Les Oiseaux du temps

I use BookWyrm for two things. One, to keep track of what I've read (since I can forget). And two for the recommendations. I've rated this book 3.5 for myself. For you, dear reader, I rate it as a 5.

This book has flowing poetic prose, a good tight story, and two wonderful full characters. It is short, so I can't see any reason not to try it if it intrigues you.

And if it intrigues you, stop reading this and pick it up.

Below is mostly for me.

I rated it lower for myself only because of one thing, and I've further clarified the thought with this book. When an author uses poetic, meaning metaphorical, prose for speculative plots, then it is very easy to confuse the reader.

For instance, say you write, "She rode a bolt of lightning out the door." In a literary novel (non-speculative), then this is obviously metaphorical. But if you've set up a world where a person can teleport on a light beam, or maybe one where a spell can move people, the reader has to decide whether the phrase is metaphor or literal. If they guess wrong, then the next few sentences will be misunderstood. Then you have to backtrack and reread.

When metaphorical prose is used throughout, then when you're reading carefully, you might have to backtrack dozens of times. It gets frustrating and pulls you out of the story.

This is how to loose the time war was quite an interesting read, a wild story thru time and space. Two agents ("Red" and "Blue") of opposing fractions are trying to influence history of a multi-stranded universe, in order to favour the strands of time where their fractions come into existence. The brutal agents start writing letters to each other, first as a taunt, but gradually build romantic affection for each other, as the story unfolds.

I enjoyed the structure, especially since books with short chapters help with my often short attention span. The story itself is really dense tho; many details just did not matter, as we are wildly hopping thru 5 dimensions – perhaps those details could be seen as footnotes that give an impression of the huge vastness of the multifaceted universe in which the story takes place.

Personally, I found the poetic language quite difficult to read. I also found it difficult to relate to the protagonists and their self-destructive affection for each other. I think this is one of those stories that I would need to read again to fully appreciate.

~Moss

Amal El-Mothar and Max Gladsonte's "This is How You Lose the Time War" follows two agents, Red and Blue, on opposite sides of a war that spans all of time and (some of?) space across multiple universes.

Each chapter starts with a snapshot of what each agent is doing to advance their side's cause, whether that's taking part in major historical events or planting the seeds for 'coincidences' in the future, and ends with the discovery of a letter from their counterpart. What begins as acknowledgements of respect, nods across the battlefield, gradually grow into something more.

Fans of science fiction may be disappointed by the lack of focus on the time-traveling, universe-hopping backdrop to this story of star-crossing lovers. Details are sparse, and little is disclosed about the factions or why they are at war other than hints and impressions throughout the book.

The gradual, tip-toeing romance between Red and Blue via their elegantly composed letters is the strength of this book. There is a sweetness as the characters, hovering just beyond what one might call "human", discover that they are capable of such love, and for who should be their mortal enemy, no less. Readers who never tire of "Romeo and Juliette" will find much to love in "This is How You Lose the Time War".