This Is How You Lose the Time War

This Is How You Lose the Time War

Company type	Novella
Industry	Publishing
Founded	2019
Founder	Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
Products	Science fiction and fantasy novella

This Is How You Lose the Time War is a 2019 science fiction and fantasy LGBT epistolary work co-authored by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, released through Simon & Schuster. The novella earned several distinguished accolades, including the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction, the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2020 Locus Award for Best Novella, the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novella, and the 2020 Ignyte Award for Best Novella.

Plot

The story follows two agents, Red and Blue, who navigate time to manipulate histories across various universes aligned with their opposing empires, each existing within exclusive timelines. Initially adversaries exchanging taunting messages, their correspondence gradually transforms into flirtation and ultimately deep affection. When Red’s superior uncovers their secret communication, she compels Red to send Blue a message laced with poison. Despite Red’s caution, Blue reads the letter and chooses to ingest the poison to protect Red from accusations of betrayal.

Subsequently, a cryptic message implies that Blue’s death was feigned. Revisiting their exchanged letters, Red extracts Blue’s DNA from the correspondence, infiltrates Blue’s empire, and administers an antidote during Blue’s childhood—an event foreshadowed in an earlier note. This act results in Red’s detention; however, on the night before her execution, Blue sends a final letter outlining a plan to rescue Red so they can join forces against their warring factions.

Writing process

Gladstone authored all of Red’s letters, while El-Mohtar composed those from Blue. Although they agreed on a broad storyline in advance, the authors allowed themselves to be genuinely surprised by each other’s responses as the characters’ interactions unfolded. Scenes accompanying the letters were crafted based on these emotional reactions.

Reception

Publishers Weekly lauded This Is How You Lose the Time War as "exquisitely crafted" and "dazzling," emphasizing its progressively complex wordplay and recommending multiple readings. Jason Sheehan of NPR likened it to an intensified version of The Lake House, noting how it turns typical weaknesses of time travel narratives and epistolary formats into strengths.

Cheryl Morgan highlighted the novel’s central theme: that soldiers on opposing sides often share more similarities with each other than with their distant commanders—a message particularly relevant today. Lee Mandelo from Tor.com pointed out the book’s poetic form, incisive prose, and focus on intimate rather than global concerns, interpreting it as a meditation on conflict, love, and resistance framed by an endless temporal war.

Natalie Zutter at Den of Geek praised the nuanced depiction of gender identity within the novel, observing that although Red and Blue use she/her pronouns, they subvert traditional feminine norms through fluid gender expression, rendering their gender less pivotal.

Adri Joy of Strange Horizons described the book as "an absolute emotional masterpiece," commending its skillful scene construction and the transient nature of messages exchanged between Red and Blue despite the ambiguous scale of the Time War.

Black Gate characterized the novella as approachable rather than a dense sci-fi enigma, noting that its emotionally satisfying conclusion becomes apparent early on. The review concluded that witnessing these powerful figures fall in love is compelling, with Red and Blue portrayed as distinctly human characters.

Awards

This Is How You Lose the Time War received numerous prestigious honors such as the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction, the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Novella, the 2020 Locus Award for Best Novella, the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2020 Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction, and the 2020 Ignyte Award for Best Novella. It was also shortlisted for several other major prizes including the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award (Novella), the inaugural 2019 Ray Bradbury Award at the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the 2019 Kitschies in the Novel category. Additionally, it secured second place in the 2020 Theodore Sturgeon Award.

In May 2023, three years after its initial publication, This Is How You Lose the Time War experienced a surge in popularity, ascending to number three overall and topping Amazon's science fiction bestseller list. This resurgence was fueled by viral endorsements from a fan of the manga and anime series Trigun, known online as "bigolas dickolas wolfwood," who recommended the novella to their followers. El-Mohtar expressed appreciation for this unexpected boost. Subsequently, "Wolfwood" received a nomination for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Related Work based on these tweets but declined to accept it.

Adaptation

In 2019, El-Mohtar revealed that the novel had been optioned for a television adaptation, with both herself and Gladstone collaborating on the scriptwriting. She made it clear that the gender identities of the characters would remain unchanged.

External links

• Audio conversation with Amal El-Mohtar, hosted on CBC.ca