In the year 1532, Francisco Pizarro and his band of conquistadors have captured the Inca Atahualpa. They are holding him for a huge ransom - two rooms full of silver and one room full of gold.

In the year 1987, a young American woman takes a day of relaxation after working all summer as a guide in the Galapagos Islands.

In the year 1885, a wife in London worries, and wonders whether she will ever see her husband again.

In the year 1610, outlaws plan to steal the ransom of Atahualpa.

In the peculiar world of the Time Patrol, all these events are tied together, and it is Manse Everard's job to sort them out and keep them from changing history.

And a rogue conquistador with a stolen time machine may be more than Manse can handle!

In The Year of the Ransom Poul Anderson, author of the classic novels The Dancer From Atlantis and Tau Zero, and winner of eleven major awards for his fiction and poetry, continues the saga of the Time Patrol with the daring and panache familiar to his millions of fans.