This is How You Lose the Time War

'A fireworks display from two very talented storytellers' Madeline Miller, bestselling author of CIRCE

Co-written by two award-winning writers, THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR is an epic love story spanning time and space.

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. That's how war works. Right?

'An intimate and lyrical tour of time, myth and history' John Scalzi, bestselling author of OLD MAN'S WAR

'Lyrical and vivid and bittersweet' Ann Leckie, Hugo Award-winning author of ANCILLARY JUSTICE

'Rich and strange, a romantic tour through all of time and the multiverse' Martha Wells, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of THE MURDERBOT DIARIES

“This book has it all : treachery and love, lyricism and gritty action, existential crisis and space-opera scope, not to mention time travelling superagents. Gladstone's and El-Mohtar's debut collaboration is a fireworks display from two very talented storytellers”

This book has it all: treachery and love, lyricism and gritty action, existential crisis and space-opera scope, not to mention time travelling superagents. Gladstone's and El-Mohtar's debut collaboration is a fireworks display from two very talented storytellers - Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe and Song of Achilles

An intimate and lyrical tour of time, myth and history, with a captivating conversation between characters - and authors. Read it - John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of The Collapsing Empire

Lyrical and vivid and bittersweet. An absolutely lovely read from two talented writers - Ann Leckie, Hugo Award-winning author of Ancillary Justice

This is How You Lose the Time War is rich and strange, a romantic tour through all of time and the multiverse, and you shouldn't miss a moment - Martha Wells, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of The Murderbot Diaries

Exquisitely crafted . . . Part epistolary romance, part mind-blowing science fiction adventure, this dazzling story unfolds bit by bit . . . Full of fanciful ideas and poignant moments, weaving a tapestry stretching across the millennia and through multiple realities that's anchored with raw emotion and a genuine sense of wonder. This short novel warrants multiple readings to fully unlock its complexities - Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Spectacular . . . Poetry, disguised as genre fiction. I read several sections out loud - this is prose that wants to be more than read. It wants to be heard and tasted - Kelly Sue DeConnick, creator of Captain Marvel

If Iain M. Banks and Gerard Manley Hopkins had ever been able to collaborate on a science fiction project, well, it wouldn't be half as much fun as this novella by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. There is all the pleasure of a long series, and all the details of an much larger world, presented in miniature here - Kelly Link, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Get in Trouble

A time travel adventure that has as much humanity, grace, and love as it has temporal shenanigans, rewriting history, and temporal agents fighting to the death. Two days from now, you've already devoured it - Ryan North, New York Times Bestselling and Eisner Award winning author of How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler

Amal El-Mohtar (Author)

Amal El-Mohtar is an author, editor and critic. Her short story 'Seasons of Glass and Iron' won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards and was a finalist for the World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Aurora, and Eugie Foster awards. She is the author of The Honey Month, a collection of poetry and prose written to the taste of twenty-eight different kinds of honey, and contributes criticism to NPR Books and The New York Times. Her fiction has most recently appeared on Tor.com and Uncanny Magazine, and in anthologies such as The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories and The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Carleton University and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Ottawa.

Max Gladstone (Author)

Max Gladstone is the author of the Hugo-nominated Craft Sequence, which Patrick Rothfuss called 'stupefyingly good'. The sixth book, Ruin of Angels, was published in the US last year. His critically acclaimed short fiction has appeared on Tor.com and in Uncanny Magazine, and in anthologies such as XO Orpheus: Fifthy New Myths and The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales. John Crowley described Max as 'a true star of twenty-first-century fantasy'. Max has also sung at Carnegie Hall.

'A fireworks display from two very talented storytellers' Madeline Miller, bestselling author of CIRCE Co-written by two award-winning writers, THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR is an epic love story spanning time and space. 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. That's how war works. Right? 'An intimate and lyrical tour of time, myth and history' John Scalzi, bestselling author of OLD MAN'S WAR 'Lyrical and vivid and bittersweet' Ann Leckie, Hugo Award-winning author of ANCILLARY JUSTICE 'Rich and strange, a romantic tour through all of time and the multiverse' Martha Wells, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of THE MURDERBOT DIARIES

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.