At 4 o’clock this morning Rob Holdstock passed away.
He had been in intensive care since the 18th of November when he collapsed due to an E. coli infection.
Sincere sympathies to his partner Sarah Biggs and both their families.
Rob was one of the best fantasy writers of his generation, and a man with a huge appetite for life. There was nothing he liked better than the company of good friends, a cracking meal, drink and laughter.
His departure at only 61 years old is a tremendous loss.
He will be greatly missed.
Robert Holdstock 
Condolences to all the family. It’s not easy to find the words to say how it’s hard to lose someone you love.
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Rob was a great guy and a terrific writer. I’m so sorry to hear about this. Condolences and love to Sarah and all the family.
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I first met Rob in 1977. To the 19 year-old kid that I was then, being offered the friendship of this young author who looked like a Viking was a stroke of luck.
I realize today how long it is since we last met, how many times I promised myself to try to see him the next time I’d go to the UK.
I thought we had all the time in the world. How can we make that same mistake again and again. Good-bye, friend. Be seeing you.
My deepest condolences to Sarah
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Robert Holdstock was for SF what Andrei Tarkovski was for film. I have devoured all his books many times and he has shaped my teenage imagination.
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As a writer, he was a force to be reckoned with. A point on the compass.
As a man, he was even more generous, even more giving.
I’ve not forgotten the few, privileged times I got to meet him, in FantasyCon, in Utopiales, in Imaginales–
My deepest sympathies to Sarah.
Jean-Daniel
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Dad and I have both known Rob for many many years. We are both deeply saddened and shocked by his premature and unacceptable departure from this world. He will be greatly missed. All our love and hugs go to Sarah.
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I met Robert once, in the Epinal “Imaginales”, and shall miss not seing him again. He leaves us unforgettable books, and memories of a good man.
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I was a fan of Mythago Wood when I had the pleasure and honour to meet Rob in Nantes, during the Utopiales. And the year after, he went back there, with Sarah. Other great memories.
And then, in 2006, I translated in french one of his novels ; a wonderful and unexpected achievement for me.
He was a lovely man and a great writer. I feel deeply sad.
My thoughts to Sarah, and his family and friends…
Florence
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I met Rob for the first time in 1991, at the Harrogate Mexicon, the first convention I attended – Paul McAuley had kindly given me a ride down from Scotland. Although I’d published a couple of stories in Interzone, and sold a couple more, I was still effectively a nobody as far as the wider SF world was concerned. Despite this, Rob (who was at the bar with Chris Evans) waved me over, bought me a pint and talked to me like I was one of the gang. I never forgot that. I was out of the country for most of the next 18 years so we only met on a couple of subsequent occasions (it may only have been once – I recall sharing a taxi with Rob on a rainy London night) but he remained that same nice, approachable, generous bloke I met in Harrogate all those years ago. Condolences to Sarah and family.
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I met Rob and Sarah at the Utopiales festival in France several years ago and have a very fond memory of that encounter. Like everyone else who met him, I was impressed by what a lovely and friendly person he was. It was a shock to hear the news. My thoughts go out to Sarah.
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He was a friend (not a close one, but a real one).
I’m just the third french publisher of Mythago Wood (after Patrice Duvic and Jacques Chambon, both friends too, both gone).
I remember Rob asking me to send the french translation of WHERE THE TIME WINDS BLOW to the french moviemaker Luc Besson, and I remember myself asking him “Why ?”
(I probably shouted “F**k why ?” spitting in the same time an alcoholic beverage.)
Robert Holdstock’s visions deserved Andrei Tarkovsky, the Guillermo Del Toro of Pan’s Labyrinth… definitely not Luc Besson.
All my thoughts to Sarah
(and please : “pardon my french”…)
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Appalling news. The world will be a poorer, greyer place without Rob: without his warmth; his huge, generous enthusiasm.
As a writer and as a friend he was always the best company: inspiring and whole-hearted.
In a way neither of us could ever have expected, he helped change my life when he took me for a pint and a plate of rabbit stew at the Nag’s Head in Edale. What a plot twist that turned out to be.
Good God, this is awful. Poor Sarah.
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I’ve been trying to remember when I first met Rob. It had to have been in either 1976 or 1977. One of life’s genuinely nice guys, he was always good company, and of course a damn fine writer. I’d only seen a few times in recent years but he remained as friendly and approachable as ever. A great loss. My condolences to Sarah, family, and friends.
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Sadly I never met Mr. Holdstock, but Mythago Woods had a definitely fundamental influence on my work. So I’d just like to thank him for this.
Condolences to his family.
