"Tell me something true, or tell me nothing at all."

I prefer my sf to be more conceptual carnival than hollywood visual fest. With This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mothar and Max Gladstone, I got the best of both. Red are Blue are agents from warring factions of time-travellers in the business of twisting history to ensure their version becomes reality. On the battlefield, Red & Blue exchange notes filled with taunting words that soon grow into confessions and letters of undying adoration. The language is lyrical and devastatingly beautiful. And the imagery of letters embedded in the dance of bees and the taste of poison is truly fine. You get a real sense from this novella that El-Mothar and Gladstone are people who don’t just love words but they love what words can conjure. So for sure, I’ll be looking up their other novels. Maybe for the story. But always for the words.