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George Falls Through Time
A big-hearted, genre-busting love story about a man who, in a moment of extreme stress, time travels to the year 1300 . . . where his modern problems are replaced by medieval brutalities—blending
the literary dynamism of Madeline Miller with the sharp wit of Andrew Sean Greer, and perfect for fans of
The Ministry of Time.
Newly laid off George’s internet bill is in his ex-boyfriend’s name. He’s got a spider-infested apartment, and two of the six dogs he’s walking in London have just escaped. It’s pure undiluted stress that sends him into a spiral—all the way to the year 1300.
When he comes to, George recognizes the same rolling hills of Greenwich Park. But the luxuries and phone service of modernity are nowhere. In their place are locals with a bizarre, slanted speech in awe of his foreign clothes, who swiftly toss him in a dungeon. Despite the barbarity of a medieval world, a servant named Simon helps George acclimate to a simpler, easier existence. But rumors of a dragon haunting the countryside and a summons from the King threaten to send his life up in flames—this time, literally.
A confessional queer romance, a swords-and-sorcery soap opera, a paradox-embracing reimagining of the legend of St. George and the Dragon, George Falls Through Time is a profound meditation on the nature of desire that pits modern sensibilities against a raw and alien backdrop. It asks whether we can love each other without destroying one another, even when life feels like a pile of bills.
Newly laid off George’s internet bill is in his ex-boyfriend’s name. He’s got a spider-infested apartment, and two of the six dogs he’s walking in London have just escaped. It’s pure undiluted stress that sends him into a spiral—all the way to the year 1300.
When he comes to, George recognizes the same rolling hills of Greenwich Park. But the luxuries and phone service of modernity are nowhere. In their place are locals with a bizarre, slanted speech in awe of his foreign clothes, who swiftly toss him in a dungeon. Despite the barbarity of a medieval world, a servant named Simon helps George acclimate to a simpler, easier existence. But rumors of a dragon haunting the countryside and a summons from the King threaten to send his life up in flames—this time, literally.
A confessional queer romance, a swords-and-sorcery soap opera, a paradox-embracing reimagining of the legend of St. George and the Dragon, George Falls Through Time is a profound meditation on the nature of desire that pits modern sensibilities against a raw and alien backdrop. It asks whether we can love each other without destroying one another, even when life feels like a pile of bills.
12 pages, Audible Audio
First published January 20, 2026
84 people are currently reading
12005 people want to read
About the author
Ryan Collett
2 books58 followersRyan Collett is a writer, knitter, and animator. He grew up in Oregon and now lives in London where he works as an editor. He also runs a popular YouTube channel devoted to knitting. The Disassembly of Doreen Durand is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 259 reviews
January 21, 2026
A title like "George Falls Through Time," combined with a bright, almost cartoony cover, might lead you to expect a good time -- ditto the Goodreads tag "romance." But no. This is not a good time, and although George falls in love, the conditions for that love are far, far too bleak to qualify it as a romance. Besides which, you may pity George, you may empathize with him, you may even wish that his story end well, but I imagine that by the time you finish the book you'll be glad to leave him behind.
So, George. He's recently lost his job -- he did something inscrutable in the world of finance bros -- and his boyfriend, he's walking dogs to pay the rent, and he hits a moment of emotional crisis that somehow breaks time open, landing him in, geographically, the same place (London), only it's (as it takes him a while to figure out) the year 1300. Things go very badly for some time (imprisonment, starvation, torture), but eventually he and one of his captors -- Simon, a servant who's essentially a slave -- escape and go to live on a Yorkshire smallholding, Simon's inheritance. They scratch out a living and become lovers; things go okay for a while, until George is summoned before the king and ordered to kill ... a dragon.
George, dragon: get it? Right, so it's no spoiler that George does eventually kill the dragon, after an interval of bloodshed and misery inflicted on and also caused by the troops more or less commanded by Edward the Prince of Wales. He loses Simon, he wanders around England for a while doing odd jobs, he is reunited with Simon. (That's a spoiler, but you're not reading for plot I don't think.)
What is it with this book? It is so weirdly unpleasant. George is careless and selfish; all the gay men he knows and spends time with also seem to be careless and selfish, and it doesn't seem to occur to George that he may be subject to sampling error. Late in the book the term "internalized homophobia" is trotted out as though it were meaningless or a social-justice shibboleth, but ugh, George's brain is a swamp of internalized homophobia. He doesn't know any gay men who want to spend their vacation doing anything but drinking at stripper bars in Sitges, therefore gay men are shallow jerks who don't want to do anything on their vacation but etc. etc. etc. This is to say nothing of his habit of crushing on finance bros in a way that I would call masochistic except that I don't care for how that word conflates George's flavor of self-abnegation with normal erotic kink. It's difficult to know what Simon sees in him.
Give Ryan Collett credit, though, his depiction of England in 1300 CE seems to be reasonably accurate, in that it's filthy, toothless, and cruel, and the food is bad, but on the other hand the land is green and the air is beautifully clean (at least when the dragon is absent). And, as George remarks at a particularly ugly juncture, our own time is rich in all the same cruelties as 1300. There's a point when George itemizes the things he misses about 2026, most of which seem to depend on fossil fuels; well, my list would only somewhat overlap with his, but the dependence on fossil fuels would be the same.
Collett does play fast and loose with language: I don't mind that during his months of imprisonment George picks up the English of the day, but for a long time he and Simon seem to be communicating smoothly in a 21st-century idiom. Later, comprehension breaks down -- a tell, maybe, that George has been misperceiving Simon and the world all along? Maybe. The point is murky, ditto significant stretches of George's inner narrative.
Well. I was put off in a big way by George Falls Through Time, and yet I found it compelling -- in parts poignant despite my dislike of George himself and despite my inability to understand his appeal to Simon. I can't give five stars; I can't give four; yet three stars seem insufficient for a book that, however much of a mess it is, is also ambitiously about something. Even though I'm not sure what that something is.
Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC.
So, George. He's recently lost his job -- he did something inscrutable in the world of finance bros -- and his boyfriend, he's walking dogs to pay the rent, and he hits a moment of emotional crisis that somehow breaks time open, landing him in, geographically, the same place (London), only it's (as it takes him a while to figure out) the year 1300. Things go very badly for some time (imprisonment, starvation, torture), but eventually he and one of his captors -- Simon, a servant who's essentially a slave -- escape and go to live on a Yorkshire smallholding, Simon's inheritance. They scratch out a living and become lovers; things go okay for a while, until George is summoned before the king and ordered to kill ... a dragon.
George, dragon: get it? Right, so it's no spoiler that George does eventually kill the dragon, after an interval of bloodshed and misery inflicted on and also caused by the troops more or less commanded by Edward the Prince of Wales. He loses Simon, he wanders around England for a while doing odd jobs, he is reunited with Simon. (That's a spoiler, but you're not reading for plot I don't think.)
What is it with this book? It is so weirdly unpleasant. George is careless and selfish; all the gay men he knows and spends time with also seem to be careless and selfish, and it doesn't seem to occur to George that he may be subject to sampling error. Late in the book the term "internalized homophobia" is trotted out as though it were meaningless or a social-justice shibboleth, but ugh, George's brain is a swamp of internalized homophobia. He doesn't know any gay men who want to spend their vacation doing anything but drinking at stripper bars in Sitges, therefore gay men are shallow jerks who don't want to do anything on their vacation but etc. etc. etc. This is to say nothing of his habit of crushing on finance bros in a way that I would call masochistic except that I don't care for how that word conflates George's flavor of self-abnegation with normal erotic kink. It's difficult to know what Simon sees in him.
Give Ryan Collett credit, though, his depiction of England in 1300 CE seems to be reasonably accurate, in that it's filthy, toothless, and cruel, and the food is bad, but on the other hand the land is green and the air is beautifully clean (at least when the dragon is absent). And, as George remarks at a particularly ugly juncture, our own time is rich in all the same cruelties as 1300. There's a point when George itemizes the things he misses about 2026, most of which seem to depend on fossil fuels; well, my list would only somewhat overlap with his, but the dependence on fossil fuels would be the same.
