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Words of gratitude.
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Translator's letter.
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A hotly anticipated novel that swept science fiction awards around the world in 2020.
Winner of the Hugo Award, Locus Award, Nebula Award, BSFA Award, and Aurora Award

"A story full of fascination and enchantment, brilliance and madness, allusion and codes.
"It's hard to decide which one to praise first: the clever structure and sentences, the brilliant ideas and characters."
― Ken Liu (author of "Paper Menagerie")

The most talked-about science fiction novel of 2020, "This is how you lose the time war," was published by Golden Bough.
"This is How You Lose the Time War," a story about two hostile elites exchanging secret letters in a time-traveling war, is a work that has garnered attention for its unique premise of narrating an unimaginable future story through the analog tool of "letters," as well as its intriguing plot twists and unexpected twists. Amal Elmokhtar and Max Gladstone, who met at a science fiction fan club and developed a friendship through exchanging handwritten letters, came up with the idea that the exchange of letters could be applied to the development of science fiction novels.
Thus, the two authors took on the roles of the main characters in the novels 'Red' and 'Blue' and wrote the story in the form of exchanging letters, and then combined the two stories into one to complete the novel.
Published in this way, 『This is how you lose the time war』 not only became a national bestseller, but also swept prestigious science fiction awards such as the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and Locus Award, and won the BSFA Award from the British Science Fiction Association and the Aurora Award from the Canadian Science Fiction Association, emerging as the most notable science fiction novel of 2020.

"This is how you lose the time war" is a work that requires special translation, as it is based on dazzling writing and widely incorporates science fiction imagination, human history, and even modern popular culture.
Because of this, translator Jang Seong-ju, who won the 13th Yu Young Translation Award for “Paper Zoo,” was able to publish the book after a long translation process of over a year.
Currently, 『This is how you lose the time war』 is being prepared as a TV drama in Hollywood.

"When translating a piece written with English-speaking readers in mind into Korean, the question of where to begin and where to end the 'explanation' is not easy to answer.
In this book, we have kept the principle of ‘not spoiling the pleasure of reading a novel in the slightest’ and have included brief notes at the end of each chapter.” - From the translator’s letter


Exchange letters in extraordinary ways, traveling back and forth through history!

"This is how you lose the time war" is set in the distant future, where two forces are at war for supremacy over all timelines.
The 'Garden', which is composed of an ecological organization, and the 'Agency', which is composed of a mechanical organization, wage war by going back and forth between the 'strands of time' and revising or deleting history. The stages are major historical sites such as Genghis Khan's cavalry invading Europe, the site of Caesar's assassination in ancient Rome, England just before the Great Fire of London, and South America just before the Spanish invasion.
Additionally, sentences in the letter are taken from Bob Dylan's song lyrics and quotes from various elements ranging from modern pop culture to classics such as Lewis Carroll, John Keats, and Charles Dickens.
The way letters are secretly exchanged in the work is also unique. The fiery red light of lava sometimes becomes the text of the letters, and the rings of a tree, drawn over decades, become the lines of the text.
Sometimes, the pattern on a seal's skin or the tea leaves in a teacup serve as messengers of a letter, while MRI measurements of the movement of water molecules converted into numbers become letters, stimulating the reader's imagination.



"A whimsical tale of two spies' fantastical secret mission transformed into the words of a love letter.
After reading to the end, you'll want to turn to the first page again."
― Booklist

Elmokhtar and Gladstone overcome the paradox of time travel in this book by jumping into the chaos of time travel.
The title suggests it's a book about time travel or war, but it's actually a love story between two lonely assassins who can write letters in flowing lava.
― National Public Radio (NPR)

A whimsical tale of two spies' fantastical secret mission transformed into the words of a love letter.
After reading to the end, I want to open the first page again.
― Booklist

A bond that blossoms between secret agents from two opposing factions, who should never meet, heralds the end of an endless time war.
A short story, but with each reread, new layers of meaning emerge.
― Publisher's Weekly