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white_hartThe title of Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone's forthcoming novella, This Is How You Lose the Time War, was almost enough on its own to make me want to read it. Add to that the fact that this lifelong Doctor Who fan can't ever resist a time-travel story, and how much I have loved everything of El-Mohtar's I've read, and you may understand why I spent several months stalking the book on Amazon waiting for the kindle version to be available to pre-order, and why, when I saw that the publishers were offering review copies via NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it sooner than the July release date, dusted off the NetGalley profile I'd set up ages ago but never used and requested a copy.
This Is How You Lose the Time War is just over 200 pages of stunningly beautiful prose, every word weighed and considered and placed in just the right place to create a series of amazingly vivid scenes from across time and space: the far future, the distant past, alien worlds and alternate Earths. Across this broad canvas, an epistolary romance plays out between two characters known only as Red and Blue (neither entirely human, but both referred to with she/her pronouns), agents of opposing factions in a conflict spanning the entire multiverse. I loved following the progress of Red and Blue's relationship, from the taunts of rivals to a breathtaking depth of emotion; I adored their witty, allusive letters and gradual realisation of their feelings for each other. Reading this book was an utterly immersive experience, and I never wanted to come to the surface.
I suspect this book won't be for everyone; it's all dazzling use of language and close focus on the two main characters, with the background merely sketched in, and I'm sure there will be people who would have preferred more everyday prose and detail of the whys and wherefores of the time war and its two combatants. I absolutely loved it, though, and have updated my pre-order from the kindle version to the paperback; this is a book I will want to re-read again and again, and to lend to anyone I can persuade to try it because it is just so good.
This Is How You Lose the Time War is just over 200 pages of stunningly beautiful prose, every word weighed and considered and placed in just the right place to create a series of amazingly vivid scenes from across time and space: the far future, the distant past, alien worlds and alternate Earths. Across this broad canvas, an epistolary romance plays out between two characters known only as Red and Blue (neither entirely human, but both referred to with she/her pronouns), agents of opposing factions in a conflict spanning the entire multiverse. I loved following the progress of Red and Blue's relationship, from the taunts of rivals to a breathtaking depth of emotion; I adored their witty, allusive letters and gradual realisation of their feelings for each other. Reading this book was an utterly immersive experience, and I never wanted to come to the surface.
I suspect this book won't be for everyone; it's all dazzling use of language and close focus on the two main characters, with the background merely sketched in, and I'm sure there will be people who would have preferred more everyday prose and detail of the whys and wherefores of the time war and its two combatants. I absolutely loved it, though, and have updated my pre-order from the kindle version to the paperback; this is a book I will want to re-read again and again, and to lend to anyone I can persuade to try it because it is just so good.
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Date: 2019-05-30 11:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-03 08:39 am (UTC)