An Audiobook Review of “This Is How You Lose the Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
PIHM: This is How You Lose the Time War
Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
Narrated by Cynthia Farrell, Emily Woo Zeller
This might just be the best audiobook I’ve listened to yet. This is How You Lose the Time War was co-written by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, and puts a sapphic romance between two rival time agents against the backdrop of an ongoing war between the two sides. They write to each other, finding ways and means of conveying messages their superiors won’t notice. The letters are beautiful and full of wonderful lines and declarations. The narration here is so smooth, you really get the full voice of both characters. It’s just overall brilliant.
Blue and Red work within the constraints of their agencies, shifting back and forth through time, each trying to outdo the other in so many ways. We get glimpses of the ongoing war, but if you come into this looking for massive battles and ships pew-pewing at one another, you’re going to be disappointed. The ‘war’ is meaningless against the growing romance of the two agents, as they discover that little bit more about each other with each step.
It's truly beautiful, this love blossoming against disaster, and tragedy, and war. The two connect in a way they shouldn’t be able to, pushing back against the worlds they know and the ones who control them, constantly reaching while knowing their lives, as long as they’re in love, are in danger.
Listening to it, it was easy to get swept up, to fall in love with Red and Blue as much as they fall for each other. They are distinctive and ambitious and always looking to outmanoeuvre one another, and it just works so bloody well.
Review by Elle Turpitt
Twitter & Instagram: @elleturpitt
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I purchased this audiobook via Audible.