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I’m deeply, deeply saddened to hear of Rob’s death. Though I never met him, I did correspond with him (going back to the days of paper and quill!) and found him to be a generous and enthusiastic man, demonstrating more kindness than he should reasonably have been expected to to some kid who’d written him a fan letter. He was far too modest about his own work. Few writers have moved me with their fiction as much as Rob moved me with his. I find it hard to believe there will be no more new trips into the wildwood, but feel gifted to have had the chance to accompany him there with his undoubted classics of the fantasy world. If there’s one consolation to me in hearing of his passing, it’s that I got a chance to tell him how much his work mattered to me. You were the best, Rob. Oh for one more “wassail!”
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Like a number of others, I was told Rob had gone into hospital a week or so ago. It sounded bad – E coli and all that – but day by day there was a little progress and we all, I’m sure, dared to hope that Rob would pull through. He was a big man, after all, and it surely couldn’t be that bad. Rob was so full of life always that it didn’t seem possible he wouldn’t get better and be back sharing a pint and a laugh with us all. That’s what stunned me the most. Reading the cold fact of his death on the internet. I still don’t believe it. Not with the whole of me. I can still see him and hear him – clearly.
God knows what Sarah’s feeling. She and Rob were inseparable. Last words I had with Sarah, at the Gollancz party, she invited Sue and I round for dinner – when we could all fit it in. It’s that kind of thing I keep thinking of. How those taken-for-granted things have gone in one awful moment.
I first met Rob in 1976. A number of people have said how kind he was, and that’s 100% true, but he was also a great one for teasing you, making a joke of things, and I liked that about him instantly. He was a Faber author then, and Sue (now my wife) was his publicist (she was also looking after Gary Kilworth, Chris Priest and Chris Evans). It was Rob who first introduced Sue to me – persuading her to give me a lift home when I’d missed the last train at theHeathrow Convention in 1978. The rest is history, and Rob’s to blame. Or was. That awful past tense.
It really, really doesn’t seem fair. Rob had so much life, so much energy, so much… I guess the simplest word for it is love. He loved his friends and they loved him. I never had a cross word with him in thirty two years, and at the same time there were a huge number of times when he’d just make me laugh out loud.
I’m gonna miss him. Like I miss John and Ruth and all those other good friends who’ve crossed over. And hell, MYTHAGO WOOD is still the best fantasy novel EVER written.
Take care, mate, wherever you are.
Over the years we’ve seen a lot of each other.
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I am so sad…
One of my favourite writer… and he is gone…
I met him once in France (Epinal). A great man.
condolences.
TG
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It is sad to see Rob gone. The Dark Wheel was one of the things that made Elite different: it was not just a game, but a world full of stories and inspiration. Thanks for that!
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my absolute favorite author. rest in peace robert,and thanks for every story. u will not be forgotten
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This is a great, great shame. Rob -and Sarah – were so kind to me when I first came onto the pro scene. Both were very supportive throughout my late partner’s illness and death, and through my current partner Trevor’s episode of cancer. Robert’s books were among the first I ever read. He set me on the road to being a writer and, much later, kept me on that road. i was desperately sorry to hear about his death.
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Mr. Holdstock’s writings touched me deeply, always communicating a great respect for the earth and for its flora, fauna, and mystery. I shall always remember his stories as a grace-filled gift to the world.
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Rob made my life richer, deeper, and more imaginative. This is a sad loss.
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Very sad to hear this – Mythago Wood and its sequels caught my imagination, and Robert Holdstock was one of the genre’s true greats. My condolences to Sarah, and also my thanks to Robert for sharing his fantastic writing with us all.
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I just discovered his work, enjoying it, and find the news terribly sad and frustrating, the kind of frustration you feel when life – or death – seems too unfair to bare. My sympathy to his family, and I can testify how much he’ll be missed by his friends and readers here in France.
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I read Mythago Wood when I was fifteen. Later, I’ve got the joy of becoming one of his publishers in France. And the even greater joy to meet him once in Nantes, with Sarah. He’s changed something in my life, and I’ll keep the memory of his brightness in my heart.
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I can’t believe it….it’s not posible! i’m so sorry and the best wishes for my friend Sarah..my parents and me are so sad..
one day in the last summer, in his beach house, Bob and I talk about coast, goat, ghosts and good…i can’t forget his new poem..thanks for all you gave to us.
Sarah, your neighbors love you so much!
Paz del Olmo
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Condolences. Never met him but he was influential and helped free my work from many entanglements. His work remains as an example of what’s possible for those of us with half an eye on the depths of myth and another half on the sparkling future. Ars longa, after all.
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I met Robert at the 2008 Gollancz autumn party, and was mildly embarrassed not to have read his books at that time. He laughed, said it didn’t matter, and we had a great conversation about some other books. I met him again at the Gemmell Awards and resolved to knuckle down and read MYTHAGO WOOD and LAVONDYSS. I was duly blown away.
