George Falls Through Time

This year, I find myself increasingly drawn to medieval stories, and this is what piqued my interest in Ryan Collett‘s new novel, George Falls Through Time. George is going through a rough time: recently broken up with, unemployed, and stressed about life’s mundanities. Then a heightened moment of stress literally sends George falling through time, landing in the year 1300. Confronted with dragons and a vastly different way of life, George will have to battle his inner demons if he wants to ever feel like he belongs anywhere.

What I Liked:

• The contemplative inner dialogue. This aspect of the novel may surprise readers, and it certainly broke away from the fantastical expectations I had going into it. But the driving force of George Falls Through Time really is George’s inner world. This whole book is not so much about what happens (time travel!); it’s about George’s traumas and understanding of himself. He’s ruminating on his stresses, failures, embarrassments, internalized homophobia, possible inability to love someone else the way he deserves. Even in 1300, he’s cycling through his memories, living in a sort of dreamworld that’s trapped in his mind, not in where (or when) he is. It’s unconventional, given the time travel and dragons, but those bigger external factors only serve to heighten how deep in his own mind George is.
• Commentary on humanity, then and now. In addition to George’s focus on his own life, he’s also taking in the similarities and differences between life in 1300 and life in 2026. How much of the ‘boys club’ existed among soldiers sent to fight a dragon vs. tech bros in the office or gay men on vacation in Spain? How is London different between centuries? Despite language barriers and differing social norms, did people fundamentally want the same things 700 years ago?
• An unexpected love story. George was recently out of a relationship in 2026, but in 1300, he gets a new shot at love with Samuel. But does George know how to love yet? Is he ready for a proper relationship? Is Samuel? George still needs to grow as a person, and it may take some even more extreme circumstances to get there.
• The dragon. Dragons don’t exist… or do they? George, time travel, and the mysterious dragon are all somehow connected, and this whole narrative arc went in some surprising directions.

Audiobook:

George Falls Through Time is brilliantly narrated by Samuel Barnett. He captures George’s many nuances and the humor woven into the book, and also does a wonderful job with the extra portions from the king’s point of view. I enjoyed this novel all the more for the engaging audio narration.

Final Thoughts

George Falls Through Time defied my expectations in the best way. It’s not the exuberant time travel story I was anticipating, but I instantly fell for the ruminative inner world of our troubled titular character. This book is thought-provoking and left me wanting to discuss it with others, even if they haven’t read it yet! This was memorable, and I look forward to reading more from Ryan Collett.

Special thanks to William Morrow, HarperAudio Adult, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy George Falls Through Time here – it’s available as a hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett
Audiobook Narrator	Samuel Barnett
Audience	Adult
Genre	Fantasy; Literary Fiction
Setting	England
Number of Pages	304
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARCs)
Original Publication Date	January 20, 2025
Publisher	William Morrow

Official Summary

GEORGE FALLS THROUGH TIME IS. . .

“Incredibly entertaining and intelligent.” —GARRARD CONLEY

“Big-hearted and inspired.” —STEVEN ROWLEY

“Funny, surprising, profound.” —GRANT GINDER

“Unputdownable.” —LUNA MCNAMARA

Less meets the year 1300 in this exhilarating and thoughtfully genre-defying literary novel about a man transported through time in a moment of extreme stress, whose modern anxieties are replaced by medieval brutalities

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—until a summons from the King threatens to send his life up in flames.

George Falls Through Time isas much an inward journey as an outward one: an immersive exploration of identity and dislocation that pits present-day sensibilities against a raw and alien backdrop, a strangely perfect canvas for the absurd anxieties of our modern lives. It’s a profound meditation on the nature of desire perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and The Ministry of Time.