Collett does play fast and loose with language: I don't mind that during his months of imprisonment George picks up the English of the day, but for a long time he and Simon seem to be communicating smoothly in a 21st-century idiom. Later, comprehension breaks down -- a tell, maybe, that George has been misperceiving Simon and the world all along? Maybe. The point is murky, ditto significant stretches of George's inner narrative.
Well. I was put off in a big way by George Falls Through Time, and yet I found it compelling -- in parts poignant despite my dislike of George himself and despite my inability to understand his appeal to Simon. I can't give five stars; I can't give four; yet three stars seem insufficient for a book that, however much of a mess it is, is also ambitiously about something. Even though I'm not sure what that something is.
Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC.
July 16, 2025
✰ 3 stars ✰
I really liked the few final chapters; yes, the ending is a bit open-ending that deserved a bit more clarity to feel the full brunt of the message being passed down. Yet, was the mystery being unearthed and solved that struck a chord with me; that through the myriad of messes that George has lived in both the medieval era of Greenwich and present-day London, I started to glean a sense of the allegory the author had presented in the form of recently broken up and broken-down thirty-four-year-old George when he spirals through time.
A chain reaction of paradoxes that ultimately led me to the final destination of what George had been searching for all along.
The writing style is a struggle; the start, even more so, for it is a first-person nonlinear narrative, highlighted with long-winded sentences and commas galore to capture George's meandering stream of consciousness and internal musings. It was painting a picture of how sorrowful his life had been and the rather self-deprecating if not self-sabotaging outlook he had on life.
His thoughts drift between the current predicaments he's facing - starting off with his initial capture and beating in Greenwich—a brutal misunderstanding as in to the past (funnily enough, his real-present); reflecting on the events that led to his tumble into a time, a struggling self-loathing dwindling path that somehow seems worse than what he's facing here. The perplexity that he somehow feels better off, better understood, better appreciated, and better wanted than he's ever been - here.
“Did I want to go home?
And which one was that?”
It did get a bit wearisome the constant comparisons of both time periods, but I felt it was much needed for George not to forget who he really was; even though a part of him was slowly losing the desire to return. It was interesting how his being a time traveler was readily accepted, if not taken in amusement.
His relationship with Simon had some lovable moments; true, they didn't exactly start off on the right foot, but Simon was so earnest in his "devotion" to George that it scared him; a matter-of-fact approach that was so truthful and earnest in how he expressed it - I’m bound to you that it scared George of how it painfully reminded him of himself.
The aim to please - to mean something to someone, because after all, no matter who you are, is that not something we all crave - companionship? Love. We had survived because we were together. ' A way to fight off loneliness with a longing for openness and acceptance. The feeling to belong to someone that they would care enough for you, to want you, no matter what.
If it took for George Falls Through Time for him to discern the difference between a real relationship than the ill-fated ones he's lived, to snap out of the existential crisis -mental torture, emotional duress, heartbreak - that had shattered his spirit and dampened his soul, than it certainly worked. But, not without a bump or more, or dare I say, a dragon and then some?
“If you are what you say you are, then erase this history from whatever future awaits us.”
When he is tasked by the King of England - a witness to all the world’s capacity for folly - of obliterating the fiery breathing dragon that has plagued their lands, it opens up a whole other portrayal of what this story - well, to me, anyway - aimed to be. You have to want something so badly, in order to obtain it; that you will not lose hope and fight till the bitter end to claim what your heart wants and not give up.
For when he confronts the beast, it's not what he nor I was expecting, and yet, it felt oddly fitting. The hints were there, the clues laid out, the uncertainty touched; but it had to be George's own conviction wavering for him to finally draw his sword to do what needed to be done.
Prince Edward grew on me; his heartache and his tragically doomed relationship with his father could have been explored more, but I know it was not the purpose of the story. But, his interactions with George had a lot of weight to them, a solid reminder of how we should embrace life and make the most of it now, for we don't know when we'll have it again. To live and love - to take a chance, to take a risk, to give it your all.
“The grandeur of being exactly where you’re meant to be, no matter the cost. No matter the cost. It had to be no matter the cost.”
When the dust cleared, I somewhat felt like I had understood what the message was. It's maybe a bit too abstract to really be it, but even if it is a long way from the real symbolism behind the allegory of Saint George slaying the dragon, it felt to me that George's journey was a proverbial manifestation of something we take for granted; that there are things we simply cannot outrun or outlive and that is time, itself.
*Thank you to Edelweiss for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
“As wrecked and ruined as I was, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.”
I really liked the few final chapters; yes, the ending is a bit open-ending that deserved a bit more clarity to feel the full brunt of the message being passed down. Yet, was the mystery being unearthed and solved that struck a chord with me; that through the myriad of messes that George has lived in both the medieval era of Greenwich and present-day London, I started to glean a sense of the allegory the author had presented in the form of recently broken up and broken-down thirty-four-year-old George when he spirals through time.
A chain reaction of paradoxes that ultimately led me to the final destination of what George had been searching for all along.
The writing style is a struggle; the start, even more so, for it is a first-person nonlinear narrative, highlighted with long-winded sentences and commas galore to capture George's meandering stream of consciousness and internal musings. It was painting a picture of how sorrowful his life had been and the rather self-deprecating if not self-sabotaging outlook he had on life.
His thoughts drift between the current predicaments he's facing - starting off with his initial capture and beating in Greenwich—a brutal misunderstanding as in to the past (funnily enough, his real-present); reflecting on the events that led to his tumble into a time, a struggling self-loathing dwindling path that somehow seems worse than what he's facing here. The perplexity that he somehow feels better off, better understood, better appreciated, and better wanted than he's ever been - here.
“Did I want to go home?
And which one was that?”
It did get a bit wearisome the constant comparisons of both time periods, but I felt it was much needed for George not to forget who he really was; even though a part of him was slowly losing the desire to return. It was interesting how his being a time traveler was readily accepted, if not taken in amusement.
His relationship with Simon had some lovable moments; true, they didn't exactly start off on the right foot, but Simon was so earnest in his "devotion" to George that it scared him; a matter-of-fact approach that was so truthful and earnest in how he expressed it - I’m bound to you that it scared George of how it painfully reminded him of himself.
The aim to please - to mean something to someone, because after all, no matter who you are, is that not something we all crave - companionship? Love. We had survived because we were together. ' A way to fight off loneliness with a longing for openness and acceptance. The feeling to belong to someone that they would care enough for you, to want you, no matter what.
If it took for George Falls Through Time for him to discern the difference between a real relationship than the ill-fated ones he's lived, to snap out of the existential crisis -mental torture, emotional duress, heartbreak - that had shattered his spirit and dampened his soul, than it certainly worked. But, not without a bump or more, or dare I say, a dragon and then some?
“If you are what you say you are, then erase this history from whatever future awaits us.”
When he is tasked by the King of England - a witness to all the world’s capacity for folly - of obliterating the fiery breathing dragon that has plagued their lands, it opens up a whole other portrayal of what this story - well, to me, anyway - aimed to be. You have to want something so badly, in order to obtain it; that you will not lose hope and fight till the bitter end to claim what your heart wants and not give up.
For when he confronts the beast, it's not what he nor I was expecting, and yet, it felt oddly fitting. The hints were there, the clues laid out, the uncertainty touched; but it had to be George's own conviction wavering for him to finally draw his sword to do what needed to be done.
Prince Edward grew on me; his heartache and his tragically doomed relationship with his father could have been explored more, but I know it was not the purpose of the story. But, his interactions with George had a lot of weight to them, a solid reminder of how we should embrace life and make the most of it now, for we don't know when we'll have it again. To live and love - to take a chance, to take a risk, to give it your all.
“The grandeur of being exactly where you’re meant to be, no matter the cost. No matter the cost. It had to be no matter the cost.”
