Amal El-Mohtar

Gods, how do I begin with how I loved this book? This book spoke to me, now, more than almost any other book I have read - not the old, familiar, child me or the tired, penitent me to whom Ender's Game still speaks, but the... romantic, desperate, hungering me that I so often find at my weakest times, that I am so often ashamed of, yet not so ashamed that I would ever dream of purging. The dancing between the agents, the power and constancy of the metaphors for the two, the entwining of their lives at every point in the story, the way that entwining is revealed and pieced together by the reader... It's all delicious, honey and nectar and ambrosia on my tongue, and I scream aloud at my inability to imitate it, my failure to reach the same interlacing with someone else, I have only an ululating agonizing moan, yet I revel in it all.

Five stars, for lack of giving six, and a permanent place on my shelf.… (more)

In an unspecified future time, two warring factions are each using time travel to manipulate the past in order to give their side the edge. Red and Blue, two enemy agents, each continuously attempting to outmaneuver the other by undoing their actions each time they journey back in time, begin to exchange letters. Though the letters start out bloodthirsty and antagonistic, their spirit shifts subtly over time as each agent learns more about the other.

I appreciated the bold, experimental nature of this non-traditional novel, though I'm not sure I grasped all the nuance and abstract language, and suspect I would have had to reread once or twice to fully appreciate it. I'm sorry to say that I'm unwilling to invest that kind of time right now. Could be rewarding for someone who is willing to spend that extra mental energy! I'm satisfied with having read through and sought out a comprehensive synopsis.… (more)