About the Book

Book: Worlds Collide Author: Clint Hall Genre: Adult Science Fiction Release Date: July 14, 2026

Five worlds at war. Only one can survive. Ten thousand years ago, five cosmic beings―a dragon, a phoenix, a serpent, a lion, and a wolf―set their worlds on an inevitable collision course. Each civilization was given one command: destroy the rival worlds, or crash into them and die. As the planets draw near to each other, the moment of final reckoning is at hand. In a galaxy filled with starfighters and superweapons, magic and manipulation, planet-killing devices and mechanized legions, five heroes must defend their homeworlds against overwhelming odds. But when prophecy and destiny collide, a far greater power begins to stir―one that challenges everything they’ve been told. Oaths will be broken. Chains will be shattered. Champions will rise. The fate of the universe hangs in the balance as these heroes discover whether any world deserves to survive. The War of the Creators has begun. Perfect for fans of Red Rising, The Expanse, and mythic sci-fi epics, Worlds Collide blends high-stakes interplanetary war with a legendary, fate-driven mystery―where the final battle may not be what it seems.

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About the Author

Clint Hall is an author, speaker, and podcaster who has been writing stories since middle school, where he spent most of his time in English class creating comic books. (Fortunately, his teacher not only allowed it, she bought every issue.) Known for stories of hope, wonder, and adventure, Clint is the author of Steal Fire from the Gods and Echo Nova. You can find him hosting panels at conventions, online at ClintHall.com, or at The Experience: Conversations with Creatives podcast, available on all major platforms.

More from Clint

The battle lines we cannot see By Clint Hall The enemy seeks to divide us. And while there are wars to be fought, the battle lines often aren’t in the places that we think. This is not the reason I started writing Worlds Collide. But in the more than ten years that I’ve been working on this trilogy, it has become the reason this story is the thing I most want to say to the world. I started writing Worlds Collide because of a few ideas that came together at once. I had been reading a book that discussed five types of heroes: the selfless hero, the hero with a code, the charming hero, the cunning hero, and the sympathetic hero. I challenged myself to write a story featuring each type of hero as a way of better learning the archetypes. Around the same time, I came up with the concept of different worlds being set on a collision course by their respective creators—cosmic beings in the forms of dragon, phoenix, lion, serpent, and wolf—as a “contest of the gods.” This idea came out of nowhere. At the time, I was working on a completely different story (that still has not been published). That evening, I took my wife on a walk, told her the concept, and she said, “This has to be the next thing you write.” But as I wrote the story, these characters from different worlds started coming together in interesting ways. Each believed that they were doing the things they had to do to survive, to protect their own kind. The distance between them and the rival planets served to create a sense of “otherness” about the people inhabiting those worlds. It was easier to hate them when they were so far removed. And like most (if not all) instances of hate, it was rooted in fear. The danger of division is a central theme in scripture. In Matthew 12:25 and Mark 3:24-25, Jesus states, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” The Greek word for the devil, diabolos, is derived from a verb that means “to throw apart” or “to scatter,” directly identifying his nature as a divider. We see this division every day, much of it sparked by what we read online. Humans are designed to be in connection with each other, so the most deceptive way to subvert that innate design is to present the façade of increased connection that is actually voluntary isolation and polarization. I’m not against the internet and social media, but it must be stated that the technologies that were supposed to bring more people together have achieved the opposite. They constantly present us with groups of people who—at a distance—appear to be dangerously opposed to everything we hold dear. When we engage with so much of this content, we believe we’re learning more about people. But in truth, we’re only presented with algorithmically curated experiences that are incented to spark fear and outrage, emotions that lead to clicking and engaging. We are told that they are the enemy, that they are to blame, and that they will destroy our way of life. Then we’re told, “click here to read more.” I wasn’t raised in church; I came to my faith during my teenage years. As a result, and due to a handful of other personal experiences, I’m comfortable in environments where I’m surrounded by people whose beliefs are very different than my own. But here’s what has surprised me: I never feel like I need to hide my faith in these situations. When I engage such people in conversations from a place of love, respect, and genuine curiosity, they are almost always receptive. We find common ground. How could we not? Regardless of their beliefs, these people are created in the image of God, just like me. Through these interactions, I have created real friendships with people that might have never walked through the doors of my church (but that doesn’t mean I won’t try). I’m not saying that I’m without my biases. I’m far from perfect. But when I manage to push past my perceived boundaries, I’m often amazed at what I discover on the other side. As believers, we affirm that every person is made in the image of God. But we must ask ourselves—do our words, our posts, and our attitudes reflect that truth? Or have we, too, begun to see those who are unlike us primarily as enemies? That tension is at the heart of Worlds Collide. As these characters begin to interact, they discover aspects of each other that they never would have expected. They start asking questions they were never meant to ask, and the answers challenge everything they have ever known. We may not be on warring planets, but we are constantly being told where the battle lines are in our world, and that anybody on the other side of those lines is our enemy. And when that happens, will we accept that as the truth? Or will we dare to step across those lines in love, courage, and faith to reach out our hands, as the Savior did for us?

