Well, shit.

Robert Holdstock, author of books like The Hollowing and Mythago Wood died this morning.

His books were mythic and tricky and difficult to read–he wasn’t a comfortable author–and they left me with a nervous queasy unsettlement and fragments of spectacular imagery. The Hollowing was a powerful influence on what eventually became Gearworld. (I bought it probably fifteen years ago because of the John Jude Palencar cover…) If you imagine one of Lovecraft’s is-this-really-happening narrators dealing with mythic archetypes instead of Old Ones, that’s about as close as I can describe. (I suggest reading one before you go out and buy all of them–if you like it, you’ll love it, but it’s definitely not for everybody.)

My sympathy for his family, and also for all the fans out there who can no longer hope for a return to Mythago Wood.