When the dust cleared, I somewhat felt like I had understood what the message was. It's maybe a bit too abstract to really be it, but even if it is a long way from the real symbolism behind the allegory of Saint George slaying the dragon, it felt to me that George's journey was a proverbial manifestation of something we take for granted; that there are things we simply cannot outrun or outlive and that is time, itself.
*Thank you to Edelweiss for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
October 6, 2025
Readers, don't be fooled by the whimsical cover: this book is not a good time. It's an exercise in misery. George, in 2026, is miserable; moreover, he is portrayed (in his own first person narration) as the type of person who is always miserable -- who always has been and always will be. This novel is steeped in a kind of queer self-hatred that itself seems somewhat out of time; there were moments of internalized homophobia that shocked me. It doesn't make for an enjoyable reading experience.
Thrust back into the year 1300, George's circumstances do not improve: I hope you like several chapters of torture! Even once freed from literal torment, the emotional slog continues for the rest of the book, as Collett introduces new time travel rules willy-nilly and pontificates about how old-fashioned manual labor is more noble than modern, mental labor -- is it, novelist and YouTuber? Ultimately, I found myself almost as put off by what Collett seems to be saying about humanity as I was by George's constant Eeyore-ing. Why so cynical? And I'm saying this from the perspective of someone sick with the flu in 2025.
Talking myself closer and closer to one star the more I go on, but I'll leave it at two because I appreciate that Collett was at least striving for something. But in my opinion, he fell short.
Thrust back into the year 1300, George's circumstances do not improve: I hope you like several chapters of torture! Even once freed from literal torment, the emotional slog continues for the rest of the book, as Collett introduces new time travel rules willy-nilly and pontificates about how old-fashioned manual labor is more noble than modern, mental labor -- is it, novelist and YouTuber? Ultimately, I found myself almost as put off by what Collett seems to be saying about humanity as I was by George's constant Eeyore-ing. Why so cynical? And I'm saying this from the perspective of someone sick with the flu in 2025.
Talking myself closer and closer to one star the more I go on, but I'll leave it at two because I appreciate that Collett was at least striving for something. But in my opinion, he fell short.
November 5, 2025
Hilariously funny and relatable despite the time travel, dragons, and medieval brutalities.
I was highly entertained! I laughed out loud, I pondered my existence a bit, googled a few things, and finished thinking WTF just happened. All signs of a great book.
I don’t know that I fully understand the ending, I think the ambiguity was intentional but it could also be that I’m not smart enough. Either way, if you prefer tightly wrapped ending, be warned this one isn’t wrapped with a bow.
The genre-defying claim feels appropriate for this one. It’s literary fiction, but also speculative, a generous helping of romance, and a hefty dose of humor (satire perhaps?).
imho, George Falls Through Time would be the perfect palate cleanser for when you need something a little different but aren’t ready to give up what you love. ie. fantasy readers wanting to explore litfic, or litfic readers looking for a touch of fantasy, etc.
I will absolutely be checking out more from this author in the future!
Audio Narration: 5/5 Seriously good narration! I’m pretty sure the narrator’s performance increased my enjoyment of this story. He really brought the characters to life! Pacing was a little slow, but consistent (so not really an issue imho). Pausing, inflection, and voice variation were all fabulous!
| IG | TikTok |
Thank you William Morrow for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.
I was highly entertained! I laughed out loud, I pondered my existence a bit, googled a few things, and finished thinking WTF just happened. All signs of a great book.
I don’t know that I fully understand the ending, I think the ambiguity was intentional but it could also be that I’m not smart enough. Either way, if you prefer tightly wrapped ending, be warned this one isn’t wrapped with a bow.
The genre-defying claim feels appropriate for this one. It’s literary fiction, but also speculative, a generous helping of romance, and a hefty dose of humor (satire perhaps?).
imho, George Falls Through Time would be the perfect palate cleanser for when you need something a little different but aren’t ready to give up what you love. ie. fantasy readers wanting to explore litfic, or litfic readers looking for a touch of fantasy, etc.
I will absolutely be checking out more from this author in the future!
Audio Narration: 5/5 Seriously good narration! I’m pretty sure the narrator’s performance increased my enjoyment of this story. He really brought the characters to life! Pacing was a little slow, but consistent (so not really an issue imho). Pausing, inflection, and voice variation were all fabulous!
| IG | TikTok |
Thank you William Morrow for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.
October 25, 2025
0.5 stars
George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett is nothing more than a rambling diary entry of an insufferable, emotionally stunted gay man disguised as a fun time travel fantasy.
When I started George Falls Through Time, I was immediately put off by the whining self-loathing of the main character, George. He can’t get over his breakup, his alienation and loneliness, and his inability to form healthy relationships with men. But I figured that his sudden teleportation to the year 1300 would shake things up and lead to some character growth. Apparently not.
While the plot appears to have the ingredients to produce an interesting story—time travel, gay romance, dragons—the narrative is entirely hampered by the main character. He’s a miserable, self-pitying figure who refuses to shift his priorities even when confronted with time travel to the Middle Ages and dragons. He’s obsessed with his inability to connect with other men (platonically or romantically) in a healthy manner. Even when he forms a romance with a peasant from the 1300s named Simon, he doesn’t change. He never learns how to communicate or set aside his own self-loathing to prioritize another person in his life. The book presents the ending as some grand romantic revelation, but really it’s just a huge red flag that shows how little George actually grows in his conception of human connection and romance.
I appreciate that the author tries to make some legitimate historiographical points through his narrative. For example, he emphasizes that people from the past were just human beings like people are today, with the same level of morality, intelligence, and virtues and foibles. But I think Collett goes too far with this characterization and flattens the cultural and social distinctions between people of the Middle Ages and people of the modern era. I don’t think the author spent much time researching the worldviews and broad cultural understandings of people in Medieval England. This would be fine if this book was content to be a fun goofy, time travel story, but instead we’re stuck with insufferable George in an uncanny, pseudo-historical setting.
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 4, 2025
3.25⭐
I have many, many thoughts...
George is going through it: he's freshly broken up with, working a low-rent job as a dogwalker, and just all around struggling to make it by. When out at a park, he slips through time and lands in the distant past. George, now, not only has to navigate his new surroundings, but figure out the larger circumstances of how he time-travelled in the first place.
I have some thoughts around this book... I'll start by saying that this book was definitely interesting, fun, and unorthodox. (I'm leaving aside any comments that George - who is said to be 34 years old - seems to have the internal dialogue of a 20-year-old, but let me mind my business.) The overall narrative is a little stream-of-consciousness, which I agree with other reviewers who felt this took them out of the current story. But, I do think that the overall effect was pretty solid.
That all said, I do raise issue with the plot and some of the choices made, especially by George. I understand he's dealing with his own forms of trauma and misuse in the past, as well as some internalized demons that he is dealing with, but many of the decisions he makes in the novel had me scratching my head. For example, when George time-travels to 1300, he doesn't seem to be trying very hard to return to his original time, nor does he seem to give much thought to how he travelled in the first place. (Non-spoiler spoiler alert: you don't find out the reason until the last 25% of the book.) I think the writing had some good points, but I was left wanting a bit more, especially with how the book just sort of ends, with little explanation or conclusion.
I didn't hate this book, but I can't say I'm over the moon about it. Did I like it? Yes. Do I wish it had gone through another edit or two? Sure. Overall, it's just...fine.
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for sending me an ARC of this work!
I have many, many thoughts...
George is going through it: he's freshly broken up with, working a low-rent job as a dogwalker, and just all around struggling to make it by. When out at a park, he slips through time and lands in the distant past. George, now, not only has to navigate his new surroundings, but figure out the larger circumstances of how he time-travelled in the first place.
