E. M. Swift-Hook is one of those people who are embedded in the trenches, covered in mud, blood, and slime, who works tirelessly to ensure Sci-Fi writers like me have readers. But, when she’s not out helping others, she’s an author of some renown. Not content to write a trilogy, she wrote three, interconnected, trilogies under the Fortune’s Fools banner, as well as an ongoing series known as The Dai and Julia Mysteries which she co-authored with Jane Jago. That being said, she has finally wrapped up the Fortune’s Fools series with A Necessary End: Iconoclast Trilogy: Book Three (Fortune’s Fools 9). You can just call it A Necessary End and it’ll be just fine.

“When it comes to the crunch point, all you can count on are your own wits, and the only person you can trust completely is yourself.”

With the last strands of his grand plan meshing together, Durban Chola is beset by doubts about his own motives and identity. The consequences of his past actions make it difficult to persuade old allies to support him or to find new ones. His enemies have their plans well advanced. Then there is the price of his ultimate success to consider – a price that will be paid by all of humanity for good or ill.

A Necessary End is the final volume in Fortune’s Fools. The last book of the third trilogy, Iconoclast.

More below.


I recently was interviewed Jude Matulich Hall for JMH Writers & Illustrators. The Facebook page they use is private but she kindly agreed to let me reprint it here.

Get a sense of Bill McSciFi’s wit, humor in the face of injury, and search for the truth in his stories!

1. What are some of the obstacles you have faced with your writing and how did you overcome them?
“The biggest obstacle is thinking it’s not good enough. I wrestle with that often. After that, it’s assembling the bits and pieces of flotsam and jetsam floating in my mind into a linear tale.”

2. There is a movie coming out of Splice. Is Splice your creation? Is the movie based on the book or the book based on the movie?
“Splice was created by Tye Feimster of Watchdog Entertainment. It was a minor character in a series of comic books he’d released. I pitched him a comic book based on it and ended up selling a movie. Then we circled back, and I wrote the novel. For the record, I never did sell the comic. This may be the best failure I’ve ever endured. One fun part of writing it was having experts check out some scenes so I ensured they rang true. So, I had a retired Army captain, with combat experience, review the military stuff, an Imam review the parts about a Middle Eastern character, and a member of the local mafia review my parts on the New York mob. I got high marks from all of them.”

3. You say that not selling the comic book for Splice might be the best failure you’ve ever endured. Now that there is a movie coming out, might there be a chance we’ll get to see that comic book?
“Not now. If the comic gets done it will be a continuation of the story and not a new version.”

4. I think a question that is on everyone’s mind to everyone else on the planet is: How have you been staying sane during these isolating times of the Covid Pandemic?
“I’m not sure I have. I shredded my meniscus last year and was unable to walk for a few months until they could schedule my surgery. In other words, I was a lump on a chair and not much else. I do know that writing helps. Being able to set my various demons and internal monsters free and give them life, instead of letting them fester in my mind, goes a long way to keeping me sane. Whether it’s far enough I’ll leave to the professionals.”

Thank you, Bill, we look forward to seeing your works!

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I recently took part in a panel on World Building hosted by Phoebe Darqueling. If you’d like to check it out, just CLICK HERE to join the fun. Phoebe was our gracious host, and popular authors Andy Zach and Wesley Britton rounded out the quorum.

I know I promised you exciting news for my books. Unfortunately, there was a minor mishap with the printer and one of the books was accidentally formatted to be almost six hundred pages long. It would have been a tiny, but incredibly thick, tome.

While that’s being sorted out you can still get your copy of SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY, and digital versions of Goptri of the Mists: Kitaab Ek and The Brittle Riders: Omnibus Edition. For individual copies, either print or digital, of each book in The Brittle Riders trilogy just CLICK HERE and have fun.

I think that’s enough for this week. Until next week stay safe, sane, and inside.