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4.2 out of 5

9,773 global ratings

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2 star		6%
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Sansa

4.5 stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 December 2022

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I loved the use of language in this book, you can tell one of the writers is used to writing poetry as it reads like poetry often. Loved the ambiguity of the plot, characters and direction of the war. I highlighted a few passages in this book as I felt them speak to me like poetry would. Liked that the two main characters were women but really they felt agender. I read it in about 6 hours and I'll probably reread it and find something new next time. I knocked half a star off because this book definitely isn't for everyone, if you don't like poetry or ambiguity then you wouldn't like this book.

Spy vs. Spy meets Doctor Who

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2020

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A war is raging through all of time and space, spanning an infinite number of universes. Two great powers - the Commandant and the Garden - are clashing, their agents fighting one another in the stone age and a distant future of galaxy-spanning empires. Two agents, Red and Blue, clash again and again without ever exchanging a single word...until the day they decide to start writing letters.

This is How You Lose the Time War is a novella depicting a war fought through time between two implacable forces, each represented by one of their agents. It's a short book, at under 200 pages, and also an interesting one structurally, mixing traditional third-person narratives with the letters the two rival agents exchange on a regular basis. It's not quite an epistolary novella, more of a mix between it and more traditional narration, but the letters form an integral part of the story.

Although short, the novella covers a lot of ground. Multiple settings, from deep space in the far future to a sinking Atlantis to contemporary cities, are used as battlegrounds by the warring sides, and we see both the hard end of their fighting and meet the vast and almost staggering forces leading the wars. That said, there isn't a lot of exposition in the book. The reasons for the war - given that billions, if not trillions, of branching timelines exist for the two factions to coexist in - are never really given and it's unclear who is winning and losing (although both Red and Blue are prone to boasting of their side's achievements, at least early in their relationship). To be honest, it's not really important. More important is how alone and isolated both agents feel, and the only person they can relate to is their opposite number, doing the same thing and feeling the same feelings, just in a different cause.

The writing is poetic, with both agents keen to use creative language in their letters, which start off as verbal fencing matches but later become more flirtatious and intellectually challenging. There is humour in the book but also an air of bitter-sweetness. There's also tension: agents from the two forces are forbidden from communicating with one another out of fear of corruption, and it's not always clear it the agents are genuinely becoming enamoured of one another or each is trying to trap the other in an unexpected reversal. It feels a bit like Spy vs. Spy with added romantic tension, all set in the middle of Doctor Who's Time War.

This is How You Lose the Time War (****½) is short, focused and energetic, playful in tone and compelling in execution. Those who like books packed with exposition with every I dotted and every T crossed will probably be unhappy with the book's unapologetic lack of context; those who enjoy stories for their emotion and wordplay will be very satisfied.

Alex

Beautiful prose, lack of substance

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 January 2020

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I had a real mixed experience with this book. What I want to make clear from the outset is that there are a lot of people who will absolutely love this 200 page novella. There were parts I loved, and there were parts I really couldn’t get to grips with or I felt let it down as a whole, which only gave me average overall enjoyment. I was in fact going to stop reading at 50% but am glad I continued as it improved past the halfway mark.

The main positive I found was the stunning prose. I have never read a more beautifully written book. It reads like poetry, like Shakespeare. The words ooze from the page like a meandering river of molten gold. For that alone I can recommend this book to at least experience this! The descriptions just make you feel good, the effect the same as looking at a beautiful painting or a sunset over the ocean.

The problem is, the abundance of flowery language can border on whimsical and pretentious, especially when prioritised at the expense of the plot. Eventually it becomes exhausting and overbearing. I found myself becoming frustrated with the lack of focus on the story and subsequently not appreciating the beauty of the prose.

On the plot, for the first half of the book at least, it feels pretty vague. Where in most stories the plot is at least in part a driving force, it feels more of an afterthought here, more of a “how can we fit a story around the interactions of these two characters and base it on time travel?” It is a backdrop for the story of the two characters’ developing relationship, which is the only thing looked at in detail.

