This Is How You Lose the Time War

In short: Epistolary Time-Traveling Warrior Lesbians.

While you might find this book in the science fiction section, the lyrical style of the prose and the soft world building lends itself closer to science fantasy. Reading this book is like watching Samurai Jack: every chapter is set en media res and we catch a sliver of a life briefly lived by our characters. We get just enough from the authors so that the world feels lived in but not so much that you start questioning the political machinations of each stop along the braid. Nor do you start to concern yourself with the mechanism of the time travel. The focus instead is on the many lives of Blue and Red and how their love and letters intertwine along the threads of time.

The prose is entirely lyrical in content, which might be off-putting for some readers, but given the opportunity, the text lends itself to powerful emotional arcs. Blue and Red are written with such complimentary voices, it’s hard to remember that this book was written by two people. This book doesn’t take itself too seriously either - there are turns of phrase that made me giggle and kick my feet. Time War warrants multiple reads which should be easy considering it’s only about little over 200 pages long.

All in all: A beautiful read that I will be revisiting again.