This Is How You Lose the Time War Audiobook By Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone cover art

This Is How You Lose the Time War

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This Is How You Lose the Time War

By: Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell, Emily Woo Zeller
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HUGO AWARD WINNER: BEST NOVELLA
WINNER OF THE NEBULA AND LOCUS AWARDS: 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.

©2019 Amal El-Mohtar (P)2019 Simon & Schuster Audio Romance Romance Essentials Science Fiction Time Travel Fiction Heartfelt Feel-Good War

Critic reviews

"Emily Woo Zeller and Cynthia Farrell's dual narrations emphasize the divergent personalities of two time-traveling protagonists.... Listen, then listen again to unravel this intricate story, beautifully narrated." (AudioFile Magazine)

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Poetic Prose • Beautiful Imagery • Excellent Narration • Complex Protagonists • Unique Concept • Compelling Romance
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I prefer read books with interesting plots. I think this book is for a person that enjoys abstract.

not much plot

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This is my all time favorite audiobook. I come back to it often! It's sensual and smart and also reliably makes me feel better.

Amazing all around!

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I am always on the hunt for stories with strong, female, maybe even lesbian, characters, because that representation is what means the most to me for reasons you can imagine. Also, the lesbian stories I tend to like are ones in which though the lesbianism of the main character(s) holds a large part of the plot’s attention, it is not the ONLY focus of the plot. Rather, it is a strong characteristic of the main character(s) while they battle to conquer OTHER feats. This story checks all of these boxes, and then some.

This book does not have a way of slowly revealing the universe in which it takes place; there is no easy-to-follow world-building. Rather, the readers are immediately immersed into this universe full of time-travel and out-of-our-world technology, and in order to get an idea of what’s going on, we are forced to pick up context clues about the state of the universe scattered throughout the chapters. This is probably due to the fact that when the story begins for us readers, both of the protagonists already know their universe exceptionally well, and us readers are merely observers, allowed to observe at a certain point in time. Though I now understand that the way the universe is conveyed to us is intentional and beautifully realistic, I did not appreciate it at first. I initially found the story very hard to follow, but I stuck with it because the flirtation between the two protagonists is some of the best I’ve ever consumed. It is tasteful, exciting, and badass. And of course, I am very glad I stuck with the story. The espionage-skilled protagonists are of the utmost likability, including their voices, narrated here by Cynthia Farrell and Emily Woo Zeller. The plot is tangled and complicated, and yet, resolves perfectly, like a puzzle. A puzzle that leaves your thirsts for both an intellectually challenging story and a sapphically romantic story quenched.

Beautifully Tasteful Mindfuck of a Story

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Bigolas Dickolas sent me! (I guess I'm a sucker for viral Twitter literature recommendations)

The authors strike the right balance of pop culture references to make the futuristic setting feel relatable. This novella is absolutely worth your time, even if sapphic sci-fi isn't necessarily your bag.

poetic and lovely

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This is exceptionally written prose with interesting worlds and characters. It provides a strange snapshot into another universe. Listened to it straight through. Fantastic

New and compelling twist on love though time

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This is a beautiful, poetic queer romance combined with a spirited time-heist. Great performance and it’s brief length make this a delightful evening listen.

Yes I saw the tweet… but they don’t miss

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wow. read off a twitter rex from a person names bigolas dickolas and what a treat this was. read it.

thank you bigolas dickolas

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it had moments of beauty but was overall inaccessible. I'm sure some will think it the best book they've ever read.

pretentious and esoteric.

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Evocative descriptions and flowing sentences made this an enjoyable listen, but as is true with a lot of literary fiction, there story was just the vehicle for the language and never really went anywhere.

Literary fiction with a sci-fi veneer

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It was a very beautifully written, and the science fiction element is clever and often implied in ways I really enjoyed.

Original & Well Written

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