The Legend of Uh - Aaron N. Hall - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Aaron N. Hall

GENRE: YA Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: February 25, 2025

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A YA Fantasy that feels like a spoof adventure-quest. Whimsical characters. Light moments interspersed with serious themes. Loads of clever humour. The target audience is a bit hazy. Recommended.

Plot Preview:

Fifteen-year-old Dashing Junior, aka DJ, is the son of the legendary Sir Dashing, a brave and feted knight of Beregond city in the territory of Uh. After retiring from his valiant quests, Sir Dashing has spent the last sixteen years offering his advice and wisdom to the city. In gratitude, it wants to knight him. But as the same person can’t be knighted twice, the powers that be decide to honour his son DJ with knighthood.

The problem is that DJ has not done anything knight-like, and is probably not even capable of doing so. Everyone knows this, including DJ himself. So to prove his worthiness for the knighthood, DJ decides to set off on a quest across the territory of Uh and reach the Amulet of the Goddess. Accompanying him on this quest are Riley – DJ’s best friend (and secret crush) and an aspiring ranger, Francis – an orc who would rather read than fight, and Steve – a friar with a fondness for yelling and for his frying pan. Will this ragtag group be able to complete a journey that has monsters and magic lurking in every corner?

The story comes to us mostly in DJ’s third-person perspective.

I am not sure what I expected from this book. I am not even sure if I am the right reader for this book, which clearly pays an ode to classic fantasy and ‘Dungeons and Dragons’. (What little I know of D&D is thanks to Sheldon and his gang from ‘The Big Bang Theory.’) However, I know for sure that I had a lot of fun reading this quirky adventure.

Bookish Yays:

✨ DJ, a cowardly weakling, is clearly not knight material. So he is quite an unusual protagonist for a quest. I love how realistically his character learns from his experiences over the course of the adventure. His arc makes this a great coming-of-age story.

✨ I appreciate the depiction of how DJ introspects over his deeds. It's not that he suddenly becomes a brave knight and revels in actions involving cruelty. His conscience is always active.

✨ DJ’s gang deserves equal credit for making the adventure memorable. Riley, Friar Steve, and Francis are such endearing characters! Each has a well-sketched personality that makes it easy for us to root for them. Riley’s tomboyish spirit and her dreams of becoming a ranger, Francis’s unusual passion for books and his gentle attitude towards his smaller-sized group members, and exuberant Steve’s big heart and bigger voice, add much zest to the story.

✨ Though we see only DJ’s perspective, his companions also get equal moments of importance in the adventure. I love how the story doesn’t turn into a one-man show as fantasy novels often do.

✨ DJ and Riley’s friendship is very true to life. Loved their banter!

✨ The comic absurdity of the plot, which, though wacky and wild, comes together really well. It’s a great spoof on the classic brave-knight-goes-on-an-adventure trope.

✨ At the same time, the content isn't only fun. There are plenty of serious themes, including peer pressure, parental abandonment, inferiority complex, the pressure of matching up to your parents’ success, the importance of friendship, and the value of letting go and of self-acceptance. All of these are handled well without overpowering the core plot.

✨ I was pleasantly surprised to see DJ’s father shown as a loving and caring parent. I had assumed him to be the typical valiant knight who is vain of his achievements and demeaning of his weak son. On the contrary, the father-son relationship affords us readers some of the best bonding moments in the book. I loved their closeness, and also the letters they wrote to each other during DJ’s long journey.

✨ On a related note, the book smashes so many stereotypes! Hardly anyone in the book is as you would expect them to be, whether orcs or giants or gnomes or even friars. Love how it made me question my biased assumptions at every step.

✨ Love the magic, which seems reminiscent of Harry Potter at times (as both use Latin-inspired spells.) Some elements also reminded me of LOTR. Rather than feeling copied, I felt like the book was paying an ode to these classic fantasies.

✨ A special point of appreciation for the way the “relationship” between DJ and Riley was handled. I don’t want to go into major spoilers, so all I’ll say is: thank you, author, for that final scene! It offers an essential lesson to the young boys (and young girls) who might read this book.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🐉 As expected, the quest is episodic, with one adventure arc coming to an end before leading into the next one. Most of the adventures are fun and some even contain unexpected twists. However, at times, the proceedings get a bit repetitive, especially in the second half. (I enjoyed Francis’s inside joke about this – “lazy writing”, LOL!)

🐉 The biggest issue with the story is that it doesn’t aim at a clear age group. The cover makes it look like middle-grade fiction. The official genre is YA Fantasy. However, there is some sexual innuendo and a couple of 18+ references in the book. The adult content was not needed for the core plot, so it could easily have been eliminated to make this a safe option for all middle-graders and young adults.

🐉 While the world is mostly magical, it seems to have elements from historical (knights, avian post) as well as modern (pickleball) times. Not strictly a negative, but a bit muddling at times. The modern references are distracting.

🐉 The Waffle Wizard – great character, but the hows and whys of his magical appearance aren’t clarified.

Bookish Nays:

👹 The Grand Phillip episode. Didn’t fit the overall tone of the book. Too dark and gruesome.

Overall, while a few things could have worked better for me, I still had great fun reading this eccentric quest story. Those who enjoy Dungeons and Dragons will probably enjoy it even more than I did. I had grabbed this only because of the blurb, and the book delivers quite well on the promise.

The story arc is complete, but there is potential for a sequel, thanks to one character who has promised to return. Will there be another Uh adventure? Time shall tell. But if yes, I’d love to embark upon that journey again with DJ and his motley crew.

Definitely recommended, though I am not sure what age group I am recommending this to. Perhaps to older young adults. (16+?) Of course, any adult who enjoys stories of road trips, magic, adventurous quests, and coming-of-age might also like this offbeat indie novel. Just don’t expect the typical.

My thanks to author Aaron N. Hall for providing me with a complimentary copy of “The Legend of Uh”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

The digital version of this book is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.