same time. I'm reading this one again right now!
2nd Read: Still exceptional. I had a slightly different interpretation of Red and Blue this time around but am still delighted.
Her pen had a heart inside, and the nib was a wound in a vein. She stained the page with herself. She sometimes forgets what she wrote, save that it was true, and the writing hurt.
Poetry as prose. I don't know if I've ever read something as sensory as this. A little impenetrable at first, but once that surface tension is broken and you pick up the general vibe it just carries you right along.
This was original and beautifully written, and I'm always a sucker for an epistolary, so...I really don't know what happened. Maybe I should have read it instead of listening? Both of the narrators were excellent, though, especially Blue's.
Whatever happened, I'm a little bummed that I didn't love this, after so much hype. But I would still recommend it if you like epistolary stories and time travel.
It's hard for me to give this book anything else but a 5 star review. What an amazing experience. What a masterful crafting of prose and wordplay and layers and layers of meaning. What a beautiful, solid, and concise plot. It's a pretty short, quick read but this book doesn't waste a single page or word. To really summarise the story, this is basically about time travelling agents from two opposing factions of a Time War, who begin to leave letters for each other through time, space, and places. They begin by taunting each other as well-matched adversaries, but it slowly morphs into something more.
Compelling hook that keeps you wanting to find out more? Check.
Unique storytelling format? Check.
Characters that you want to root for? Check.
Believable chemistry? 100% check.
Amazing world and “magic” system? Check.
Rereadability value? Check.
Personally, I found myself hooked not by the plot but by the beautiful writing from El-Mohtar and Gladstone. The prose treads a line between gorgeous and bloated, but luckily for me I found it absolutely beautiful. I appreciated the hilarious, interesting, and really intelligent wordplay. I made myself slow down to read every line and every word - something I don't do for most books that I read - just so I could see if I could catch every nudge nudge wink wink moment.
The plot and the storytelling just worked so well with each other too. If you find yourself lost with the setting and what exactly the Time War is - don't worry, you're not alone. Frankly, I even stopped bothering trying to get my bearings after a while and just went along for the ride. But I think this is also where the book becomes very re-readable. There're so many hidden details, easter eggs, and buried meanings within its prose that by Chapter 7, I already had an itch to reread the book because I felt like I was only getting the tip of the iceberg. I rarely re-read books that aren't classics, but this is definitely something that I would be super game to do so for, and I'm betting that I'd be able to learn more and more things the more times I re-read it.
Timey-wimey plots are difficult to work through and I'm not sure whether there might be some loopholes if I really think hard enough about it, but honestly Time War just does everything else so well that I don't even care anymore. I'd recommend this to just about anyone and everyone.
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2nd read (2023) review:
This is a re-read for me and oh boy did I love it even more. Now that I actually had a better idea of the plot, I think I had more headspace to appreciate the lovely wordplay and writing in this one instead of spending my time trying to piece things together in my head.
The writing here is exquisite, but also not for everyone - it's so polarizing that I would hesitate to give this a blanket recommendation. “My prose purples,” as Red says in one of the chapter, and indeed the writing style in this book could easily be read as purple prose. I will say, though, if one likes this type of writing, you will absolutely love how it is done here.
An important tip for anyone reading this book: don't try to make sense of the plot or the world. Instead, enjoy this book by immersing yourself in the here and now on the page. Enjoy the wordplay, the literary references, and the chemistry between the two protagonists. I know after the end of my first read-through, I couldn't give you a clear idea of the world or the backstory of the plot here - and that's OK, I still loved it all the same. Now at the end of my second read-through, I'm perhaps a little bit clearer about the backstory but I'm not too concerned about really getting it straight here. I don't feel like that's the intention of the authors.
Also just wanted to give a shout-out to the audiobook narrators, Emily Woo Zeller and Cynthia Farrell! They injected so much feeling into the reading and in a way that wasn't cringey. I was thoroughly impressed by the performances and felt like they really elevated the prose, which is saying a lot.
The premise of this novella is great: two agents on opposite sides of a war leave notes to one another as they travel through time on their missions.
And some of that is really neat. And some of the purpose is very beautiful. Yet I found it a bit hard to follow and meandering, so it didn't really connect with me. I may have just been in the wrong headspace for it.
It's a fairly short novella, the audiobook I listened to was four hours long, so I think I'm going to take another crack at it sometime in print instead.
I wonder if people who love Romeo and Juliet feel about it, how I feel about this story...
this is a very... impressionistic book.
The cover describes the book very well. And not, because... this isn't a simple story. Yet it is...
it's heartbreaking yet lovely... horrible yet lovely. Incomprehensible, yet... yes, lovely.
I can't describe it. All I can say is that I love it.
RTC once i'm done crying
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I am more sensitive to your footsteps, I think, than anyone alive.
completely
This book throws you right into the action. Keeps you on the edge, waiting to find out what happens.
The letters, the duality and the format of this book itself is immensely dynamic and worth the read. Exploring timelines past, present and future - made it really enjoyable - not to mention limitless.
“And everyone is alive, somewhere in time”