The Dragon and the George

Twisting things around, The Dragon and the George throws the main character into the body of a dragon. I highly enjoyed the view of a human being thrown into an unknown type of body. The confusion and the discovery of strength and weaknesses made it fun to read. The tale has a small cast, and the story might remain a bit flat in ways, nevertheless, I found myself entertained by the setup and the unlikely band that the adventure brings together.

This is the first portal fantasy I remember reading where the people going through the portal were ordinary, believable adults. I first read it when I was in college, and the graduate student protagonists were facing challenges that I knew were coming up for me, which made them all the more appealing. The non-human “outsider” perspective thrust upon Jim Eckert when he suddenly finds himself in a dragon’s body also appealed to me far more than those portal fantasies where the protagonists are automatically hailed as heroes and saviors.