The Vitmar Chronicles
The Vitmar Chronicles is a slice of life fantasy series that was born way back in 2007 and began publishing in 2023. The series is scheduled for a reboot in spring of 2027, with crowdfunding for audio- and physical books as well.
The saga follows two brothers, Gabriel and Kaldor Vitmar, across the better part of 20 sun turns (years), as they face trauma, find love, and experience the highs and lows of life.
The broad goal of the series is to explore the human condition, but in a fun fantasy setting. While most stories tend to gloss over emotional repercussions due to time constraints, I wanted to be able to explore things like grief, mental health, and recovery long-form, over approximately two decades.
I’ve used this series, over a span of 15+ years, as a playground to explore realistic human adventures, with a very broad view of what “adventure” means: falling in love, having a family, traveling the world, contributing to society… “normal” things that we often forget are part of the adventure of life. Then, I wanted to explore how we could handle difficult circumstances, rather than how we commonly do. Though, my characters can’t always ride the high horse indefinitely. They’re human and fallible too.
As such, this series is more about what happens after you fall in love, after you have kids, after you build a life, after you build a career, and how people might face life’s highs and lows in a world that’s a bit nicer than the real one.
The Vitmar Chronicles Series
Volume I: An Ending & A Beginning
"Volume I: An Ending & A Beginning" starts with Gabriel Vitmar hoping to move his relationship forward with his partner, Amakela, but his younger brother Kaldor's intervention reveals more than Amakela’s bad attitude, leaving Gabriel in a shattered mental state.
After several passes (months), Gabriel finds himself ready to try to perform for a crowd once more. After a smooth trial run, Kaldor returns to his clan for a retrieval mission, only to find Aelwynn Cae Sinaro hidden in the hold of the raider ship, with a crossbow pointed at his face.
Meanwhile, Gabriel's first solo trip to town after his trauma leads him to discover the hard way that his judgment is no longer what it was.
Genres: adventure, action
Topics: physical & emotional trauma, recovery, music
CW: violent physical trauma and subsequent PTSD
Fun Fact: Volume I, pt. I is the most rewritten part of this series
Volume II: Three Oracles, A Dance, & A Song
In "Volume II: Three Oracles, A Dance, & A Song," Kaldor Vitmar and Aelwynn Cae Sinaro embark on their Span of Joining, encountering three enigmatic oracles who give cryptic notes on the potential of their relationship.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Vitmar finds himself drawn to the deeply magical Amelie Nivekorpi, though her arrival threatens the uneasy inner peace he's fought so hard to regain. When Amelie’s magic weaves into Gabriel's music during a moment of shared creation, it leaves a mark neither of them can ignore. As Gabriel begins to move past his fears, Amelie’s own world unravels beneath her feet.
Volume III: TBA
Volume III is currently under the working title “Isolations.” Now that our four main characters have been introduced, it’s time to separate them and see how they manage without one another’s company and support.
Genres: romance, adventure
Topics: recovery, isolation, grief & despair, love & connection
CW: loss of control
Fun Fact: features inspiration from my move to Finland
Then What?
The series won’t stop here! If Kaldor and Gabriel are approximately 18 and 22 at the start of the series, I expect them to be around the ages of 40 and 44 by the end. I have a lot to put these guys and their partners through, and then see how they handle it. I hope you’ll stick around and see what’s in store.
Main Characters
Kaldor Vitmar
Age as of series start: 18 sun-turns
Age as of series end: (estimated) ~40 turns
Hair: sandy, dirty curly blonde hair, just longer than shoulder-length
Eyes: brown, but nearly orange at the center
Build: broad-shouldered, muscular, some battle scars
Profession: warrior (axe)
Hobbies: writing lyrics and music, gardening, reading
Personality: boisterous outrovert, notorious exaggerator, class clown-ish
Kaldor has always had a flare for the dramatic and was a very rambunctious child, until his parents passed away. After that point, he steered into being a source of amusement for his older brother, who took on the burden of caring for him at a very young age, trying to lighten the load of responsibility. He is often rambunctious and impatient.
He is unwaveringly enthusiastic and loyal, and loves bringing joy to others. He loves to be the center of attention and uses this to help others, like his shy brother, whenever he can.
Gabriel Vitmar
Age as of series start: ~22 sun-turns
Age as of series end: ~44 turns
Hair: long, straight black, down to his shoulder-blades
Eyes: turquoise
Build: slender/narrow, lean, fit
Profession: bard (lute)
Hobbies: reading, gardening, teasing his brother
Personality: gentle introvert, shy, kind-hearted, hyper-responsible, yet goofy
Gabriel was always shy by had a notably more carefree personality before their parents passed away and he took it upon himself to take care of his brother, rather than having them both move in with a new family. At that point, he became considerably more responsible and serious, which is something he occasionally takes too far.
He is deeply loyal and finds fulfillment in helping others. He secretly feels secure and powerful when playing for a crowd but would never admit it.
Tropes & Comps
I confess, the more general a trope is, the more likely I am to get bored of it and try to flip it and do something new or different. Much of my time spent writing The Vitmar Chronicles has been spent trying to craft healthy examples that people could follow, and alternatives to the way things are usually done.
That said, you can never avoid a trope or a similarity to other writers who’ve inspired you, so here are a list of tropes that I’ve used or flipped, and some comparable titles (or authors that I really admire).
Tropes & Subversions
long-form slice of life fantasy series
non-epic, not-quite-cozy either
queer+ societies, poly casual lifestyles
low spice romance (implicit, not explicit)
high emotional stakes with long-lasting consequences, low political/global stakes
healthy masculinity & kind male characters
globally acknowledged magic system that can be accessed by those of a certain bloodline
magical power derived from a known multiverse
magic akin to technology, tech level is otherwise medieval/pagan
varied community types focusing on equality; only one patriarchy
cultures and communities founded on open, honest communication, integrity, and self-awareness/accountability
fae cryptids, deities, some creative use of mythological entities (dryads, hamadryads, etc.)
elf-types and dragon-types replaced by Eldren and Kadrakkis (both extinct)
Comps & Idols
Can I comp TTRPG Actual Play series? Because my favorite storytelling these days is from Dimension 20, NADDPOD, and Worlds Beyond Number. I think those players are some of the best worldbuilders and storytellers of our generation and I can only hope to touch the emotional depth of what they do.
Stylistically, I love the peaceful nature and simplistic yet evocative writing in the works of Travis Baldree, Scott Lynch, and Joe Abercrombie. I don’t have quite the poetic prowess of Patrick Rothfuss (I wish), but I try to match the grandness of Abercrombie with the pacing of Lynch and the coziness of Baldree in my writing. If I can get a hint of Rothfuss’ romantic descriptions in there here, I’m all for it.
When it comes to the slice of life nature of The Vitmar Chronicles, nothing else that I’ve read is more similar than the long saga of the life of Anne Shirley from Lucy Maude Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables (etc.). As a long-form series with more-or-less standalone books, it’s not dissimilar from Animorphs.
I adore the low stakes, cozy vibes of books by Sarah Beth Durst, the fae whimsy intensity of Catherynne M. Valente, and the simple, sweet magic of Tove Jansen.
