Cronus: The Time Traveler's Passport

The Time Traveler's Passport #6

by P. Djèlí Clark, A'rese Emokpae (Narrator)

A young Black woman challenges the indignity of a segregated dystopian future and exposes a time-bending secret in this dark, defiant short story from P. Djèlí Clark, award-winning author of Ring Shout.

The year is 2030. Annabeth works a stable job at CRONUS, a time travel company that caters to wealthy clients. Life is harsh, but she’s willing to keep her head down—until a vision of a past that never happened leads her to question everything she knows. They call it madness, but she’ll learn to call it memory.

P. Djélì Clark’s Cronus 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.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Audiobook, Fiction, Time Travel, Novella, Dystopia

Audible Audio

First published November 3, 2025

About the author

Phenderson Djèlí Clark.

Phenderson Djéli Clark is the author of the novel A Master of Djinn, and the award-winning and Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon nominated author of the novellas Ring Shout, The Black God’s Drums and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. His short stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies including, Griots and Hidden Youth. You can find him on Twitter at @pdjeliclark and his blog The Disgruntled Haradrim.

Reviews

[Brooke (~!Books are my Favorite!!~) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Racism takes a new form in this near-future dystopia. A neurological disease is causing people to remember "false memories". But the memories are all the same as if they are part of some collective consciousness. The memories are tragic events in US history like the Tulsa massacre. The question is how can different people somehow obtain the same memories without ever having met? What basis, if any, do these memories have in reality? Who is hiding what?

The time-travel element reminded me a bit of Scalzi. The Alzheimers-like disease reminded me of what Deniz Camp does in his most recent ASSORTED CRISIS EVENTS #6.

[Akankshya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply interesting, dystopian, and plausible, with the ending tied beautifully to the title. This book follows a young Black woman who works at a company that allows time-travel as a tourism service, in a future United States seemingly stuck in the past. With a society where enforced racial segregation is still perpetrated, second-wave feminism never happened, and the (according to an offhand comment in the story) colonial British rule still exists, Clark imagines a devastating alternate history and ties it uncomfortably close to reality. This was a brilliant, subversive tale, worth the read, and a great conclusion to this anthology.

Published as a part of The Time Traveler's Passport series, I recommend picking it up without looking at the blurb, especially if you know you like stories about wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.

The Time Traveler's Passport series
3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years: ★★★★
Making Space: ★★
For a Limited Time Only: ★★★
A Visit to the Husband Archive: ★★★★★
All Manner of Thing Shall Be: ★★★★
Cronus: ★★★★★

[Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This dystopian short story about racism and the perils of time travel technology in the hands of the wrong people surely ends this anthology with a bang.

With a plot reminiscent of the first Matrix movie, It was one of my favorites in the collection. I haven’t read anything else from this author but I'll be taking a look at his other books.

The narrator was also amazing and did an excellent job bringing the characters to life.

Thanks to Amazon Original Stories via NetGalley for providing an ALC

[Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short review for a short story ... I'm admittedly hard on time travel books. They need to make sense to me. What makes sense to the author may or may not ring true to me. This one was written in a way that didn't attempt to describe the mechanics or "rules" of time travel to much of any extent, so I didn't have much issue with it there ... up to a point.

The premise of the book was thought provoking. Imagine what might happen if the wrong people got hold of time travel and used it for their own gain, to the detriment of others. Just the thought is infuriating. This grabbed my attention quickly. What a captivating concept for a story.

My real issue with this book is that I wanted more. There just didn't feel like there was much substance! A problem was addressed that needed to be solved. Good step one. But from there, I can't get into it much without spoiling the book. Let's just say the beginning was great and I was pulled into it. The middle and especially the ending left much to be desired in my opinion. Maybe another in this series will be better. But I'm giving this story a very rare rating from me. Two stars, which also seems to go against the masses who've read and rated this one so far. I'm usually the outlier rating books much higher than others!

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short story!

[Sjgomzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read from P. Djeli Clark. Terrifying in how close this hits to home right now. Set in the near future, imagine the people in charge of the US right now, and the billionaires and racists who exist in their orbit, armed with time travel technology. Now imagine how they would use this tech to make their awful world view a reality. See? Terrifying. 😱

[Alan (on December semi-hiatus) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erasing History
A review of the Amazon Original Stories Kindle eBook edition (November 3, 2025), released simultaneously with the Brilliance Publishing Inc. audiobook.

I have a contact in the British Raj . . . He thinks it has to do with population. That Whites were becoming minorities in America, parts of Europe . . . and they feared it. Figured we’d do to them what they did to us, maybe. So, this might be their way of trying to stop it or at least control it—in our past.

