This is How You Lose the Time War

In the far future (and also the distant past and also right now) two groups are fighting for control. They send operatives back and forth through time to ensure certain outcomes, open up possibilities, make sure something does or does not happen. Two of those operatives (Red and Blue) make contact, begin writing letters, and ultimately fall in love. It's a classic story, made fresh.

By fresh, I mean utterly delightful. It's a high concept version of a tale as old as time. The settings are delightfully bizarre, but the emotions are completely recognizable. The language elevates this, making the whole book a wondrous puzzle to be solved. (Shortly after Red referred to Blue as "Da-Ba-Dee" I played the song for my son, and I've been singing it to myself ever since.) It feels like a fun game you're playing with yourself (or the characters/authors are playing with each other) right until the heartbreak shows up and you discover just how invested you are in Red and Blue and their impossible relationship.

It wouldn't be a time travel book without a time travel paradox, and there's a truly excellent one here. Although it's clear, at the beginning, that Blue reached out to Red, by the end it's not at all clear who made the first move. Trying to figure out just how this relationship began is like asking which came first: the chicken or the egg. Ultimately, these two are destined for each other while also fighting tooth and nail to make their own destiny. It's beautiful.

I can't wait to read this again. Which I will definitely do because it's short enough to read in a day.

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