The time travelling aspect for example, which was one of the main marketing sells, wasn’t explored in any depth. There was even a point where an Apatosaurus (a genus of Sauropod – not one of the dinosaur groups theorised to have feathers) was described as “ruffling its feathers” which suggests that the time travel wasn’t taken all that seriously. There was no real explanation into how it worked, what the agents were doing exactly or what the characters of Red and Blue were really trying to achieve (other than playing their part in the minimally described war between the Garden and the Agency in influencing and guiding their preferred version of history.) These historical and future events could have been explored to add more substance to the book, especially given in the synopsis the characters are apparently “hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions.” Within the space of about 5 letters they seem to have disregarded the importance of this war and their role within it, consumed by their blossoming romance. Despite this, the romance is a plus point in many ways and it is enjoyable to witness a mutual intelligence and appreciation for the nuances of life drive two opposing agents towards one another. It is at times heartwarming, and heart wrenching, and you do definitely feel a strong desire to see Red and Blue find happiness and a solution to their situation.

The series of letters, which is what most of the book consists of, is a novel technique and certainly has its merits. It does stop it reading like a traditional novel/novella though which may affect the feeling of immersion for some readers. As mentioned above this also limits the worldbuilding or overall depth of the story and world this is taking place in. It’s certainly possible that the authors never intended to do much worldbuilding or give much information about the world, clearly choosing to focus on the characters. For me personally, I just couldn’t fully enjoy it due to an enticing and intriguing time travel war only being a backdrop to the story. If you don’t care about the events or the Time War so much as this character relationship told within it, this could be a 5 star read for you. And for those who don’t mind a divergence from the story but are looking for a page turner, after the 50% mark, it does get more exciting and more things do actually happen in the story. Just don’t expect a great deal of focus on anything past the love of the two characters or for their thoughts to be on anything but the other one of them.

For readers looking for the ‘fast paced’ ‘tour through time,’ ‘science fiction adventure’ described in this book’s description, you’d probably be better looking elsewhere.

Delgado

Love story, not sci-fi

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 April 2023

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Decent read, but not much focus on the time war. The whole time war is just a vague background for the love story.

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Aware

Kann man mal lesen!

Reviewed in Germany on 19 January 2021

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3.5*

Eine Liebe im Sinne von Romeo und Julia, jedoch zwischen den Zeiten und Welten.

Was ich mochte:
+ die Aufmachung: wir lesen zunächst einen Abschnitt in dem das aktuelle Geschehen kurz beschrieben wird und anschließend einen Brief der jeweiligen Protagonistin
+ zu lesen wie sich die tiefen Gefühle zwischen den Beiden bilden, hauptsächlich über die Briefe erzählt
+ teils schöne, zitierwürdige Textpassagen
+ die fantastischen abstrakten Ideen

Was ich weniger mochte:
- die teils zu abstrakten Ideen, sodass es mich emotional vom Geschehen distanzierte und mich die Geschichte nicht richtig packen konnte

Insgesamt klare Leseempfehlung, der Fokus liegt auf den beiden Charakteren und ihrer sich entwickelnden Beziehung. Man sollte keine klassische Zeitreise in dem Sinne erwarten. Ich hatte es auf dem Handy als eBook gelesen, was ich sonst selten tue, vielleicht hätte es anders als klassisch gedrucktes Buch gewirkt. Definitiv eine Geschichte die ich eines Tages erneut lesen werde und es gut vorstellbar finde meine Wertung nach oben zu korrigieren.

