Robert Holdstock: An Anniversary Remembrance
Yesterday was publication day for another four SF Gateway omnibuses – more classic novels returned to print by such giants of the field as Clifford D. Simak (eBook | trade paperback), John Sladek (eBook | trade paperback) and Poul Anderson (eBook | trade paperback). All much-missed authors and all deserving of your time and attention, but the publication that holds a special – and, today, poignant – place in the hearts of all of us at Gollancz is this one:
It is four years ago today that we lost one of the greatest and best-loved fantasy writers of modern times, Robert Holdstock. Anyone who has read the World Fantasy Award-winning Mythago Wood or his extraordinary re-imagining of Arthurian myth, The Merlin Codex, will know why we hold his work in such high regard. And anyone who had the pleasure of meeting Rob will know why we miss the man as much as the writer, if not more.
And this morning, when I opened my eyes and saw the spring sky above me as I lay in that shallow boat, I realised that my long journey from the heart of the forest was over.
I had come home again.
If only for a while.
from Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn by Robert Holdstock (1948 – 2009)
