Will I love This Is How You Lose the Time War?

Bold, precise prose and a structure that rewards attention, making every page feel like both a puzzle and a love note.

From the first page, this story felt intimate and infinite all at once.

It’s written like a love letter and a battlefield, all at once. What I loved most was how it turned connection into an act of defiance, how two people trapped by duty and ideology choose to reach across time anyway.

Every line feels deliberate, like poetry disguised as science fiction. I was completely undone by how much humanity could fit into such a small space.

It reminded me that love, friendship, and understanding don’t need to make sense to be real; they just need to be chosen,… show more.

I found this book on Shepherd. Really.
Some people like original works. Some don't. Sometimes "original" can be a little wonky. This was "original" in the way that science fiction does best.
The writing verges on the literary. I got caught up in the prose and the flow of words, not really knowing what was going on. I didn't care. It was beautiful.
But, best of all, it poses a really profound question, like good science fiction does. Can love transcend all, even war, distances of time and space? Even hate?
This isn't science fiction, as the best science fiction… show more.

Give me every second of this sci-fi love story! I loved seeing the letters exchanged by the two main characters, existing on opposite sides of a time-travel war. It's light enemies-to-lovers, so check yes for one of my favourite tropes! And I'm also a sucker for lyrical prose. This was so poetic it made me warm and fuzzy in the best possible way. The only negative was that I wanted more!

I’m a big fan of genre-bending and trope manipulation, and I was completely blown away by this rare creation of a book. It’s a carefully crafted plot of time manipulation, blending science fiction, fantasy, espionage, and romance, told through letters between two rival agents in a style more akin to a war drama.

Those contrasting styles notably elevated the story for me, accenting the cybernetic future by experiencing the naturalistic one and enhancing the love story through the suspense of corporate espionage.

At no point did I feel as if either empire was the “good” or “bad” one, only that… show more.

It's an epistolary. It's a love story. And they are trying to erase each other from existence... because that's what happens in a time war! I love it because every page is so rich; it's more like reading poetry than prose. It's not a very long book, maybe half the length of the usual novel, but there's no way I could breeze through it. 

There are books I can imagine writing. There are books I can imagine I could become good enough to write. Then there are books like this, which are so far beyond my skills that I don't… show more.

A friend recommended this book to me, and I’m so grateful! The story unfolds through letters between Red and Blue, mortal enemies who slowly realize they have more in common with each other than their respective sides, even as they murder their way through history. As we come to know them and they learn about each other, we realize the truth about the war and the creature pursuing them through history.

Neither Red nor Blue are perfect people, but you can see why and how they are the way they are, and their love story feels natural and well-earned because… show more.

A deeply romantic novella that spans time and space.

I really enjoyed this exploration of romance that could only be achieved by two time-traveling superhumans. The image of a love letter written in the rings of a tree has stayed with me for years.

It’s rare that I root for a couple as strongly as I did for Red and Blue throughout this story. It was magical to read about how they fell in love, the strangeness of how they altered the universe for each other, and all of the wartime tension and wild worldbuilding in between.

Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood famously rocketed this book to the top of the bestseller list four years after its publication. Whatever you’ve heard about this inventive epistolary time travel romance, I promise you that it lives up to that hype. It won me over immediately with its lyrical prose, clever sci-fi conceit, and charged romantic tension between dueling protagonists.

I love dystopian fiction, but there’s something even more impressive about well-written utopian fiction. I’m even more impressed when authors remember that our various visions of utopia can be in conflict with one another and with our own individual connections and desires.… show more.

This book is best read over the course of one rainy weekend if you’re feeling in a rut. I got into a bath with this book, and by the time I came out, it was nearly finished, and the water was stone cold.

Two deadly women for the price of one! And they’re in love! This is more of a novella than a novel, and it consists of a series of letters written between two agents on either side of a complicated looping and multi-threaded war.

I love epistolary novels, and I love interesting framing devices; as a writer, it… show more.