Death Knell Chronicles: Redemption - Survival
This is a reflection on why survival stories need real loss, and how Death Knell Chronicles was built from that idea.
4/28/20251 min read
When we think of fantasy, we usually picture grand victories. Heroes overcoming impossible odds. Triumphs against evil. Happy endings earned through struggle.
That’s not the kind of world Death Knell Chronicles lives in.
Honestly, that’s not the kind of world many of us live in either.
In Death Knell Chronicles: Redemption, survival doesn’t come with cheers. It comes with loss. Every step Maurus takes costs him something: a friend, a home, a piece of his former self.
I wanted to create a fantasy that felt more true to what real battles feel like, not just wars fought on fields, but wars fought inside yourself after everything you loved burns away.
In Maurus’s world:
Loyalty is rare and dangerous.
Grief travels alongside every victory.
Hope isn't a gift, it's a weapon you forge yourself.
I believe survival has a cost. And stories should show that. Not because I want readers to lose hope, but because I want them to understand the full weight of what it means when someone refuses to break.
Maurus survives. But not without scars.
Maybe that's a kind of heroism worth telling stories about.
[Death Knell Chronicles: Redemption is available now. Thank you for reading, and for walking this darker road with me.]