Book Review – This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Science Fiction | Adult | 201 pages
Published on 18 July 2019 by Jo Fletcher Books
Synopsis
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.
My rating:
Review
I feel that this is a book which will improve with every reread. Each word is so carefully chosen, each movement guiding you so gently to the next. Anything I didn’t see this time will be there, waiting for me, in the next read. And it is very much a book I feel I will reread regularly.
I honestly wasn’t sure going in – there has been SO much praise, it’s a little intimidating. And I thought it may be a little too literary or ensconced in metaphor for me. While that is a teeny amount true, it ended up being something I loved.
Everything about this book is so purposeful that it’s hard to look away. Even when I didn’t understand it. I just about get enough about time travel to get the gist, and the threads, but honestly you don’t really need to understand it. Similarly, the two sides are loosely explained but not really necessary to the story of red and blue, and their impossible letters.
It’s an understatement to say I enjoyed this, and I am already looking forward to reading it again and seeing something new.
4.5 stars.
Buy This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone from Waterstones or Blackwells.
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