Book Review: Dude! Where's My Princess?

Arwin swerves off the road to avoid a dragon and ends up in another world. It’s exactly the change of scenery he needs, a new direction in life.

He meets Yaz, a talking skeleton on an epic quest. Together, they set off to find a long-lost princess, the former knight’s great love, who was magically imprisoned hundreds of years ago by an evil necromancer, the same man who cursed Yaz into undeath. Their first destination is the remote castle of the legendary, evil Dark Enchantress in the eerie Swamp of Spiders. But getting there won’t be easy. There are regions filled with dangerous puns and magic, a revolution to assist, forest nymphs, and a whole tribe of ugly green goblins standing in their way.

Dude! Where's My Princess? by Timothy Baril was self-published on May 17, 2026. The cover is by Eva Solo. A galley was provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op.

This is Baril's debut novel and first book in an ongoing series. With inspirations by Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks and Terry Pratchett, I certainly had to give this one a shot. Plus, I like to support new authors whenever I can.

The premise is simple enough, and Baril wastes little time getting our protagonist into the thick of things. The story is full of puns as well as pop-culture Easter eggs, all of which are welcome with this reader. By the halfway point (chapter 13), I could definitely see the heavy Xanth influence on the Heartstone.

The first half of this short novel sticks to Arwin's POV in plot that does a solid job at making social commentary on our own world. The second half is where Yaz comes in, and the POV shifts more in that direction. I was okay with a dual POV, but then we get flashback scenes from other characters' views as well. That was a little jarring. Also, sadly, at several points the story cuts away (requiring a website visit) to some spicier scenes - and I could not find them on the author's site. That was a little disappointing. For me as a writer, if I am committing to certain elements then they should be in the book or just worked around entirely.

This first book ends on a major cliffhanger, encouraging the reader to pick up book 2 which is slated for release very soon. I suspect the story might have been cut at this point as the next book maybe might have made the combined two a bit too long? Won't know until that one drops.