Making Space

The Time Traveler's Passport #2

by R.F. Kuang, Kristie Lee Walsh (Narrator)

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.

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

Audible Audio

First published November 3, 2025

About the author

Rebecca F. Kuang is a Marshall Scholar, translator, and award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy and Babel: An Arcane History, among others. She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's 30 pages long, by rf kuang, and about time travel. yeah i'm going to read it

(review to come / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)

[JJtheBookNerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is book 2 in a collection of 6 short stories revolving around the theme of time travel. All books in the series—The Time Traveller's Passport—can be read as standalones and are written by a different Author.

When Jess is running in the woods one day, she stumbles upon a child lying in the foetal position amidst a circle of burnt grass. She takes him home and names him Buddy. He doesn't know who he is or where he came from. Brianne, her friend, is a social worker whom she asks for help in finding his parents, but she can't find out anything about him, so it leaves the question—where did Buddy come from?

Jess and her husband, Chris, an ER doctor, have struggled to conceive, and most of the story seems to revolve around their battles with infertility and parenthood. We also get hints of a cheating husband and a world that is possibly dying. The meaning of the title of the book becomes evident as you progress through the story.

This one wasn't great; it was all based on assumption and ambiguity, and the plot felt clunky. It left you with far more questions than answers. I know this is short, and there is never much room to have an in-depth narrative, but even in short stories you expect something vaguely cohesive, but the plot and characters here were pretty shallow. The first book in the series was better.

[The Belladonna · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Because you burned the world, and we suffered for it, and it's not fair that you get Eden and we have to choke. But I am here now, and I am going to make space."

I dunno Goodreads, but to me in this story, Buddy here sounded like he could have been the evil offspring of Thanos from the Infinity War/End Game movies. lol "I am inevitable. Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now it's here. Or should I say, I am."

[Alina ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Making Space by R.F. Kuang didn’t feel like a typical short story from the author. It more closely resembles Rachel Eve Moulton's Tinfoil Butterfly, with similar themes of struggle and body horror. If you enjoyed Moulton's work, you’ll likely appreciate this, though it might not resonate as strongly with fans of Kuang’s usual style. Overall, it was fine, but not as impactful as I’d hoped.

[Melanie (meltotheany)]

a collection with rf kuang AND olivie blake? actual insanity for me <3

✰ the collection on amazon
✰ the collection on goodreads

[Rina | Worldsbetweenpages · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Because it's not fair," Buddy bursts out. "Because you burned the world, and we suffered for it, and it's not fair that you get Eden and we have to choke, just because you're here now, and we are not.“

- time travel
- apocalyptic future
- childless couple
- historical injustice

I really like the idea of the story. What will people do in a world damaged by earlier generations and what solutions do they have, to offer their children a better life.

[mimi (depression slump) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can only be happy for a woman who got to finally be a mother (as per her wish) and leave her deadbeat, most-likely-cheating husband.

↠ 3.5 stars

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

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

R.F. Kuang knows how to craft an ominous ambience for her stories, and this one was no exception.
At no point had I any idea of where the plot would go, which made me uneasy and led me to expect the worst. Of course in typical R.F. Kuang's style, this turns very dark by the end.

I wasn’t mind blown by this short story but it was a good one.

Thanks to Amazon Original Stories via NetGalley for providing an ALC

[♡ retrovvitches ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

r f kuang writes anything and i eat it up every time. this is no exception. this had some horror elements, it was so evil but genuinely a good little read

[Tori]

That escalated quickly lol

[emilybookedup · Rating 3 out of 5]

binged a few short stories in this series during a slight reading slump and enjoyed this one but won’t be memorable long term. it’s about 45 mins to read this so it was fun in that aspect too. the ending tho 😳😳😳 savage! deff didn’t expect that!

i just still don’t get why she didn’t call the police at the start???!!!

[taylor ⛅️ ann wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

really liked this one, would definitely read a whole book off this premise.

[Zana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars.