I have some thoughts around this book... I'll start by saying that this book was definitely interesting, fun, and unorthodox. (I'm leaving aside any comments that George - who is said to be 34 years old - seems to have the internal dialogue of a 20-year-old, but let me mind my business.) The overall narrative is a little stream-of-consciousness, which I agree with other reviewers who felt this took them out of the current story. But, I do think that the overall effect was pretty solid.
That all said, I do raise issue with the plot and some of the choices made, especially by George. I understand he's dealing with his own forms of trauma and misuse in the past, as well as some internalized demons that he is dealing with, but many of the decisions he makes in the novel had me scratching my head. For example, when George time-travels to 1300, he doesn't seem to be trying very hard to return to his original time, nor does he seem to give much thought to how he travelled in the first place. (Non-spoiler spoiler alert: you don't find out the reason until the last 25% of the book.) I think the writing had some good points, but I was left wanting a bit more, especially with how the book just sort of ends, with little explanation or conclusion.
I didn't hate this book, but I can't say I'm over the moon about it. Did I like it? Yes. Do I wish it had gone through another edit or two? Sure. Overall, it's just...fine.
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for sending me an ARC of this work!
September 8, 2025
2.5 stars, rounded down to 2. In theory, this book should have been perfect for me because I love time travel in books and movies and for having an LGBTQ+ character transplanted to the year 1300, among other reasons. But the book was problematic from the start, as its main character, George, was someone I didn't much care about. Also problematic was the way he traveled back in time. Books, TV, and movies have found many, MANY ways for their characters to move back and forth through time, and all of them have asked big suspensions of disbelief from us. Even when they aren't super convincing or logical, one lets oneself get caught up in a good story and moves on, but I could never get past the fact that the way George falls through time just didn't make much sense, and the story never soared enough for me to ignore that.
A lot of other things didn't make sense. George travels back 700+ years so it becomes difficult to communicate with people speaking Medieval English, and yet, within only a few weeks, George is able to understand and speak fairly fluently. Also distracting were the many anachronisms that starting coming right away. And the last thing I'll share here is that the love story never caught fire for me. (Pun intended; IYKYK.)
Many thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
A lot of other things didn't make sense. George travels back 700+ years so it becomes difficult to communicate with people speaking Medieval English, and yet, within only a few weeks, George is able to understand and speak fairly fluently. Also distracting were the many anachronisms that starting coming right away. And the last thing I'll share here is that the love story never caught fire for me. (Pun intended; IYKYK.)
Many thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
January 19, 2026
2.5
I think this book has fallen prey to the conundrum of expectation vs reality. The cover looks fun and whimsical, and the blurb promises both exhilarating adventure and profound meditation. While there were a few chapters sprinkled here and there that would live up to those qualifiers, most of the book was spent with George in utter misery.
In the past, he is literally tortured for months on end. In the future, he sets himself on a path of misery and self-loathing that he seems incapable of resisting. I really thought this would be a fun time travel adventure where he finds romance while growing as a human, but I don’t think George is confident enough to know who he is or what he wants through most of the book. His waffling back and forth at every turn frustrated me to no end.
I do love time travel, and the time travel + dragon situation did intrigue me. It felt at times that the rules were just thrown out there though, instead of being carefully woven into the story. I always say I don’t need all of the rules, but I need to know the author knows them all and remains consistent with them, and this didn’t quite feel like it live up to that expectation.
I will say I finally felt like we got some character development and constructive introspection toward the very end, which I really appreciated. It felt like it was too little, too late, though, as far as what finally prompted this to happen. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me, but maybe those going into it with different expectations will enjoy it more!
I went back and forth between the print and audio, and I will say I did enjoy the narration by Samuel Barnett.
Thank you so much to William Morrow and Harper Audio Adult / Libro.fm for the advanced copies of the book!
I think this book has fallen prey to the conundrum of expectation vs reality. The cover looks fun and whimsical, and the blurb promises both exhilarating adventure and profound meditation. While there were a few chapters sprinkled here and there that would live up to those qualifiers, most of the book was spent with George in utter misery.
In the past, he is literally tortured for months on end. In the future, he sets himself on a path of misery and self-loathing that he seems incapable of resisting. I really thought this would be a fun time travel adventure where he finds romance while growing as a human, but I don’t think George is confident enough to know who he is or what he wants through most of the book. His waffling back and forth at every turn frustrated me to no end.
I do love time travel, and the time travel + dragon situation did intrigue me. It felt at times that the rules were just thrown out there though, instead of being carefully woven into the story. I always say I don’t need all of the rules, but I need to know the author knows them all and remains consistent with them, and this didn’t quite feel like it live up to that expectation.
I will say I finally felt like we got some character development and constructive introspection toward the very end, which I really appreciated. It felt like it was too little, too late, though, as far as what finally prompted this to happen. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me, but maybe those going into it with different expectations will enjoy it more!
I went back and forth between the print and audio, and I will say I did enjoy the narration by Samuel Barnett.
Thank you so much to William Morrow and Harper Audio Adult / Libro.fm for the advanced copies of the book!
February 5, 2026
i'm either going to have lots to say about this or nothing, i'm gonna give it a day or so . . . or maybe i won't.
August 3, 2025
This was a wild ride. I don't think I was expecting such an introspective book in what I thought was going to be an adventure time-traveling fantasy (a la Outlander). George Falls Through Time (GFTT) is much more about the titular character figuring out who he is, learning how to love and be loved, and figuring out what matters in life.
The main character George is a MESS and the narrative is a first-person stream of consciousness of all his thoughts, feelings, and fears. I struggled at times to wade through George's wallowing, but the other main character, Simon, was a helpful foil to balance out the George pity partying. I really liked Simon and wished we got more time with him and/or his perspective. Their relationship was not insta-love but the development of this relationship was not really on paper. How they came to love each other was less the point and there was more focus on what loving each other actually means.
The narrative jumps around from the "present" (in the past) to George's "past" life in the future and we readers really get to understand all of George's rough edges. GFTT diverges from the typical time-traveling story of how the future person handles and experiences the past, and George's experience of queerness in the past is quite interesting. The time-traveling mode itself was also very unique and a fun twist. The ending was open ended, which isn't always my favorite, but works in this book's favor.
I would recommend GFTT to someone who is looking for more literary fiction experience queer coming of age story than sci fi/fantasy. I appreciated the unique story and premise and never really knew what was going to happen next.
Thank you, William Morrow, for the arc!
The main character George is a MESS and the narrative is a first-person stream of consciousness of all his thoughts, feelings, and fears. I struggled at times to wade through George's wallowing, but the other main character, Simon, was a helpful foil to balance out the George pity partying. I really liked Simon and wished we got more time with him and/or his perspective. Their relationship was not insta-love but the development of this relationship was not really on paper. How they came to love each other was less the point and there was more focus on what loving each other actually means.
The narrative jumps around from the "present" (in the past) to George's "past" life in the future and we readers really get to understand all of George's rough edges. GFTT diverges from the typical time-traveling story of how the future person handles and experiences the past, and George's experience of queerness in the past is quite interesting. The time-traveling mode itself was also very unique and a fun twist. The ending was open ended, which isn't always my favorite, but works in this book's favor.
I would recommend GFTT to someone who is looking for more literary fiction experience queer coming of age story than sci fi/fantasy. I appreciated the unique story and premise and never really knew what was going to happen next.
Thank you, William Morrow, for the arc!
September 16, 2025
This book was won in a giveaway, and I’d like to start off by saying that I’m grateful for that! I hope my honest review is accepted, even if the book didn’t land with me.
—
This book…made me miserable. The main character was miserable. He was miserable to read about. Some snippets at the beginning were fun to read, but the majority of the writing oscillated between varying shades of pessimism and nihilism. Most of the characters were unlikable. The ending left me unsatisfied and feeling a bit sapped of love and wonder. This novel was introspective in a sad and incredibly lonely way. I don’t feel that it was marketed accurately—the cover and description made the book look like it was more of a whimsical, romantic journey, despite modern and medieval stressors (which is why I entered the giveaway), and that was altogether not the case. George was unhappy. Both modern and historic settings were unhappy. And the book spent, like, a LOT of time expounding upon that.
