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For a Limited Time Only: The Time Traveler's Passport
A time-traveling salesman searches for the moments that truly matter in this poignant short story from nationally bestselling author Peng Shepherd.
Russ commutes to work—not across town but through time. An ambitious employee stuck in Oracle Marketing Solutions’ mundane “near past” division, he longs for the excitement of ancient eras and distant futures. But Oracle’s secretive management has refused every one of his transfer requests, and Russ can’t understand why…until he makes a devastating discovery about his own timeline.
Peng Shepherd’s For a Limited Time Only 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.
Russ commutes to work—not across town but through time. An ambitious employee stuck in Oracle Marketing Solutions’ mundane “near past” division, he longs for the excitement of ancient eras and distant futures. But Oracle’s secretive management has refused every one of his transfer requests, and Russ can’t understand why…until he makes a devastating discovery about his own timeline.
Peng Shepherd’s For a Limited Time Only 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.
- GenresShort Stories
Audible Audio
Published November 3, 2025
13 people want to read
About the author
Peng Shepherd
10 books3,613 followersPeng Shepherd is the nationally bestselling, award-winning author of All This and More, The Cartographers, and The Book of M.
Her novels have been acclaimed as a “Best Book of the Year” by the Washington Post, a “Best Book of the Summer” by the Today Show and NPR, and featured in the New York Times, the LA Times, and on Good Morning America, as well as a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. Her work also has been translated into more than ten languages, and optioned for TV and film.
A graduate of New York University’s MFA program, Peng is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona, where she rode horses and trained in classical ballet, and has lived in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, London, Mexico City, and New York. When not writing, she can be found planning her next trip or haunting local bookstores.
Her novels have been acclaimed as a “Best Book of the Year” by the Washington Post, a “Best Book of the Summer” by the Today Show and NPR, and featured in the New York Times, the LA Times, and on Good Morning America, as well as a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. Her work also has been translated into more than ten languages, and optioned for TV and film.
A graduate of New York University’s MFA program, Peng is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona, where she rode horses and trained in classical ballet, and has lived in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, London, Mexico City, and New York. When not writing, she can be found planning her next trip or haunting local bookstores.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 4, 2026
The concept of the time-traveling salesman was really interesting. I have the feeling the logic of this time travel company might not withstand a lot of scrutiny but for the purpose of this short story it worked very well.
I really liked that the story was actually about family and relationships, and the sci-fi aspect was just a means to talk about other deeper things.
The beginning was a bit confusing until I realized we weren’t following the events in a linear way. I had a hard time following this in audio format, I think maybe reading it instead of listening might be a better experience in this case.
Other than that, I enjoyed this wholesome and bittersweet story.
Thanks to Amazon Original Stories via NetGalley for providing an ALC
I really liked that the story was actually about family and relationships, and the sci-fi aspect was just a means to talk about other deeper things.
The beginning was a bit confusing until I realized we weren’t following the events in a linear way. I had a hard time following this in audio format, I think maybe reading it instead of listening might be a better experience in this case.
Other than that, I enjoyed this wholesome and bittersweet story.
Thanks to Amazon Original Stories via NetGalley for providing an ALC
October 15, 2025
This review is for the audio version of the book, narrated by Jonathan Davis.
Russ adores his wife and daughter. He has a decent job, even if he's kind of bored with it, but they live a happy life.
Russ works for Oracle Marketing Solutions. A company that doesn't exist yet, and wont for another 40 years, but they doesn't stop them doing business, and making deals.
Russ works in the "recent past" division, but isn't feeling fulfilled. He's tried transferring out, but keeps getting denied.
He doesn't know why, but he's about to find out.
This was, hands down, my favorite story in this series. I did not expect to feel so connected to characters in a short story, and it's why I usually avoid anthologies like this, but this was SO well done.
It was heartbreaking, it was devastating, and it was definitely worth the time to read.
Russ adores his wife and daughter. He has a decent job, even if he's kind of bored with it, but they live a happy life.
Russ works for Oracle Marketing Solutions. A company that doesn't exist yet, and wont for another 40 years, but they doesn't stop them doing business, and making deals.
Russ works in the "recent past" division, but isn't feeling fulfilled. He's tried transferring out, but keeps getting denied.
He doesn't know why, but he's about to find out.
This was, hands down, my favorite story in this series. I did not expect to feel so connected to characters in a short story, and it's why I usually avoid anthologies like this, but this was SO well done.
It was heartbreaking, it was devastating, and it was definitely worth the time to read.
November 21, 2025
Interesting concept of time traveling salesperson, and the company has two departments for "optimum product placement": past and futures, and of the two departments, "Most of them will never meet because they haven't even been hired yet." Fascinating stuff, and the question that kept coming to my mind was why have the two transfers he will request in the future been rejected? Or more accurately, why WILL they be refused, in the future? (Again, fascinating stuff!)
I had no solid idea of where this one was going, but I had an uncomfortable feeling with one thing kept popping up as the main character popped back and forth in time. I wasn't expecting heartache.
The narrator is solid. Good pacing, good tone and expression that matches the dialogue.
I had no solid idea of where this one was going, but I had an uncomfortable feeling with one thing kept popping up as the main character popped back and forth in time. I wasn't expecting heartache.
The narrator is solid. Good pacing, good tone and expression that matches the dialogue.
November 29, 2025
4,5
So this is the sad one of the lot. It's a good one, but yeah, TRIGGER WARNINGS.
But at one moment, I got lost in the timeline and I don't know if we really are supposed to get lost or not, if it was really the intention of the author.
So this is the sad one of the lot. It's a good one, but yeah, TRIGGER WARNINGS.
But at one moment, I got lost in the timeline and I don't know if we really are supposed to get lost or not, if it was really the intention of the author.
December 28, 2025
Heartbreakingly sad, yet hopeful. Decent narration.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews