This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Does anyone else remember when the Trigun fandom randomly discovered this book through a tweet by ‘bigolas dickolas’ and shot this book to number one, three years after its release? I remember that.

I cannot agree with Mr. Dickolas enough, despite currently writing a review of the book. If you haven’t read this book, immediately leave this page and go read it. It’s not very long, the audiobook is like 4 hours, you have options. Read the book. There’s nothing I can tell you that will prepare you for the content of this book. 

The general concept of the book is that it’s an epistolary of letters exchanged by ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’, two agents on opposite sides of the time war. Why is there a time war? What are the two futures that these characters inhabit? Great questions. I can’t tell you. Not that I don’t want to, it’s just that those answers aren’t really important to the book, other than to know that their futures cannot co-exist. One has to win over the other.

The main draw of this book, for me, is the masterful use of language. It creates a beautiful and haunting atmosphere that is sure to stick with you for a long time after you’re done. Meanwhile, the plot is near impossible to describe in a meaningful way because of the lyrical use of metaphors. Just.. trust me that it makes sense when you’re in the middle of it, and the payoff is worth it.  It’s not a very long book and it earns every page.

There’s a kind of time travel in letters, isn’t there? I imagine you laughing at my small joke; I imagine you groaning; I imagine you throwing my words away. Do I have you still? Do I address empty air and the flies that will eat this carcass? You could leave me for five years, you could return never—and I have to write the rest of this not knowing.