Tell me something true, or tell me nothing at all.
This Is How You Lose the Time War
by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar
Genre: Sci-Fi
Mini Review
I really wanted to love this book but I just didn't. The premise is awesome - two time travelling agents, from different sides of the war, start a deadly correspondence and fall in love. We read their letters back and forth while they go through the threads of time and watch them go from distrust, to playful sabotage, to passionate, undying love.
The letters themselves are humorous and poetic and the world building seems deeply thought out.
So why didn't I love it?
Nothing is really explained. As poetic as it sounds to read a letter in the rings of a tree, or through a bee's sting, I don't understand what technology they're using. Red seems to come from a highly tech-orientated world, while Blue is given a lot of garden metaphors suggesting a more organic form of... something? What really are the worlds of the Agency and Garden? Why are they are war? What's their objectives? Why do Red or Blue care about these objectives to begin with? How are they created? There are some descriptions littered in to give you a sense of the sci-fi elements but nothing tangible.
And while I liked the romance of Red and Blue, that was another aspect that felt abstract. They know each other so intimately and feel so passionately for each other (Romeo and Juliet is referenced and it does seem to be a re-telling of that story in many ways) and yet how much time do they actually spend with each other? Not observing each other from a distance. Not writing letters. Actual time together? Or with anyone? There are no real connections with other characters; the war/spy elements take over everything but without knowing what the war is about, or why our characters care about it, I found myself wanting so much more. More deep connections. More placing us in a single time period and just being present. More stakes in regards to the war.
This was a slog to read because, ultimately, I didn't feel connected to either the world or the characters. I'm sure it's very clever and the subtle elements have gone over my head, but the reading experience matters and mine was... yeah, I don't like this.
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