George Falls Through Time

The appealing sophomore effort from Collett (The Disassembly of Doreen Durand) follows a 30-something dog walker who time-travels from present-day England to the year 1300. George, broke and reeling from a breakup, becomes overwhelmed by panic when he loses two of his clients’ dogs during a walk in a Greenwich park. He falls down and feels “the world becoming liquid, slipping out from under me,” then comes to in 14th-century England, where he is interrogated by armored guards and swiftly imprisoned in a dungeon. One of his tormentors, Simon, helps him escape, and they become lovers. George has a hard time adjusting to his new world, but he’s happy with Simon and doesn’t want to go back to his “days of toil and ruin.” Then he’s summoned to meet King Edward I, who tasks him with helping to capture a dragon, which, when it breathes fire, also spews plastic and other refuse from the future. Collett blends entertaining fantasy and romance elements with meditations on the power of love, which George views as the only force strong enough to “pull someone through time.” This queer medieval adventure is great fun. Agent: Naomi Eisenbeiss, InkWell Management. (Jan.)

Correction: A previous version of this review got the protagonist’s age wrong.