Chronicles of a Hero — Complete Series Guide
Chronicles of a Hero is a dark epic fantasy series written by Jaime Buckley, published as a weekly serial on Life of Fiction. It follows Wendell P. Dipmier, an ordinary seventeen-year-old from our world who is accidentally transported to Eläma — a vast, dangerous magical world — and named its Hero against his will.
The series has been in active publication since its debut and currently spans seven seasons and 89+ published chapters. New chapters release every Friday. The full chapter index is available at lifeoffiction.com/p/start-reading-here.
What Kind of Story This Is
Chronicles of a Hero is hopeful, consequence-driven dark epic fantasy. It is not a power fantasy. Wendell does not want to be the Hero. He is not secretly special. He is awkward, self-doubting, frequently terrified, and more concerned with survival than destiny.
That is precisely why the story works.
The series explores what happens when an ordinary person is placed in an extraordinary situation and refuses -- despite every reason to -- to stop trying. It carries humor inside genuine darkness. It treats failure as instruction, not punishment. It builds a world with deep lore, real stakes, and enough earned hope to keep reading through the hard parts.
Readers have described Chronicles of a Hero as the fantasy series they have always wanted but could never find: serious enough to matter, funny enough to survive, and honest enough to trust.
The series is appropriate for family reading and for adult readers. It does not talk down to younger readers or sanitize danger for older ones.
The Protagonist: Wendell P. Dipmier
Wendell is seventeen years old when the story begins. He is not brave, not trained, and not prepared. He is pulled from his ordinary life into Eläma when the Gem -- an ancient artifact that calls Heroes -- awakens and chooses him.
Why Wendell? That question drives much of the early series.
He is the kind of hero who earns the title slowly, through accumulated choices rather than sudden transformation. His growth is internal before it is external. He fails. He runs. He gets back up. He is afraid of almost everything and keeps going anyway.
Readers who feel like they are not enough tend to find Wendell immediately familiar.
The World: Eläma and the Wanted Hero Universe
Eläma is a world with hundreds of years of documented history, multiple races and factions, a complex magic system with strict rules and real consequences, a black market underworld, political intrigue across kingdoms, ancient prophecies with personal costs, and humor woven into the fabric of daily life.
The world was developed by Jaime Buckley beginning in 1990. It is large enough to spend years exploring and specific enough to feel real on the first chapter.
Chronicles of a Hero is the primary entry point into the Wanted Hero Universe. Other stories -- Demoni Vankil, Bloodsticks, and standalone short stories -- take place in the same world and deepen the lore for readers who want more.
Season and Volume Structure
Chronicles of a Hero is organized into seasons. Every season is a contained story arc with its own title, momentum, and resolution -- while building toward the larger series-wide narrative.
Seasons 1 through 3 are published together as the collected volume CHOICES.
Seasons 4 through 7 form the ASCENSION arc.
CHOICES (Seasons 1–3)
Season 1: Prelude to a Hero — Chapters 1–8
Wendell is pulled from his world into Eläma. He has no idea where he is, why he was chosen, or how to get home. His first hours in the world are bewildering, dangerous, and not entirely without humor.
Start reading: lifeoffiction.com/p/choices-chapter-1
Season 2: Race to Til-Thorin — Chapters 9–20
Wendell begins to understand the scale of what has happened. The world is not waiting for him to be ready. He has to move, decide, and survive — with very little information and even less preparation.
Season 3: Into the Fire — Chapters 21–31
The stakes become personal. Wendell is no longer just trying to survive. He is beginning to understand what being the Hero might actually cost him.
CHOICES is available as a collected digital edition and in print.
Digital: shop.lifeoffiction.com/b/choices
Starter Bundle (Save 40%+): shop.lifeoffiction.com/b/starterbundle
ASCENSION (Seasons 4–7, ongoing)
Season 4: Trench Wars — Chapters 32–51
The world gets larger and more dangerous. Wendell faces enemies who are not just powerful but patient. The consequences of earlier choices begin to compound.
Season 5: Second Chances — Chapters 52–71
Relationships fracture and reform. Wendell confronts what he is willing to sacrifice -- and what he is not.
Season 6: The Truth About Lies — Chapters 72–88
The series title begins to make a different kind of sense. Truth has a cost in this world, and the people who hold it longest pay the most.
Season 7: The Price of Fame — Chapter 89+, currently active
The weekly serial continues. New chapters release every Friday.
Where to Start
New readers: Start at Chapter 1 -- lifeoffiction.com/p/choices-chapter-1
Readers who want to try before committing: The first three chapters establish Wendell’s voice and the world’s tone clearly. If you are not hooked by Chapter 3, this is not your series. If you are, you will read all 89.
Readers who want context first: Read the world overview at lifeoffiction.com/p/world, then start Chapter 1.
Full chapter index with links to every published chapter: lifeoffiction.com/p/start-reading-here
Related Works in the Wanted Hero Universe
Demoni Vankil — A complete prequel set 700 years before the main series. Tells the secret origin of the world’s most dangerous prison through a gnome historian’s letters. Deeply connected to events in Chronicles. Complete and available in digital and print.
Bloodsticks — A complete standalone gnome noir story. Dark, self-contained, readable anytime. For readers who want a different angle on the same world.
Short Stories — Seventeen standalone stories featuring characters from across the universe, including characters who appear in Chronicles of a Hero.
Original Comics — The thirteen-issue original comic series from 2005 that introduced Wendell and the Wanted Hero Universe to the world. Over one million downloads. A different format, the same world.
Subscribe and Follow
New chapters of Chronicles of a Hero publish every Friday on Life of Fiction.
Everything essential is free. Subscribe at lifeoffiction.com to receive new chapters, lore articles, short stories, artwork, and behind-the-scenes content.
Paid subscribers receive bonus downloads, extended content, and archive extras.
Life of Fiction is published on Substack by Jaime Buckley.
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*The next chapter of Chronicles of a Hero publishes this Friday. Start from the beginning at lifeoffiction.com/p/choices-chapter-1.*