A sad goodbye to a wonderful writer...

I have just heard that one of my favourite authors, the wonderful Robert Holdstock, has passed away after a brief battle with an infection.  He was 61.  I first discovered his wonderful Mythago Wood series when a friend recommended them back in 1991, and I think I have bought every title he's written since.  His writing somehow made fantasy earthy, grounded deep in the soil, not flighty and fluffy like a lot of fantasy that I've read.  It wasn't all shiny swords and wizards in velvet cloaks, it had dirt under its cracked fingernails and it smelt of composting leaves under dark oaks.  It was new and yet old, unfamiliar and yet so so so terribly familiar, like reading a long lost memory, discovering a part of yourself you never knew was there.  For me it was like coming home, and his writing has been a continuing inspiration to me.  His extraordinary talents will be missed by many.  RIP.