Peer Sylvester

Sehr schöner SF-Brief-Liebesroman

Reviewed in Germany on 6 February 2020

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Zwei verfeindete Agenten reisen durch die Zeit, um die Geschichte in ihrem Sinne zu beeinflussen. Dabei schreiben sie sich gegenseitig Briefe - erst aus Spaß, doch da entsteht mehr...
Diese Buch ist als allererstes einmal Genuß für alle, die Spaß an der (englischen) Sprache haben - der Text ist wirklich wunderschöne Prosa. Auch die Form stimmt und gerade als das Wechselspiel Eine Seite-Andere Seite anfängt zu langweilen, gibt es einen kleinen Bruch. Dennoch stehen die Briefe im Mittelpunkt und damit ist diese Novella (mit 190 Seiten noch kein vollständiger Roman) fast schon ein Briefroman in modern.
Das einzige was mir persönlich etwas gefehlt hat, ist mehr Story. Das ist in Ordnung - hier geht es um die Beziehung zwischen den beiden Protagonistinnen - so ist das mit der Geschmackssache.
Ein schönes Buch für Zwischendurch.

Nils Bröggelhoff

8/10 - Schwierig für jemanden der Englisch nicht als Muttersprache spricht aber einzigartig

Reviewed in Germany on 12 September 2022

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Eine Liebesgeschichte die sich durch alle möglichen Zeitstränge zieht und einen dabei nie ganz wissen lässt wo man sich gerade befindet. Ungefähr hälfte besteht das Buch aus Briefen die sich Blau und Rot, die beiden Hauptcharaktere hinterlassen. Anfangs noch schüchtern und neugierig, später poetisch und leidenschaftlich, lernen sich die beiden "Frauen" zweier verfeindeter Parteien kennen. Garden und die Agency sind vom Kern her unterschiedliche Organisationen. Die einen natürlich, die anderen maschinell. Sie schicken ihre Agenten durch Zeitstränge um metaphorische Samen zu pflanzen, die teilweise Jahrhunderte später als Erfolg der jeweiligen Gruppe geerntet werden. So würde beispielsweise the garden Rot ins 17. Jahrhundert schicken, sie würde sich dort als gelehrte Ausgeben und sich mit einem Mann anfreunden. Diesem Mann würde sie über Jahre hinweg Geschichten über Tiere und Pflanzen erzählen, um sein Interesse für die Biologie zu wecken. Später würde der Mann eine bahnbrechende Entdeckung machen die im 21. Jahrhundert einer Biologie Studentin dazu verhilft Krebs zu heilen. Ich fühle mich nicht in der Lage dem Buch eine anständige Bewertung zu geben, da ich teilweise große Probleme damit hatte zu verstehen was überhaupt passiert. Unter anderem auch deswegen, weil trotz weit ausschweifender Umschreibungen und detaillierter Sätze so viel der eigenen Fantasie überlassen wird. Aber das was ich verstanden habe hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Das Buch ist so eigen, es hat sich mehr angefühlt wie ein fantasievoller Erguss verschiedenster Ideen, Prämissen und Philosophen als eine normale Geschichte zwischen zwei Liebespartner.

J Dolphin

A very different way to tell a story

Reviewed in Canada on 2 October 2022

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For me, the opening lines as with the ending-are beautifully composed. I did slog through descriptive passages but the letters between Blue and Red kept my complete attention. Who Red and Blue are has some shrouding so it is not clear to me what species they are and what planet they are on. Of course the writers are pointing to an earth type world but there is bio engineering in here, too that might be from somewhere else. I may have been left with a mystery but I enjoyed the visit. I did not like the depiction of violence-fictional or otherwise-but the writers are describing horrid war and death. Keep an open mind and I think you will have a good read on your hands.

Virginia Schoolkate

One of the best books I’ve read

Reviewed in Canada on 4 July 2022

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At first I was like oh no what is all of this purple prose, but trust me, give it a go. You will come out better for it. I read it once, then went back and had to read it again, because I honestly couldn’t stop thinking about it. It makes you think. I really loved it. I actually read it first borrowed and then I just had to have my own copy. I will display it with the rest of the books that have moved me/changed me. One of the best. I highly recommend.

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