Why am I passionate about this?
Writing science fiction was the natural result of a lifetime of reading it for pleasure and studying whenever I could as part of my English Lit course at University. When I started writing, it was really important to me as a woman (especially a gay woman) to write female characters that weren’t just strong and likable; I wanted them to be interesting, unpalatable, and tough. Above all, not easy to dismiss. All of the women in the books I’ve listed fulfill at least some of these categories, which is the core of why these novels hold such a special place in my heart.
Maud's book list on science fiction novels about deadly women
Why did Maud love this book?
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 made me immediately want to try my hand at something similar. The prose is rich and lovely, and for such a short book, it contains a wealth of imagination and invention.
13 authors picked This Is How You Lose the Time War as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
WINNER OF The Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella, the Reddit Stabby Award for Best Novella AND The British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novella
SHORTLISTED FOR
2020 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
The Ray Bradbury Prize
Kitschies Red Tentacle Award
Kitschies Inky Tentacle
Brave New Words Award
'A fireworks display from two very talented storytellers' Madeline Miller, author of Circe
Co-written by two award-winning writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space.
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It…