Science. History. Snarky letters. Rivalry. Romance. Time travel. If any of these are of interest to a reader, then This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone would be a great read. 

Full of complex and descriptive imagery, this collaborative book tells the story of Red and Blue, two agents on separate sides of a war raging on through time and space. Traveling back and forth through various historical time periods and events, Red and Blue exchange carefully placed and creatively sent letters to each other. It is beautifully written and a great example of how a book can benefit from heavily descriptive writing.

Many books require dialogue to work properly. But This Is How You Lose The Time War does not have much dialogue—unless you count the letters between Red and Blue. Normally, something like this could affect the success of a book. However, this issue isn’t present here: the letters written in this story provide the perfect amount of character interaction. Spoken words aren’t necessary! 

Due to this fact, El-Mohtar and Gladstone’s collaboration is heavily descriptive and follows a very repetitive pattern: Red or Blue work on a mission for their respective sides of the war. Along the way, they find a letter integrated intricately into their surroundings. They read it, and so on. In the beginning, I was concerned that I would grow bored of such a repetitive pattern, however, as soon as I began reading Red and Blue’s witty letters to one another I became invested. 

Character-driven books, in my opinion, are always at risk of being boring. This book is very much an exception to that risk—the events between letters are intriguing and are full of historical easter eggs. As someone very interested in history, this became an opportunity for me to guess what time period Red and Blue were in as they received one another’s letters.

The letters themselves were also something super exciting to look forward to—watching Red and Blue’s witty rivalry was so much fun, and watching their connection with one another change with each letter was also something that kept my undivided attention.

I wouldn’t change much of this book if I could. The writing is perfect, the characters are great, and it’s such an amazing read. Something I’ve noticed from their Goodreads reviews however is that the historic and scientific descriptions could get confusing at times, which could possibly take away from the story. While I think some amount of this is necessary, I definitely agree that it felt excessive at times and that more clarity would be beneficial to the book.

My overall thoughts:

This book ripped my heart out, threw it against a wall, and then put it back inside my chest. But I am not complaining: that’s how amazing this book is. Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone truly created a masterpiece that I, an avid science fiction avoider, cannot get out of my head. It’s sapphic, it’s romantic, it’s the Mona Lisa of writing. So incredibly well told and unforgettable. 

I would recommend this to anybody who is willing to become emotionally invested in a book. This Is How You Lose The Time War is definitely not an easy read, but there is no doubt in my mind that it is certainly worth every word. 

Emily Aalders

Emily Aalders is a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College. When she’s not writing, Emily can be found reading and spending all of her money on overpriced coffee. After she graduates from Algonquin College, Emily hopes to be an author.