This Is How You Lose The Time War

De: Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone

Narrado por: Cynthia Farrell, 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.

This kind of writing is not for everyone

I had to restart this book a couple of times to get into it, that is why I gave it 3 stars. I'm glad I didn't quit (unlike some in my book club). The thing I walked away thinking was that we do not write letters like this anymore. We send quick texts, sometimes we might only use emojis. Sadly we don't stop and consider the sunset - too busy trying to get a picture to post on social media. Most relationships even in our families are superficial, many times we are on our phones ignoring those around us, Think about the last time you really connected with someone in the same room. In letters these two time travelers share with each other personal thoughts and ideas. When I picked up the book I was thinking the story may go down the road (since it involves time travel) that it might turn out that this person fell in love with their own future self, that isn't it but I found I did enjoy how this story turned out. Kind of like if Romeo and Juliet were time travelers but even that is too simple of an explanation. I did like the twists, classic time traveling twist but well executed. As for the performance, I personally do not care for breathy narration so I gave 3 stars because it wasn't horrible. I gave a 3 star review because although I ended up enjoying the story, it wasn't exactly what I thought it was. I rarely read reviews before I read the book but if I were to come across this one a midst all the 5 star reviews I may have began reading with different expectations.

Interesting concept and story structure. Unremarkable otherwise

Listened all the way through, but barely. I loved the concept of time traveling factions subtly manufacturing a future that benefits them, but was bored all the same. This is a love story and a predictable one at that. No doubt better than anything I’ll ever write, but not a book I’ll read again.

Not What I Expected

If you like flowery, poetic writing - this may be your type of read. If you like vague, convoluted storylines - this may be for you as well. This is NOT Romeo and Juliet. It didn't even truly feel like a time-travelling type of tale (it was, but the storytelling was so loose, its really difficult and unenjoyable). Moments of brilliance because of the poetic writing, but they didn't make the overall book worthwhile. Glad its over. Narrators were okay.

Beautiful Perfection

Lost myself in this book for a brief while. Thank You Bigolas Dickolas for the recommendation!! And thank you Max and Amal for such lovely work. I feel like this is one of those stories best leaped into without context so I will leave this review at that.

You must listen to this

I'm not kidding.
This story is absolutely phenomenal.
I cannot say anything more. You must listen to this. You must read this.