Potential readers should just be aware of these things. It may land with others, but unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. Readers of more experimental literary-fiction may enjoy it.
—
This book…made me miserable. The main character was miserable. He was miserable to read about. Some snippets at the beginning were fun to read, but the majority of the writing oscillated between varying shades of pessimism and nihilism. Most of the characters were unlikable. The ending left me unsatisfied and feeling a bit sapped of love and wonder. This novel was introspective in a sad and incredibly lonely way. I don’t feel that it was marketed accurately—the cover and description made the book look like it was more of a whimsical, romantic journey, despite modern and medieval stressors (which is why I entered the giveaway), and that was altogether not the case. George was unhappy. Both modern and historic settings were unhappy. And the book spent, like, a LOT of time expounding upon that.
Potential readers should just be aware of these things. It may land with others, but unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. Readers of more experimental literary-fiction may enjoy it.
November 17, 2025
Thanks, I hate it. Bleak and grim, written in the dirty realism style, everything is awful and everything hurts. George goes back in time and is immediately assaulted, thrown in a cell, and tortured for months. MONTHS. He is deeply psychologically messed up by all this, except for how he isn’t. Pretty much everyone he meets is terrible, often for reasons that are inexplicable (and no attempt is made to explain them). The writing isn’t beautiful enough to do justice to the pre-industrial natural world (please go check out Hild by Nicola Griffith, if you’re craving that) and instead everything just…plods. Plodding scenes of Medieval England are broken up by pages and pages and PAGES of George ruminating on how awful his ‘real’ life is/was and also how he as a person is a failure and basically evil. (I am exaggerating, but only slightly.) Dragons were mentioned, but I only made it to 26% of this before I called it quits, and by that time no dragons had appeared. I’ve no idea if they’ll show up on-page later. (Presumably, from the blurb???)
More likely to appeal to fans of literary fiction than SFF, but overall: WOW NO THANK YOU.
More likely to appeal to fans of literary fiction than SFF, but overall: WOW NO THANK YOU.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
2⭐️
This was not what I thought I was walking into.
What I assumed would be an exciting and hopeful story about finding happiness on a weird and wacky adventure through time, ended up being a man kind of just going along with whatever and being a massive downer about the whole thing.
George was the WORST. I understand complex characters, I understand that you don't have to be pleasant and likable to be a good character but George not only majorly sucked, he also had no character growth at all and no personality aside from being insanely miserable and cynical.
We spend way too much of the book hearing him drone on and on about losing his job and his boyfriend breaking up with him. It's insanely repetitive for no reason, as it doesn't get expanded on enough to warrant it being the ONLY thing we ever hear him reference from his life in 2026.
Unfortunately, beyond those two facts George is a cardboard cut-out of a man. There's nothing else to him and nothing to motivate a reader to relate to or sympathize with him. I couldn't buy in to the big romance plotline that carries a large chunk of the book, as I didn't understand how it came about. How am I suppsoed to believe that him or his lover care for eachother when the characters themselves are so vapid and empty.
Good on the author for trying something very unique. This definitely had some interesting ideas going on that could've been really fun if the overall mood of the book wasn't desolation and abject misery. I also do like how the author worked in how modern English is incredibly different to medival English and what it would be like to be thrown back in time to a place that speaks your language and yet, doesn't.
Athough I don't have many positive opinions on this book, I do think that this will have it's audience. With how unique of a mash-up the (crazy) setting and the (dreary) tone is I'm sure it'll click with some readers in a way that I just couldn't.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
This was not what I thought I was walking into.
What I assumed would be an exciting and hopeful story about finding happiness on a weird and wacky adventure through time, ended up being a man kind of just going along with whatever and being a massive downer about the whole thing.
George was the WORST. I understand complex characters, I understand that you don't have to be pleasant and likable to be a good character but George not only majorly sucked, he also had no character growth at all and no personality aside from being insanely miserable and cynical.
We spend way too much of the book hearing him drone on and on about losing his job and his boyfriend breaking up with him. It's insanely repetitive for no reason, as it doesn't get expanded on enough to warrant it being the ONLY thing we ever hear him reference from his life in 2026.
Unfortunately, beyond those two facts George is a cardboard cut-out of a man. There's nothing else to him and nothing to motivate a reader to relate to or sympathize with him. I couldn't buy in to the big romance plotline that carries a large chunk of the book, as I didn't understand how it came about. How am I suppsoed to believe that him or his lover care for eachother when the characters themselves are so vapid and empty.
Good on the author for trying something very unique. This definitely had some interesting ideas going on that could've been really fun if the overall mood of the book wasn't desolation and abject misery. I also do like how the author worked in how modern English is incredibly different to medival English and what it would be like to be thrown back in time to a place that speaks your language and yet, doesn't.
Athough I don't have many positive opinions on this book, I do think that this will have it's audience. With how unique of a mash-up the (crazy) setting and the (dreary) tone is I'm sure it'll click with some readers in a way that I just couldn't.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
February 4, 2026
Thank you Book Club Girl for sending me a free advance copy!
When I was offered the chance to read GEORGE FALLS THROUGH TIME I jumped on it even though the medieval period isn’t exactly my jam. It being a queer romance and having a time travel aspect is what piqued my interest. Great story potential but it’s a rough start right out of the gate.
George, the main character, was the issue. His stream of consciousness misery was off putting. He doesn’t have his stuff together, his life is messy. That’s fine and to be honest something I can relate to. The problem for me was the lack of ownership. I lost my investment in the character early on and didn’t care much if he was ever going to achieve personal growth.
While the book missed the mark for me, I appreciate when an author thinks outside the box and delivers a unique story.
When I was offered the chance to read GEORGE FALLS THROUGH TIME I jumped on it even though the medieval period isn’t exactly my jam. It being a queer romance and having a time travel aspect is what piqued my interest. Great story potential but it’s a rough start right out of the gate.
George, the main character, was the issue. His stream of consciousness misery was off putting. He doesn’t have his stuff together, his life is messy. That’s fine and to be honest something I can relate to. The problem for me was the lack of ownership. I lost my investment in the character early on and didn’t care much if he was ever going to achieve personal growth.
While the book missed the mark for me, I appreciate when an author thinks outside the box and delivers a unique story.
February 10, 2026
Exactly where in the bookstore or library would George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett be found? It’s literary fiction, LGBTQIA+, science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy and British combined with time travel. George is miserable in life, love and work. He time travels while searching for an escaped dog from his dog walking gig. There are some humorous moments in between more miserable moments. George finds friendship, companionship and maybe love. I believe George suffers from “don’t know what he’s got until it’s gone.” This story wasn’t the right fit for me as I kept saying I need to finish this book instead of want. The narrator, Samuel Barnett, does a great job. ALC was provided by HarperAudio Adult via NetGalley. I received an audiobook listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
January 18, 2026
The cover and title suggests a cosy, fun fantasy, unfortunately that’s not what we get.
This book was honestly a drag, we open with chapters of torture, a world built by an author who feels like they don’t know the rules of their own world, and the most miserable main character.
I wanted love and time travel and dragons. Instead I got the most miserable man and a story I couldn’t care less about.
George is honestly such an unlikeable main character, he spends the majority of the book filled with self loathing and internalised homophobia. It’s almost like he takes pleasure in being so much of a killjoy.
The way he treats all his partners is horrible and besides deep throating some medicine off his lover’s fingers, there’s no love or lust or yearning for his partner, Simon, at all. He only has a revelation that he loves him after George decides to cowards way out and leave Simon for 2026 and loses Simon instead.
The author then tries to retroactively add in these thoughts George has of love for Simon, but at this point it’s the second last chapter and I don’t believe him, we never saw these feelings or moments earlier in the book.
Overall this was a disappointing read that I had to force myself to listen to at times.
