[Review] George Falls Through Time - Ryan Collett

Summary: 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 is as 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. (Pub Date: Jan 20 2026)

George is in the middle of a breakdown after losing his tech job, his boyfriend, barely being able to meet rent, he also ends up losing not one but two of the dog he walks exactly to pay that rent. That's when he faints and end up in the year of 1300. Suddenly the two dogs seem the minor of the problems because he's taken for a Danish warrior, shackled up and tortured. And that again becomes the minor of the problems, because he's summoned to kill a dragon that of course doesn't even exist to be killed. Or does it?

I was so sure this would be a fun read, but now I realize the summary already warned us about it being an inward journey. But it's not as much as the outward one—it's most of the book. You do have adventure and romance, but the meat is a lot of stream of consciousness and George reminiscing his past mistakes. Also, these memories are presented so matter of factly I had trouble believing, or really grasping how bad they were. Let's say George was scum, but he'll defend himself as a victim for a lot of the book until he finally admits to his wrongdoings (or I hope he did).

As you can see, there is substance. A lot of it. Don't expect a lighthearted read. It's just presented as fun. Look, a gay romantasy! But it goes deeper. And it's not that I didn't like that there was more to the story than it seemed, it's a lot more that the writing itself didn't seem to recognize that fact. It's messy and wordy and sometimes apathetic to the situations George faces. This all contributes to leaving a bad taste.

I do see as it being a book that can talk with the reader who likes slowly digesting topics raised. There is a lot of content for that, a lot of room for analyzing it from different perspectives. Unfortunately, I couldn't relate enough to George to care to do that. 

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 2 out of 5.