Unlike the other stories in The Time Traveler's Passport series, I think it is possible to identify the inspiration for this story due to certain policies in the current Trump administration in the U.S. That is somewhat of a spoiler so I've spoiler blocked this entire review accordingly. See some related articles in the Links section below.

You may not appreciate current politics in fiction, but I did not find this story that far-fetched based on recent events. Your opinion may differ. Basically, a firm has monetized time travel but is also using it to go back and erase selected elements of history. This is causing a medical disorder in the present day where people have so-called false memories of events which the new history books say never happened. A resistance movement develops to fight back.

Soundtrack
Ok, this is just an excuse to add Miles Davis' instrumental cover of Cyndi Lauper's Time after Time which has nothing to do with the story. You can hear it on YouTube here or on Spotify here.

Trivia and Links
Author Phenderson Djèlí Clark is best known as a writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror with the novel Ring Shout (2020) being his most popular work (per current GR ratings and reviews). He is also the writer of two series, Dead Djinn Universe (2016-2021) and Abeni's Song (2023=2026).

As mentioned above, I think the inspiration for this story came from certain policies in the current Trump administration which you can read about at Human Rights Watch and USA Today.

Cronus is the 6th of 6 stories in The Time Traveler's Passport anthology collection from Amazon Original Stories released on November 3, 2025. The promo for the collection reads:

Six short stories. Infinite possibilities.
Embark on a mind-bending journey through time with six of today’s most visionary authors. Brimming with humor and heartache, this collection of short stories maps the roads we took to get here and the paths that lie ahead. The present may be a gift, but the future and the past both come with a price. Curated by John Joseph Adams, New York Times bestselling anthologist.

You can watch for current and past Amazon Original Stories which are usually paired with their Audible Original narrations at an Amazon page here (link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).

[mimi (depression slump) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reimagination of modern America that hits too close home.

↠ 4 stars

Thanks to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the correct definition for this story is ucronic, and I really liked it. On the other hand, this is an author I have been meaning to explore more thoroughly for some time (i.e., I want to read his stories on Djinn). Of this series of six books written by various authors, of which I have read three, this is probably the one I liked the most.

Credo che la definizione corretta per questo racconto sia ucronico e mi é piaciuto molto. D'altronde questo é un autore che mi riprometto da tempo di affrontare in modo piú completo (i.e. voglio leggere la sua serie sui Djinn). Di questa serie di sei libri scritti da vari autori di cui ne ho letti tre, é probabilmente quello che mi é piaciuto di piú.

[♡ retrovvitches ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

now this was a short story written well. politically striking and with hints at a revolution, one of the better stories in this series about time travel

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite in the collection.

[Vavo ☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

That's what I mean when I say love short stories that don't waste a single page.

[Brok3n · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using time-travel to change the world

In P. Djèlí Clark's Cronus, Annabeth is a black woman in 2030 Baltimore. I mention her race, because it is relevant. She has to sit in the back of the bus, and give up her seat if a white woman needs it. Annie's Baltimore is the Jim Crow south with twenty-first century mobile phones and artificial intelligence.

And time travel. Time-travel, of course. Annie works for Cronus, the big time-travel corporation, which has become inextricably entangled with the US government. Wealthy tourists come to Cronus in order to visit the past, where they can see black people killed in race riots of past centuries. The story opens with Annie helping a wealthy white man through the paperwork for a visit to Tulsa in 1921.

Annie has a younger brother. He is not really her biological brother, but both Annie and John Henry acknowledge the relationship. John Henry is institutionalized. He suffers from FMP -- False Memory Psychosis. He remembers things that never happened, such as a Black President named Barack Obama, and a Supreme Court decision that declared school segregation by race unconstitutional.

It transpires that Cronus and the government have been using time-travel to manipulate the past in such a way as to preserve a nation in which the racial power structures of the early twentieth century have been preserved. Annie, of course, gets recruited into a revolutionary organization, the Combahee River Army, to do something about that.

This is a pretty good story. I have to warn non-USian readers, though, that it is intimately concerned with the USA's hang-ups and history about race. As a US citizen, I am familiar with and interested in our dirty laundry, so that was fine with me.

My main problem with the story, though, was world-building. The existence of FMP implies that the story's altered history doesn't fully stick and that the Combahee River Army's attempts to fix it are likely to run into technical difficulties. The stories in the Time Traveler's Passport are supposed to be read in a single sitting. They have to be short, which means a certain sketchiness in world-building is inevitable. Thus, I ought to excuse it. But it still bothered me. That's a "me" problem, perhaps.