2 stars
This book was honestly a drag, we open with chapters of torture, a world built by an author who feels like they don’t know the rules of their own world, and the most miserable main character.
I wanted love and time travel and dragons. Instead I got the most miserable man and a story I couldn’t care less about.
George is honestly such an unlikeable main character, he spends the majority of the book filled with self loathing and internalised homophobia. It’s almost like he takes pleasure in being so much of a killjoy.
The way he treats all his partners is horrible and besides deep throating some medicine off his lover’s fingers, there’s no love or lust or yearning for his partner, Simon, at all. He only has a revelation that he loves him after George decides to cowards way out and leave Simon for 2026 and loses Simon instead.
The author then tries to retroactively add in these thoughts George has of love for Simon, but at this point it’s the second last chapter and I don’t believe him, we never saw these feelings or moments earlier in the book.
Overall this was a disappointing read that I had to force myself to listen to at times.
2 stars
January 22, 2026
2.8
*Review to come*
*Review to come*
Read
January 20, 2026Why is book so miserable when cover so whimsical?
DNF
DNF
February 11, 2026
A true 3.5 stars. I was able to get the ARC of this novel before its publication date and have read the ARC, so keep that in mind if parts of my review don’t line up with the final printed and published novel.
Oh, George, my George! I really wanted to love you, and I did! Truly this novel was great. Some people will say that the quirky and attractive cover baits you into reading the story only to deliver the opposite, and to that I say… kind of? The cover definitely speaks of a quirky time traveler romance and not the kind that we end up reading. George travels from 2026 London to 1300 London, two drastically different time periods yet one is much more queer friendly than expected (hint: it’s not the one you’re thinking of!) His narrative voice is definitely that of a slightly pessimistic, overworked and under appreciated accounting manager in the modern world. He’s sardonic, funny, and emotionally repressed. Perfect recipe for a 1300’s romance and scandal.
While I really enjoyed George’s narrative voice in the modern era, when he time travels to the past that voice no longer serves the same purpose. It feels disjointed in comparison to the ways of speaking of the 1300s. He speaks to differentiate himself from the others around him, and it just doesn’t resonate the same. Ryan Collet writes that George dumbs down his speech to match the slower paced dialect of the time, but the writing doesn’t represent that. Everyone speaks as if they’ve come from 2026 and it doesn’t help with the immersion of the novel. I know it sounds like such a small thing, but when your novel is half dialogue (as most novels are) and the dialogue doesn’t mesh well with the plot and setting, it’s hard to get over and accept.
But enough with being an accent coach with George. We must discuss Simon. Oh Simon, I don’t think I can form a solid opinion on you. The most compelling part of your relationship with George is the dark beginning you had with him! Meant to be played out as a knight in shining armor for George, someone who can show him the lay of the land (literally and figuratively) while also filling that romantic hole left in George’s heart by unappreciative and unapologetically straight finance bros. I loved their relationship, then doubted it, and then just ended up confused and noncommittal on how I feel about them (especially with that ending).
We can’t talk about Simon and George without talking about the way homosexuality (and I say that instead of queerness because the characters in this book are explicitly gay , not queer, which I think is an important distinction) is viewed and respected. No one really has a problem with gay people, which I loved! Was I surprised? Absolutely, but George was definitely more surprised than myself. It was a nice change of pace; fantasy or period novels can never let gay people be in love in peace, and this one did! There’s the problem of Prince Edward but I don’t think we really have to get into that (except that unflattering nickname George gave him that makes up for the lack of homophobia in the novel tenfold), and the confusing King that serves a purpose but not enough of one to have whole chapters dedicated to his letters that talk of mostly nothing. This is all to say that the topic and discussion of homosexuality in the 1300s is nothing compared to George’s memories of his life and his perpetually unnamed boyfriends from the 21st century. George goes through quintessential gaybait and relationships with many of his finance colleagues, and it hurts how realistic it is. You wish you could go back in time again and shake George silly, to tell him, “he’s not worth it because he doesn’t like you!” It’s degrading, it’s sad, and he puts himself through it over and over again, as if his continuous pain will be worth it somehow in the end. And I guess it is when he meets Simon.
Now, for the elephant in the room. Or I should say, the dragon. I absolutely love dragons in every space, in every category, in every telling of a story—dragons come out on top. And this novel is no different. I absolutely cheered when the dragon made an appearance, I could’ve done a backflip when Collet confirmed that yes , there do be dragons! And while the dragon is the main rising and falling action of the novel, there’s not enough of him. He’s severely underutilized in a novel where he is meant to be utilized! This is where the rating of the novel mainly comes in; having a time traveler concept mesh with the ancient mythology of a dragon is endlessly cool… until you do absolutely nothing with it. What a waste of a dragon, but maybe it works out because it’s not like the time traveler concept was too heavily explored either (I mean, can we get some definitive answers here?) I don’t even want to touch on how the dragon is written and described though, because what do you mean the dragon is crossing his arms. We just have to move on from this.
The ending. Wow. That ending. Equal parts infuriating, satisfying, fitting, and frustrating. Is it possible for an ending to do all of that? Well, this one does. Like I mentioned before, severely underutilizing the dragon; and just the lack of explanation for everything makes the ending fall flat! In order to keep this spoiler free, I’ll be brief in my frustrations, but how many more times must George pity himself to the point where I wish I could just slap his mouth shut? And to what purpose does Simon’s “an angel visited me in the middle of the night” speech serve if we never talk about the other elephant in the room, the angel! And who are the dragons “comrades,” who are his coworkers?! This novel does one of the things that will always annoy me with science fiction concepts—never explaining the novum of the piece because it’s “meant” to be confusing to the reader and main characters.
All in all, I enjoyed this novel even if it sounded like I didn’t. I had a fun time reading it, laughed when needed, swooned when appropriate, and applauded when asked.
Oh, George, my George! I really wanted to love you, and I did! Truly this novel was great. Some people will say that the quirky and attractive cover baits you into reading the story only to deliver the opposite, and to that I say… kind of? The cover definitely speaks of a quirky time traveler romance and not the kind that we end up reading. George travels from 2026 London to 1300 London, two drastically different time periods yet one is much more queer friendly than expected (hint: it’s not the one you’re thinking of!) His narrative voice is definitely that of a slightly pessimistic, overworked and under appreciated accounting manager in the modern world. He’s sardonic, funny, and emotionally repressed. Perfect recipe for a 1300’s romance and scandal.
While I really enjoyed George’s narrative voice in the modern era, when he time travels to the past that voice no longer serves the same purpose. It feels disjointed in comparison to the ways of speaking of the 1300s. He speaks to differentiate himself from the others around him, and it just doesn’t resonate the same. Ryan Collet writes that George dumbs down his speech to match the slower paced dialect of the time, but the writing doesn’t represent that. Everyone speaks as if they’ve come from 2026 and it doesn’t help with the immersion of the novel. I know it sounds like such a small thing, but when your novel is half dialogue (as most novels are) and the dialogue doesn’t mesh well with the plot and setting, it’s hard to get over and accept.
But enough with being an accent coach with George. We must discuss Simon. Oh Simon, I don’t think I can form a solid opinion on you. The most compelling part of your relationship with George is the dark beginning you had with him! Meant to be played out as a knight in shining armor for George, someone who can show him the lay of the land (literally and figuratively) while also filling that romantic hole left in George’s heart by unappreciative and unapologetically straight finance bros. I loved their relationship, then doubted it, and then just ended up confused and noncommittal on how I feel about them (especially with that ending).
