The Dragon and the George

By: Gordon R. Dickson

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Through no fault of his own, the once human Jim Eckert had become a dragon. Unfortunately, his beloved Angie had remained human. But in this magical land anything could happen.

To make matter worse, Angie had been taken prisoner by an evil dragon and was held captive in the impenetrable Loathly Tower. So in this land where humans were edible and beasts were magical - where spells worked and logic didn't-- Jim Eckert had a big, strange problem.

©1976 Gordon R. Dickson. ©2004 the Estate of Gordon R. Dickson (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Refreshing, with a questionable performance

What did you love best about The Dragon and the George?

The characters

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Dragon and the George?

The banter between Aaragh and Sir Brian

What does Paul Boehmer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He attempts to have specific voices for some characters, but as the story progresses, he appears to either give up on some characters and make them sound like some others.... or wasn't interested in giving specific characters specific voices from the beginning. It does break immersion slightly and sometimes it makes it more difficult to remember who is talking to whom.

Any additional comments?

This book is so far unlike most young adult fantasy book series I have read and that is refreshing to me. I mean, where else do you get a story of an American trapped in the body of a not too bright Dragon with companions of a Talking Pragmatic Giant "English" Wolf(I keep imagining a top hat and a monocle even though the character obviously doesn't wear such things), the stereotypical honorable but poor Knight, and a Robin hood like fellow

like this series

As enjoyable as the first time I read this book back in High School. A good story and the narrator did I good job with the different characters voices.

It noice

The the the the the the the the the the the the the the the best thing ever i love it it nyoooooooiioioioiooioioioioioioioioocccececcecece also🟦🟢🟨🟤🟧🟣🟩🔺🟨🔺🟨◾️⬛️◽️▫️🟫▪️🟪◾️🟧🟤◽️🟢🟥🔺🟨🔵🟩🔻🟨🔻◻️🟤🔶🟫🔷🟦🔶🟨🔶🟫🔷🟪🔳🟪◽️🟨🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪　also weird

Still Reads Well Forty Years Later

I read this book in high school and stumbled across it again in audio format and decided to give it another read. I had very good (but limited) memories of the novel. A guy gets stuck in a dragon’s body when he tries to follow his fiancé through a science experiment gone bad. After that, it’s pretty much a fantasy adventure with some scientific understanding thrown in.

Second time around, I still enjoyed it. It’s a pretty good adventure story which, forty years ago, would have felt fresher than it does today. There are a number of good characters and a decent problem to be resolved. I may give the sequels a chance.

Human to dragon conversion

The Dragon and the George is Gordon R Dickson first installment in his Dragon Knight series. A young academic finds himself inhabiting the body of a dragon after attempting to recover his girlfriend lost in some alternate realm because of psychic experiment gone bad. In this alternate world dragon fight human (referred to as 'Georges'). He gradually acquires an eclectic group of companions performing some side gigs along the way, until the dark force keeping his girl a prisoner is faced and defeated. Ultimately, he elects to remain in this realm, but as a human form with occasional reversion.

Dickson's flow is a little jerky as the tale starts out with a struggling junior academic getting screwed over by everyone. The basic form of his dragon phase is a classic road trip, picking up oddballs along the way, each with a unique skill set that comes in useful. Most unusual is the nature of magic in the realm which operates under the control of an equivalent Federal Reserve. This may have worked better in the 70's, while today, it's a bit quaint and somewhat odd.

The narration is good with reasonable character distinction and smooth pacing.

visit to the past.

my medieval history studies in college made me curious and this did not disappoint. I am going to get. the next in the series.

A classic brought to life

I remember reading and enjoying this when it first went into print (a little while back in the 70's) so maybe I was expecting more, and whilst it's not bad it was not what i was exactly expecting. This maybe because due to reading the series several times in the past or the narrator.

Whilst the narrator is far from bad it took me a bit to get used to him, again this might be me and not a reflection on the narrator.

This series pretty much follows the standard fantasy formula but does it very well and does deviate from that formula in a witty and irreverent and you soon find yourself transported into a new world with its own rules and characters.

I would recommend this book and series to all who enjoy a good fantasy, this is also one of Dicksons better series at least in my opinion

For younger audience

I feel this was intended your a younger audience.
Very slow story. Explained everything down to each detail, very slowly at that.
Characters are good but the story could have been a short story.

the dragon and the George

what a clever story idea! very interesting and fun. lots of humor and imagination! the performance was good. sounded a little read rather than performed but I think it was just different than what I was used to. definitely reading the next book!!!

Nice story, too many superlatives

The basis and approach to the story is very nice. Reads like a melodrama, so subtle references are hard to catch between exaggerated dire dialogue