This Is How You Lose the Time War
{4.5/5} “It occurs to me to dwell on what a microcosm we are of the war as a whole, you and I. The physics of us. An action and an equal and opposite reaction. My viney-hivey elfworld, as you say, versus your techy-mechy dystopia.”
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, published in 2019
Red works for the Agency, who is at war with Garden. It’s a war fought through time, with millions killed in the past in order to bring about a certain future. When Blue, her counterpart at Garden, leaves her a note it starts a correspondence in which they entertain each other with their thoughts and feelings about a variety of topics. They each still think their side will win, of course.
The plot is terrific. The story answers a question which is a spoiler.*
The writing style is poetic — which means that you won’t fully understand everything that’s happening. Unless you’re smarter than me — there are certainly people who love the book.
While I wouldn’t want to read a book like this every day, I’m more than willing to read one once in a while when it offers as much as this one does.
This is the 1st book I’ve read by El-Mohtar and the 1st by Gladstone.
Spoiler alert
*What if you fell in love with the enemy?