We can’t talk about Simon and George without talking about the way homosexuality (and I say that instead of queerness because the characters in this book are explicitly gay , not queer, which I think is an important distinction) is viewed and respected. No one really has a problem with gay people, which I loved! Was I surprised? Absolutely, but George was definitely more surprised than myself. It was a nice change of pace; fantasy or period novels can never let gay people be in love in peace, and this one did! There’s the problem of Prince Edward but I don’t think we really have to get into that (except that unflattering nickname George gave him that makes up for the lack of homophobia in the novel tenfold), and the confusing King that serves a purpose but not enough of one to have whole chapters dedicated to his letters that talk of mostly nothing. This is all to say that the topic and discussion of homosexuality in the 1300s is nothing compared to George’s memories of his life and his perpetually unnamed boyfriends from the 21st century. George goes through quintessential gaybait and relationships with many of his finance colleagues, and it hurts how realistic it is. You wish you could go back in time again and shake George silly, to tell him, “he’s not worth it because he doesn’t like you!” It’s degrading, it’s sad, and he puts himself through it over and over again, as if his continuous pain will be worth it somehow in the end. And I guess it is when he meets Simon.
Now, for the elephant in the room. Or I should say, the dragon. I absolutely love dragons in every space, in every category, in every telling of a story—dragons come out on top. And this novel is no different. I absolutely cheered when the dragon made an appearance, I could’ve done a backflip when Collet confirmed that yes , there do be dragons! And while the dragon is the main rising and falling action of the novel, there’s not enough of him. He’s severely underutilized in a novel where he is meant to be utilized! This is where the rating of the novel mainly comes in; having a time traveler concept mesh with the ancient mythology of a dragon is endlessly cool… until you do absolutely nothing with it. What a waste of a dragon, but maybe it works out because it’s not like the time traveler concept was too heavily explored either (I mean, can we get some definitive answers here?) I don’t even want to touch on how the dragon is written and described though, because what do you mean the dragon is crossing his arms. We just have to move on from this.
The ending. Wow. That ending. Equal parts infuriating, satisfying, fitting, and frustrating. Is it possible for an ending to do all of that? Well, this one does. Like I mentioned before, severely underutilizing the dragon; and just the lack of explanation for everything makes the ending fall flat! In order to keep this spoiler free, I’ll be brief in my frustrations, but how many more times must George pity himself to the point where I wish I could just slap his mouth shut? And to what purpose does Simon’s “an angel visited me in the middle of the night” speech serve if we never talk about the other elephant in the room, the angel! And who are the dragons “comrades,” who are his coworkers?! This novel does one of the things that will always annoy me with science fiction concepts—never explaining the novum of the piece because it’s “meant” to be confusing to the reader and main characters.
All in all, I enjoyed this novel even if it sounded like I didn’t. I had a fun time reading it, laughed when needed, swooned when appropriate, and applauded when asked.
December 7, 2025
This is, I think, the only kind-of-retelling of St. George and the Dragon, so I was really interested to see what Ryan Collett would do with this - especially because it also contains time travel and a queer protagonist. What could go wrong?
Well, not much to be honest. This was well-written, thematically complex, simply a lot of fun at times but also incredibly bleak and horrifying, especially in the beginning when George first travels back to the year 1300 by more or less passing out in a very emotional situation. There's more to it but we won't find that out for a while.
Admittedly, the pacing is a little slow, made even more stark by George constantly reminiscing about his life in modern times as compared to his life now. But he's an interesting enough character to not be all too bothered by it, and his budding romance with one of the men who find him newly travelled back in time (and who, quite frankly, do horrible things to him) is cute, dramatic and emotionally charged until the very end. The dragon itself is weird, but in a fun and interesting way, and the later reveals might not be for everyone but I quite liked them - same with the ending twist.
All in all a fun reading experience, but you do have to struggle a bit through the first quarter or so that's really tough to read due to its brutality and bleakness. Perfectly fine 3 stars.
Many thanks to William Morrow and Netgalley for the arc!
Well, not much to be honest. This was well-written, thematically complex, simply a lot of fun at times but also incredibly bleak and horrifying, especially in the beginning when George first travels back to the year 1300 by more or less passing out in a very emotional situation. There's more to it but we won't find that out for a while.
Admittedly, the pacing is a little slow, made even more stark by George constantly reminiscing about his life in modern times as compared to his life now. But he's an interesting enough character to not be all too bothered by it, and his budding romance with one of the men who find him newly travelled back in time (and who, quite frankly, do horrible things to him) is cute, dramatic and emotionally charged until the very end. The dragon itself is weird, but in a fun and interesting way, and the later reveals might not be for everyone but I quite liked them - same with the ending twist.
All in all a fun reading experience, but you do have to struggle a bit through the first quarter or so that's really tough to read due to its brutality and bleakness. Perfectly fine 3 stars.
Many thanks to William Morrow and Netgalley for the arc!
July 27, 2025
A good time travel book has to deal with time winding around, and getting to the right place, no matter how many weird paraxodes there are. This one works, but it is a bit of a slog to get there, which is really the point of the story, so it all works.
George, who lives in Greenwich, London, has a total breakdown. He has been reduced to dog walking, because he has lost his job and his boyfriend, and the world is going to hell in a hand basket. And the next thing he knows, he is in 1300, in the time of Edward I. And if you say, hey what was going on then, because I only know about Henry the VIII, and Elizabeth the I, and stuff like that, then you are in the same boat as George. He can’t remember what was special about Edward I or his son, Edward II, so although he is from the future, he can’t tell the king or his son what will happen to them.
Oh and there is a dragon. George knows that is impossible. And yet he sees it.
I mostly liked the story, though George does moan on about both missing 2026 and being thankful he is in 1300.
I do love the dragon, who spits up artifacts from the future. I do also like how hard it was for George to communicate at first, because everyone would be speaking middle English. Bit like trying to read Chacer in the original. You can sort of understand it, when you hear it, but it mixes in bits of other languages too, the way English does to this day.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book will be published on the 20th of January 2026
George, who lives in Greenwich, London, has a total breakdown. He has been reduced to dog walking, because he has lost his job and his boyfriend, and the world is going to hell in a hand basket. And the next thing he knows, he is in 1300, in the time of Edward I. And if you say, hey what was going on then, because I only know about Henry the VIII, and Elizabeth the I, and stuff like that, then you are in the same boat as George. He can’t remember what was special about Edward I or his son, Edward II, so although he is from the future, he can’t tell the king or his son what will happen to them.
Oh and there is a dragon. George knows that is impossible. And yet he sees it.
I mostly liked the story, though George does moan on about both missing 2026 and being thankful he is in 1300.
I do love the dragon, who spits up artifacts from the future. I do also like how hard it was for George to communicate at first, because everyone would be speaking middle English. Bit like trying to read Chacer in the original. You can sort of understand it, when you hear it, but it mixes in bits of other languages too, the way English does to this day.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book will be published on the 20th of January 2026
January 26, 2026
Historically dubious time travel with A Lot to say. Like, a lot. Very slow-paced, requiring a lot of patience to get through, but the stream-of-consciousness, sometimes overly dense, writing style worked for me, though it might not be for everyone. Before this is a time travel (and it only takes that bit seriously in the last quarter of the book), this book feels like a meditation on modernity and the mythologized past. It honestly feels like one very long fever dream that lives in George's psyche, and thus takes some things very seriously- the transactional nature of his relationships, the mindbreaking whiplash of being thrust into the dark ages, the horrifying certainty that he could be loved back, while other matters are left in the back-burner - historical accuracy (there's a dragon?!?), time travel mechanics, waste disposal logistics. George as a character is not easy to like, but his convoluted thought process, something he himself doesn't view as unique, carries the lows and occasional highs of the functionally depressed and the guiltily narcissistic. If you enjoy time travel as an aesthetic veneer to self-discovery and self-actualization, and have the fortitude for an introspective rollercoaster, then this may be worth checking out.
February 23, 2026
I really loved the style of this book. It's got this charmingly playful and lighthearted vibe, but at the same time, it gives you some deep and thought-provoking stuff. I thought it was just going to be a cozy fantasy with a queer romance, but it turned out to be way more complex and wonderfully weird.