What in the Doctor Who S01 E09 is going on here

[Kali · Rating 1 out of 5]

Every person who I hear saying that a short story can’t offer much because of the page count, or how it would have been better had it been longer (instead of just admitting it's not well written), makes me sad. Good short stories are so difficult to write and they can offer equally as much as a full length novel: The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow is only 20 pages; The Last Question by Isaac Asimov is 9 pages; Sixteen Minutes by Premee Mohammed is 3 pages; there are many, many excellent examples. Hell, I’ve read three sentence horror stories with more substance than what Kuang has given me.

This story is a synthesis of what you can expect from Kuang’s (fiction) writing. Including but not limited to: themes of racism (superficial), classicism (superficial), misogyny (unchallenged), white and black reasoning, inconsistency, over-explanation, characters who are just caricatures, lack of nuance, and so forth.

Halfway through I had the thought that perhaps we’re supposed to hate these people, including the main character. But if that’s the case what is the story even trying to say? And it would also mean that the synopsis (which I only read after) is incorrect. Main characters’ actions are very questionable. Am I supposed to root for her keeping the child safe or dislike her for “being able to just keep the child because she’s a white woman”? Should I be happy she can now be a mother or agree with the other characters that "she'll get bored of him"? They name the child Buddy and kind of do treat him like a pet. Should I be concerned about the child’s intentions? Am I supposed to be okay with the future generation killing off the next generation to make space for themselves? Here I have a lot of logistical questions. I can’t be on the side of the OTHER characters, whom the writing seems to condemn: the shitty, possibly cheating husband, the shitty neighbours and fake friends, that one woman who is vilified for not wanting kids. What is the purpose of any of this?

“Chris is pissed, but he’s still a professional—an ER doctor, in fact, which means that every day, around the clock, he determines whether people are about to die.” yes Kuang, explain to me what an ER doctor does, please, I definitely need this in a 32 page story. Stretch that sentence as long as possible.

“Jess doesn’t know much about caring for children, but she can tell this was no game, no innocent accident.” what even is this sentence?

My point is this - short stories can be beautiful but they are difficult to execute well. That is the ultimate test for an author. This is an example of an unsuccessful attempt.

[Gerhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ‘Superman’ symbolism of finding a child in a burnt circle in a nearby forest is obvious. However, think more of James Gunn’s ‘Brightburn’, with a healthy measure of David Cronenberg. Kuang knocks it out of the park here; let’s hope she writes much more short fiction. This is creepy as fuck, but equally tender and lacerating in its observations of essentialism and privilege. Classic Kuang.

[Alan (on December semi-hiatus) Teder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of Time to Make Space
A review of the Amazon Original Stories Kindle eBook edition (November 1, 2025), released simultaneously with the Brilliance Publishing Inc. audiobook.

She sees the child. He’s lying in a fetal position in a little copse of trees, hands tucked neatly under his chin, as if he is sleeping. She thinks, at first, that he is lying on a black mat. But then she draws nearer and sees that the ground around him is burned. All the grass turned to ash in a perfect, still-smoking circle.

The meaning of the title will not be evident until close to the end, but if the image in the quote above raises memories of a once popular sci-fi movie series (Hint: "I'll be back.") then you will read Making Space with the same sense of foreboding that I did.

A mystery child appears in the forest and is quickly claimed by childless couple Jess and Chris, although the latter has misgivings. Where has the child come from and what is its purpose? The reveal has an element of horror to it. It is all sci-fi fantasy of course, but it still felt unrealistic i.e. people suddenly have a grown child and the authorities don't appear to notice or care, even though the neighbours are fully aware of the situation? It definitely had an unorthodox twist though.

Trivia and Links
Per GR ratings and reviews, author Rebecca F. Kuang is best known for the novel Yellowface (2023) about plagiarism, cultural appropriation and rivalries in the publishing world. Otherwise she is known as a writer of fantasy and sci-fi, especially the novels Babel (2022) and the recent Katabasis (2025).

Making Space is the 2nd of 6 stories in The Time Traveler's Passport anthology collection from Amazon Original Stories released on November 1, 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).

[Brok3n · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark little time-travel story

R.F. Kuang's Making Space is nominally the second story in the Amazon Originals The Traveler's Passport series. I'm working my way through the series in order (for no particular reason; as far as I know each story is standalone and they can be read in any order). The first, John Scalzi's 3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years, surprised me with a plot twist at the end that I didn't see coming.

