There's something about a relationship described in an epistolary format that immediately evokes a nostalgic sensation for me. We didn't even need the recent empirical study linking the reading of fiction to the practice of empathy, once that familiar scent tickles our noses we know that this is a flower we have sought out and perhaps smelled before. I have heard that olfactory sensations have the deepest connection to memory of the senses but I have not done a double-blind, peer-reviewed, placebo-planted study myself.
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Each time I smell the durian fruit, I think of you, my dear
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In
This Is How You Lose the Time War, much of the action is in the form of an unusual exchange of correspondence between the two main characters, Red and Blue. I am not sure which one of them is the protagonist as they are equally prominent so far but I am leaning toward Red a little, maybe only out of my own bias. I feel like I can identify with her a bit more and because of that I see how Blue intrigues her so. Both of them exist in a world very far removed from our own and their archaic method of non-instantaneous communication serves to humanize them. Their occupation seems a lonely one, inviting a chance for connection, even if it be unsanctioned. I can't wait to see where things go.
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Lots of folks couldn't wait to see where these would go, too.
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