First Person Present Tense

Poul Anderson's Time Patrol series begins with third person narration, then introduces first person narration with the character Carl Farness except when Carl is doing field work in the fourth century when he is perceived as the Wanderer by the Goths.

"The Year Of The Ransom" begins with first person present tense narration by Wanda Tamberly. Instead of reading "...Wanda lowered the glasses," or "...I lowered the glasses," we read, "...I lower the glasses." (Time Patrol, p. 645) Sometimes the personal pronoun is omitted. Thus:

"Catch a breath, take a look around." (ibid.)

Either Wanda is recounting her actions to herself as she performs them or she is telling herself what to do, then immediately doing it. In the latter case, the verbs are not present tense indicative mood but imperative mood. Thus, the narration becomes more intricate as the series proceeds.

Wanda, on the Galapagos, thinks:

"...it was the Galapagos finches that helped Darwin understand how life works through time." (p. 644)

Thus, the text begins to prepare the reader for Wanda moving through time and working in the past.