George's character, even though he's a bit unreliable and not totally likable, is still pretty endearing. Simon's character was also really enjoyable and a definite favorite. But, all the drama between the two of them wasn't really my favorite. I get that a lot of it helps George's character grow, but it did get a little old by the end of the book. Honestly, the ending of the book kinda lost me. It just felt rushed, and even though I liked some parts, I wasn't super thrilled with it overall.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
George's character, even though he's a bit unreliable and not totally likable, is still pretty endearing. Simon's character was also really enjoyable and a definite favorite. But, all the drama between the two of them wasn't really my favorite. I get that a lot of it helps George's character grow, but it did get a little old by the end of the book. Honestly, the ending of the book kinda lost me. It just felt rushed, and even though I liked some parts, I wasn't super thrilled with it overall.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The honest truth is that this was a miserable read. George was a miserable, cynical, occasionally self hating gay man and the narrative is bleak, oftentimes exhausting to read about amidst it's satirism. Where my enjoyment of it stems from is the juxtaposition of modern day England against the 1300s that our main character time travels to, while still making the statement that people back then were not all that different from us in modern times. The best part of the book for me though was the, quite frankly, depressing ending that sends the message that you can outrun a lot of things but not time.
I honestly don't think I'd have finished it if it wasn't for the amazing narrator. Thank you HarperAudio and Netgalley for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.
I honestly don't think I'd have finished it if it wasn't for the amazing narrator. Thank you HarperAudio and Netgalley for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.
February 23, 2026
This is a satirical take on the legend of St George defeating the dragon in the way that the protagonist is called George and there is a dragon.
George himself is an unreliable narrator and, for most of the novel, a pretty unlikeable one. But that's not why I didn't particularly like this book. The way the author describes 21st century George landing in 14th century Greenwich, and how George himself ends up enamored with "the harsh but comfortably simpler life" of late medieval times, sounds romanticized (to me) in a "noble barbarian" kind of way and that made me a little uncomfortable personally.
The book had a few interesting turns and was an okay read altogether, though the worldbuilding felt a little fragmented and inconsequential to me. If you enjoy time travel books but aren't super hung up on the mechanics making sense, you might find this a fun romp.
Thank you to libro.fm for the free audiobook.
George himself is an unreliable narrator and, for most of the novel, a pretty unlikeable one. But that's not why I didn't particularly like this book. The way the author describes 21st century George landing in 14th century Greenwich, and how George himself ends up enamored with "the harsh but comfortably simpler life" of late medieval times, sounds romanticized (to me) in a "noble barbarian" kind of way and that made me a little uncomfortable personally.
The book had a few interesting turns and was an okay read altogether, though the worldbuilding felt a little fragmented and inconsequential to me. If you enjoy time travel books but aren't super hung up on the mechanics making sense, you might find this a fun romp.
Thank you to libro.fm for the free audiobook.
February 5, 2026
1.5 stars
Having read the synopsis I was really looking forward to this, but unfortunately it didn't deliver and I struggled to find anything enjoyable about it. If it weren't for a readathon I'm participating in, I would have DNFed it. It isn't cozy, nor goofy and hardly adventurous. Most of the book is a constant stream of consciousness from a highly unlikable character, George feeling miserable about pretty much everything in his life, turning the story pretty repetitive. There's little to no character growth and the end is pretty abrupt.
Characters 3
Atmosphere 3
Writing Style 1
Premise 8
Plot 1
Pace 1
Length 5
Structure/Setup 1
Enjoyment/Engrossment 1
Narration 7
Having read the synopsis I was really looking forward to this, but unfortunately it didn't deliver and I struggled to find anything enjoyable about it. If it weren't for a readathon I'm participating in, I would have DNFed it. It isn't cozy, nor goofy and hardly adventurous. Most of the book is a constant stream of consciousness from a highly unlikable character, George feeling miserable about pretty much everything in his life, turning the story pretty repetitive. There's little to no character growth and the end is pretty abrupt.
Characters 3
Atmosphere 3
Writing Style 1
Premise 8
Plot 1
Pace 1
Length 5
Structure/Setup 1
Enjoyment/Engrossment 1
Narration 7
March 1, 2026
3.75 a surprisingly sweet, creative meditation on love and modernity !! 🐉
dnf
January 29, 2026DNF at 23%
I’m bored. This is not fun. It’s long-winded and annoying.
I’m bored. This is not fun. It’s long-winded and annoying.
July 19, 2025
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
3.5/5 stars
i came away from this book with a very mixed bag of feelings.
i flip flopped between finding the prose either witty and punchy or dully overwrought. there were certainly points while reading where the story felt like it was ambling aimlessly, which you'll understand is the point if you choose to pick this book up.
there are moments of great self-reflection to be found by the reader within george falls through time. i trudged through the book and took days-long breaks between reading because of how heavy the content can be. you can feel the crushing weight of george's cynicism and despair as he describes the emptiness of his modern life. but he feels just as empty and pointless while living in the past? this whole sensation that nothing matters and everything sucks definitely makes it hard to say whether or not i actually enjoyed the act of reading this book. there were several visceral moments where the prose felt like a weapon wielded against me as the reader, and i liked that a lot. but there were also moments where the stream-of-consciousness style was overdone to the point where my eyes were glazing over.
george falls through time certainly has a message about modernity and humanity. those of us caught up in the hustle and bustle of modern life may yearn for a simpler time, blinded by nostalgia for a point in history we've never experienced. but this book holds up a mirror to that desire, and reflects that your misery begins and ends with you, and cannot be solved by running away, for you'll only be toting it along with you.
it's a fine message, one that i think would resonate better with others than with me. i don't think i'm disillusioned enough with my life to tear open a hole in reality just yet. however, during those breaks between reading sessions, i did find myself frequently thinking about the pocket of time and space that i occupy. this book inspired self-reflection in me that not many other fiction novels have accomplished, so i can't disparage it too much. even if i didn't resonate completely by george's total disillusionment, it's still important to be more thoughtful about those methodical daily rituals we're so saturated in. there are so many instinctual social thoughts and habits we experience every day that i never even think about, self-consciousness and judgement and anxiety that are present even as i type this, because i know it'll be published online for anyone to read.
overall, i mostly liked it. there's an important message there that i'm sure all of us can benefit from in some way.
3.5/5 stars
i came away from this book with a very mixed bag of feelings.
i flip flopped between finding the prose either witty and punchy or dully overwrought. there were certainly points while reading where the story felt like it was ambling aimlessly, which you'll understand is the point if you choose to pick this book up.
there are moments of great self-reflection to be found by the reader within george falls through time. i trudged through the book and took days-long breaks between reading because of how heavy the content can be. you can feel the crushing weight of george's cynicism and despair as he describes the emptiness of his modern life. but he feels just as empty and pointless while living in the past? this whole sensation that nothing matters and everything sucks definitely makes it hard to say whether or not i actually enjoyed the act of reading this book. there were several visceral moments where the prose felt like a weapon wielded against me as the reader, and i liked that a lot. but there were also moments where the stream-of-consciousness style was overdone to the point where my eyes were glazing over.
george falls through time certainly has a message about modernity and humanity. those of us caught up in the hustle and bustle of modern life may yearn for a simpler time, blinded by nostalgia for a point in history we've never experienced. but this book holds up a mirror to that desire, and reflects that your misery begins and ends with you, and cannot be solved by running away, for you'll only be toting it along with you.
it's a fine message, one that i think would resonate better with others than with me. i don't think i'm disillusioned enough with my life to tear open a hole in reality just yet. however, during those breaks between reading sessions, i did find myself frequently thinking about the pocket of time and space that i occupy. this book inspired self-reflection in me that not many other fiction novels have accomplished, so i can't disparage it too much. even if i didn't resonate completely by george's total disillusionment, it's still important to be more thoughtful about those methodical daily rituals we're so saturated in. there are so many instinctual social thoughts and habits we experience every day that i never even think about, self-consciousness and judgement and anxiety that are present even as i type this, because i know it'll be published online for anyone to read.
overall, i mostly liked it. there's an important message there that i'm sure all of us can benefit from in some way.
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