Jo Fletcher Books lands Gladstone and El-Mohtar 'epic love story'

Quercus imprint Jo Fletcher Books has landed an "epic love story spanning time and space" by writing duo Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar.

Assistant editor Molly Powell acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada from Ben Fowler at Abner Stein on behalf of DongWon Song at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. This is How You Lose the Time War will be published in paperback and e-book on 17th July.

The publisher explained: "Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: 'Burn before reading'. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That's how war works. Right?”

Powell said: “Astonishingly powerful, beautifully written, this novella swept me away with its intelligence and lyricism. Both Jo and I dropped everything to devour it within 24 hours – Max and Amal’s collaboration has produced a work of complete, heart-wrenching brilliance.”

Gladstone, author of the Hugo-nominated Craft Sequence among other books, said the project with author, editor and critic El-Mohtar was formulated early in their friendship.

He said: “It has a special place in my heart, and we’ve been so very privileged to be working with people who’ve found the same fire in it that we have.”