That didn't happen with Making Space. Even though Kuang has run fewer miles of track than Scalzi, her sneakers have enough wear on them that I felt I would recognize her tracks. And I did! This is definitely a Kuang story. It's dark in a sneaky way that you won't immediately recognize. There's also a Kuangian concern with historical injustice.

It felt to me like a kind of stripped-down version of her shtick*. In a good way. It's short -- I read it in 30 min -- and in it she does well those things she's good at and she did not do those tiresome things she is sometimes guilty of.

*Kuang might point out the interesting origin of that word -- it came into English from German Stück via Yiddish comedians. But that part of her shtick was notably absent. Making Space is devoid of linguistic reflections. It also lacks the off-putting scholarly posturing she can sometimes be guilty of.

Blog review.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that good

[Lychee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

[Althea ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

this might be a me problem because something i tend to notice in books is when one of the characters is a doctor but they don’t feel or act like one — this reads like a doctor written from the perspective of a patient.

i know short stories are…. short but this was a little too open on all fronts for my taste. it didn’t have much atmosphere which i think should still be present even in short stories but i do see kuang’s usual social commentary. not bad, i just don’t think this one particularly had much of a point, or atleast to the extent that i care about. but you know what, good for her (our mc)

[Beatrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the plot and the execution, wished it was longer tho

[Vavo ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

R.F Kuang will R.F Kuanging

In true R.F Kuang fashion this was more about the message she was trying to convey rather than the setting, the time travel. I did wish that element existed more but well, I really liked the "they just give white people kids" line.

[Amy ☁️ (tinycl0ud) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story! And science fiction! I wish it were longer but this covered all the bases. Mystery? Yes. Terrifying future? Yes. Social commentary? Yes. I'm satisfied.

Jess is a woman who was perfectly okay being child-free until her husband sold her the idea of becoming a SAHM, then it became something she wanted as well. She gave up her career and they started trying, even resorting to artificial methods, but no luck. She wants to foster and adopt, but of course her husband doesn't care because all along he just wanted mini-mes and not the parenting experience. He would cry over an unborn child but not over actual children in front of him and in need. But not Jess. Jess wants to be a mother so bad she doesn't care if the child is not related to her or no longer an impressionable baby. So when she encounters a collapsed child in the woods, she brings him home without reservation. It gradually becomes clear where he's from and what he's come to do.

[Hungry Rye · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

I’m surprised at the amount of social commentary packed into this short story.

[fem – femsbookshelf(f) · Rating 4 out of 5]

OOOH THIS WOULD HAVE MADE AN EPIC FULL LENGTH NOVEL BUT I’M GLAD WE EVEN GOT THIS!

[Hamad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short story combining time travel, sci-fi elements and some social commentary. I enjoyed it but as most short stories in my opinion, could have been expanded and detailed a bit more to make more sense.

[Akankshya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the short I was most looking forward to in this collection, and I'm disappointed by it, not because it wasn't well-written, but because it was so paper-thin and utterly banal. This story deals with a woman who finds an odd child in the woods and brings him home. I can't pretend this book was particularly compelling for me, mainly because it hinges on being emotionally compelling and ends up being pretty lackluster. The only thing that saves it is the core intent behind the existence of the child.

Published as a part of The Time Traveler's Passport series, I recommend this one if you like character-driven stories about marriage and motherhood, and don't care as much about time travel.

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: ★★★★★

[Kayla T (kaylabobayla) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ rounding up!
Short story, easy read! That being said, for a quick read this had great unsettling vibes that just filled me with unease. Still found myself cheering for characters, especially near the end. Only reason a star is deducted is for how these characters were able to quickly put puzzle pieces together, with almost outlandish accuracy. I know this mini series is about time travel, but their powers of deduction were too good and I didn’t buy it (but I buy time travel - don’t question it!)

[Sjgomzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

R.F. Kuang invokes some great atmospheric dread here (you just know this isn’t going to end well), but this definitely would have benefited from a bit more fleshing out of the characters and a lot more page length. Still enjoyed it though.