Interview with the Author

Did you use a functional outline, or was it just chaos that somehow worked?

First of all, thanks for having me on your blog!

I always use outlines, especially for a story like Worlds Collide. The book has five different POV characters who are all very distinct from one another, come from different worlds, and have their own storylines—even though those storylines are constantly impacting each other.

It was important to me that each of those characters had a complete arc, that each arc felt different from the others, and that all of them still felt connected because they’re part of the same larger story. Figuring out how to do that really stretched my outlining muscles.

I used a lot of different types of outlining for this book. I outlined in notebooks, on my whiteboard, and in Scrivener using digital note cards. So Worlds Collide was definitely a combination of several different outlining methods.

The end result, I hope, is a carefully crafted story where all of these different pieces come together like different instruments in a good piece of music.

Is there a particular scene or passage you’re incredibly proud of?

There are several, but I have a hard time calling out one specific scene for a couple of reasons.

The first is that I don’t want to spoil anyone’s story. With a book like Worlds Collide, so many of the moments I’m proudest of are tied to character turns, revelations, and emotional payoffs that I’d rather readers experience for themselves.

The other reason is that, with so much of this book, I truly felt like God was whispering in my ear. There were moments and connections in the story that worked out so well that I really believe I was able—at least a few rare times—to get myself out of the way and co-create with God.

Without giving too much away, one thing I’m very proud of is that even though this is the first book in a trilogy, and only the beginning of a larger story, I feel like each of the main characters has a satisfying arc. That was very intentional. I wanted readers to finish book one feeling like they had gone on a complete emotional journey with each character, while also understanding that there is still a lot more story to tell.

What surprising discoveries did you make during the writing process?

The biggest discovery while writing this book was discovering that it could be done.

When I first started writing Worlds Collide, I had never attempted anything close to this scale before. In fact, I started writing it before I wrote Steal Fire From the Gods or Echo Nova, and even those books don’t come anywhere near the size and scope of Worlds Collide.

So in some ways, the biggest discovery was learning what can happen when you keep building one piece at a time. That sounds simple, but with a story this large—with multiple worlds, multiple heroes, and a trilogy-sized arc—it would have been easy to feel overwhelmed.

But one scene led to another. One character choice created the next story question. One worldbuilding detail opened the door to another. Eventually, all of those smaller pieces started to become something much bigger than I originally knew how to hold in my head.

So I think the biggest discovery was that big stories are built the same way any story is built: one piece at a time.

How has writing this book changed you?

This builds off my answer to the last question, but writing Worlds Collide changed the way I think about big projects.

There’s something Mr. Rogers once said about growing things in the garden of your mind, and I’ve always loved that idea. Sometimes all you need is a tiny seed of an idea, but then you have to water it and nurture it. For writing—or really any creative endeavor—I think the way you do that is by spending time with the idea.

For me, that means time at my keyboard, time writing in my notebook or journal, time at the whiteboard, and time simply thinking about the story. Every time you return to the idea and pour a little more into it, that seed grows. And sometimes it grows in ways you never could have planned or expected.

That process can feel almost miraculous when you experience it. Before you know it, something that started as a tiny seed of an idea has grown into something much larger than you thought you could accomplish.

So writing Worlds Collide definitely changed the way I think about doing big things and hard things. You don’t have to see the whole thing clearly at the beginning. Sometimes you just need a small seed of an idea—and then you need to keep watering it.

What are you working on next?

Right now, Worlds Collide is pretty all-encompassing. I’m not only working on the three books in the trilogy, but I’m also creating an audio series connected to the story. There are a few other related things I’m thinking through as well, though some of those are still in the planning and development stages and haven’t been announced yet.

So while I do have other manuscripts I’ve written, and I’ve given a little thought to what I might do after this trilogy, the truth is that my focus right now is almost entirely on Worlds Collide. This is the biggest story I’ve ever told, and I want to give it the time and attention it deserves.