Making Space

The Time Traveler's Passport

De: R. F. Kuang

Narrado por: Kristie Lee Walsh

A childless couple take in a mysterious boy in this ominous short story about parenthood, sacrifice, and our responsibility to the future from #1 New York Times bestselling author R. F. Kuang.

Jess desperately wants to be a mother, so when she discovers a young boy lost in the woods near her home, her heart goes out to him. The boy, who Jess and her husband call “Buddy,” can’t tell them his name or anything about his family, but he’s clearly been through a lot. When her husband cautions her not to get too involved, Jess brushes him off. She would do anything for this child—and soon, she’ll have to prove it.

R. F. Kuang’s Making Space is part of The Time Traveler’s Passport, an unforgettable collection of stories about memory, identity, and choice curated by New York Times bestselling anthologist John Joseph Adams. Watch time fly as you read or listen to each short story in a single sitting. Watch time fly as you read or listen to each short story in a single sitting.

©2025 by Rebecca Kuang. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

A simple predictable short story

There were slightly too many characters for a novella. There is something about her prose that does not sit quite right with my preference. The performance of the narrator was average. This book is good for getting out of a reading slump and for those who just want a short sci-fi read.

Oh Look a Free Child

Woman find a child alone, surrounded by burning ash, mostly unharmed, and basically adopts him. Things are great until you find out he's from the future and makes room for his existence in the current timeline by deleting other people. This revelation doesn't go over well, and on the run they go.

On a personal level, I understand where our FMC is coming from. We both want children but can't, our partner isn't hip to the idea of adopting, but when the opportunity comes up to take a child in, how can we not jump at the chance? I don't think I would have done any different.

Awesome narrator I love the way she controls her voice from suspense to action. Well done

Narration great looking for better ending kind of left me wanting more to the story

Swift and Engaging

This story wastes no time getting good and carrying through on its tragic promise. Highly recommended for fans of this genre.

deducted 1 star for the ending

as a woman who went through infertility and motherhood through adoption, I thought the author did a good job of capturing the confusion, longings,heartaches, challenges and joys of these. Unfortunately, the violent science fantasy ending trivialized these real experiences and reduced the mother character to a trope. In addition, it was just a dumb, simple, easy way to bring the story to a close. My advice: stop about 8 minutes before the end, and write your own comclusion