Blog review.

[Lizette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommend-O-Meter: Holy SHIT yes

Pardon the language but like. I was blown away. I didn’t think I was gonna like this so much, because it started out slightly slow, but I am so happy I was proved wrong in that regard!

This story takes place in an alternate future where technologies like time travel and AI move the powers that be, but racial segregation never ended. Our protagonist Annabeth is a normal woman who works for a company that provides time travel tourism services, but she finds herself embroiled in a larger conspiracy as she tries to find help for her sort-of-brother, who’s suffering from a disease that creates false memories in people’s heads. And I know that might seem like a lot, but bear with me! I swear it’s all dealt with super well in the story, such that everything falls into place naturally and yet still very thoroughly explores the themes of racism and gender and the like! I can’t describe it all for spoiler reasons but like. Just trust me. It’s GOOD.

Also, what I really like about this title is that while I definitely wish for more, I’m still perfectly satisfied with it as a standalone short story. It seems to me like all the important plot details and characters were tied up quite nicely by the end even considering the short page count, which was a welcome break from the many loose ends of the previous five stories.

Anyway, the point is that I really super duper loved this story! It was exactly the kind of time travel business I wanted to read about, and a perfect conclusion to a very thought-provoking collection.

Audio Assessment: I loved the accents done by this narrator! It all felt very natural for the story, and the actual narrative text was very clear.

[I received an ALC of this book from the publisher on NetGalley. This does not in any way affect the contents of my review.]

[CadmanReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going into the final story, I worried the collection had peaked early, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Clark's dystopian time-travel tale is both richly imagined and deeply unsettling, exploring racism in ways that feel painfully believable. It's powerful, terrifying, and my favorite of the collection. ★★★★★

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

this one was my favorite from the bundle.

[Korynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first story by this author but it won’t be my last. Cronus was impactful and brought something new to the sci-fi genre. It starts off kind of depressing but it has a hopeful ending. I think readers of Octavia Butler would enjoy this story. After reading all the stories in the Time Traveler’s Passport collection, I can confirm this one is the strongest and the one most worth reading.

[Maria reads SFF · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only white oligarchs being able to time travel in a segregated dystopian future and how they used that alongside AI to change the historical narrative.
While this was a SF it was incredible scary how closely it hit home as we already see white supremacist leaders trying to erase the past and rewrite history.
I don’t want to reveal to much as this is such an impactful reading experience, so I am just going to gush spoiler free about what I loved.
An amazing premise, great plot that turns quite adventurous as it is progressing , a sister-brother bond that is not by blood and a cool organization of resistance.
I loved this short story so much and I could have infinite more future adventures with this cast of characters.

[Danielle Kaitlin (daniallreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, a book that would have been an AMAZING full story!

I loved the idea of knowing the change that needs to be made in the world. This was a solid read. Highly highly recommend.

[Cassandra Plunkett · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty strong conclusion to this train wreck of a 6-part series

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ Great short story!

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️ This is the 6th and final book in the Time Travelers Passport collection on KU. I've not read anything by this author before, but I will be looking up their backlog. This was a short story about a dystopian future where black people's history was re-written and the a few select people only know through "false memories" White people have been going back in time and changing history and not in a good way. This was a powerful, short story, kind of terrifying really. I hope we don't find the means to time-travel. Too much can go wrong! Yes I recommend this and the whole collection of short stories. So good!

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

only bad thing about this is that it wasn't longer.

[Liz | lizzuplans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very impressive and thought provoking.

[T. Carter Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice Twist on Changing Timelines

Clark has an excellent voice and eye for the details of alternate worlds and histories. This short story puts those skills to work in a tight, yet evocative, story about remaking history -- how that possibility can be abused, and the hope for how it can be made better.

[Jake Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily the best short story I’ve read all year! In less than 50 pages Clark manages to deliver a compelling narrative with a lasting impact. I need more people to read this

[Tomasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would work better as a novel, I think - as it is, the events cascade too fast, the moment comes and the story ends, and I get it, I do, this subject is one which makes you pick up a two by four and start swinging, but breathing is nice, too.

[Nicole P · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

this story tackles the concept of if time travel was controlled by people who manipulated the world to their advantage. here, it was used to enhance racial and socioeconomic divides, bringing the american future back to a time of segregation. the author does an incredible job to criticize this trajectory, and highlights the dangers of this type of technology falling into the wrong hands.

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What if 1984 took place in 2030, where time travel exists and trillionaire White tech bros can control the narrative—including the past?

Definitely one of my favorites of this collection!!