This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
This Is How You Lose the Time War (2019)
This Is How You Lose the Time War is an adult sci-fi novella featuring an f/f enemies to lovers romance. It's basically Killing Eve with time travel. I rated 5/5 stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
What is This Is How You Lose the Time War about?
Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters—and fall in love in this thrilling and romantic book from award-winning authors Amal-El Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant 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, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.
Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right?
Potential AO3 Tags:
- And They Were Enemies!
- Killing Eve... Time Travel AU
- Love Letters That Are Actually Romantic
- Wibbly-wobbly, Timey-Wimey Confusion
- Cottagecore and Cyberpunk Sapphics
"And then we'd be at each other's throats even more." Oh, petal. You say that like it's a bad thing.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
I am blown away.
First, let's get this out of the way. Yes, this novella is very confusing. But once I reached the halfway point, everything finally clicked, and I couldn't get enough of it. This is a wibbly-wobbly, topsy turvy, timey wimey (hush) gem of a novel that's told alternately in narrative and letters between our two protagonists: Red and Blue, two enemy agents on the opposite sides of a time war.
Someone once described this as Killing Eve but SF, and that's apt. If Killing Eve were softer and both women chased each other through a million alternate universes. While Red and Blue begin with this flirty and dangerous cat and mouse game, they quickly get to know each other through their letters (the way they humanized each other was honestly so romantic and heartwrenching. I don't understand how someone talking about food and hunger can hurt so much), and compromise themselves just for the chance to get closer. This is a forbidden romance for the ages, futuristic Romeo and Juliet style.
Also, I'm impressed at how consistent this novella is considering two people wrote it. Red and Blue speak the exact same way, no obvious character tics between them, but somehow they are incredibly distinct. Eventually, I could tell who was talking just from the first few paragraphs (and not just because it's alternating POV, duh), and I even had a favorite. (Red is an absolute chatterbox while Blue is cool and mysterious. I was always excited for Blue)
The only reason why this is rated 4.5 stars is because the purple prose gets overwhelming sometimes. The metaphors and pet names become increasingly ridiculous, and so they jar you out of the story. But it is otherwise a delight, even if many of the references (historical, philosophical, artistic, literary, scientific, etc) flew over my head. And I do understand what the authors were getting at here. This isn't your average SF; it's intensely character-driven, almost reminding me of those fanfics where our characters meet and fall in love in a thousand timelines. The worldbuilding is vague and subtle, offering more questions than answers. But Red and Blue are time travelers. They experience the world in threads. They know past, present, and future simultaneously. Each mission is just a glimpse into an entire alternate universe; that's why the narrative chapters have both too much information as well as not enough.
(Think: the aliens from Slaughterhouse-Five. Or Arrival.)
Things pick up in the second half, and I was so engrossed that I completely forgot about my issues with the writing style. (Or maybe it was finally toned down?) Even when I predicted several plot twists, I loved how well they were... threaded in (ehem), and that ending was delightful. Twisty, romantic, and always my favorite way to solve an enemies to lovers dilemma.
Please do read this!
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