Forearmed this time, I was finally able to talk to Robert about his books at this year’s Gollancz party. During our conversation a penny finally dropped when I realised that Robert had written the novella that came with the computer game ELITE, the book which was the first work of science fiction I had ever read. We had a great conversation about that, punctuated by a few drinks and much laughter.
I knew him briefly and not very well, but he was a very funny and charasmatic man and a terrific writer. My heartfelt condolences.
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An absolute tragedy. Robert was one of the few one-off writers of visionary fiction who transcend all genre boundaries, enabling their writing to reach places of the mind that are unreachable to most lesser authors. Robert introduced me to the “Unknown Region” in his fiction and in doing so opened many doors in my life, ones that I would never even conceived of had I never had the pleasure of experiencing his fiction. Thankyou Robert.
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My sincere condolonces to Robert Holdstock’s family and friends. His work became part of many people’s lives. The worlds he envisioned live on in many hearts and minds. His was a life that was not lost, not wasted.
His stories must have opened the eyes of many of us, groping around in the dark. Or at least they gave us great reading pleasure!
May his memory live on, and his stories be told and re-told till the ends of time.
Here’s to you, Rob. Thanks for everything.
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Lovely books, and I’m quite sure a lovely man. A great loss for us, the fans, and felt much more acutely by family & friends who had the pleasure of sharing his life. Too soon.
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I was so sorry to hear the news about Rob. I have had little contact for years but between 1972 and 1987 we went round as part of the same group and we were all very close. This is a great shock because so unexpected. I’d like to send condolences to Sarah; I hope she reads this sometime.
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Rob was a sweetheart of a guy. I tended to only see him once a year at the Paul & Kim Christmas lunch, but catching up with Rob was always one of the highlights of the day. Deepest sympathies to Sarah and all who loved him.
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As a French reader, I read a book by Robert Holdstock only a few months ago.
I am sad to learn this bad news. I haven’t read “Mythago wood” yet. Perhaps I will find the spirit of Robert in it.
My deepest condolences to his family and his friends.
(Like Gilles, “Excuse my French”)
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My deepest condolences to all of the family.
I’m only a reader, but his works have touched me deeply and helped me open my imagination to far larger realms than I’d ever hoped I’d travel.
Thank you, Robert Holdstock. You were one of my favorite authors. I’m going to miss you very much. But through your books, you will continue to shine.
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Now you are a Mythago too, Robert. Now we will hear your stories full of ancient power, between the foliage of the oaks, near a clear river, in a pleasant summer wind…
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Our sincere condolences, Sarah. We’ll miss him terribly.
Peter & Jan Coleborn xxx
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My deepest sympathies to Sarah and Rob’s family. Rob was so full of life and laughter and stories, it seems impossible that he could have left us so soon.
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I didn’t know Robert personally, but Mythago Wood became a part of me the minute I started reading it. I know there are thousands of people who can say the same thing. Thank you, Mr Holdstock.
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Met Rob for the first time at an event in January. Wonderful man and great writer.
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This world closes too fast on her beloved children. And leaves another wood to be deserted and ash in our hands.
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I’ve had the good luck and the privilege to share a diner with Rob and Sarah at Nantes, a few years ago. That night I learnt you could be a revered giant of literature and a hilarious guy at the same time… Farewell, Rob. I hope you make them laugh up there as much as we did that night.
Deepest condoleances to his family and friends.
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In total shock. Ive spent years reading all his books and banging on endlessly to my friends about how special I think he is. The Mythago books especially are without a doubt my favourite books ever. Im glad Rob had time to see a rise in his poularity with the reprints of many of his books and what a brilliant and fitting end to the Mythago series with Avilion. I’ll re read it immediately whilst thinking of him. Absolutely gutted.
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We’re lost for words and deeply moved and saddened by Rob’s sudden departure from this world…we’ve just received the bad tidings and I’ve now reread his last mail to me and it’s just so hard to comprehend that this is merely an echo of him still living inside our computer. Those who are left behind have the hardest part to play, Sarah we wish you strength and courage.
So much remains unsaid…so much remains unanswered… His world has become a part of our lives and we have become a part of his world…
May his soul forever dwell in the primal forest he described so well…
we’ll carve runes of remembrance in the sacred place for you, Rob, journey on.
Jenny and me grieve for you…Omnia grieves for you
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Very upsetting news.
The Mythago books mean a great deal to me.
I met Mr Holdstock at the World Fantasy Con in 1988 and found him friendly, funny and accomodating. He even signed my treasured Night Hunter books 🙂
61 is far too young. A real loss.
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It’s hard to imagine worse news than this. I knew Rob for more than thirty years. He was not only a terrific writer, but one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet, no ‘side’ to him in the slightest. This is awful, just awful.
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So so sad to receive this news. Rob and I were in communication regularly way back, he is acknowledged and thanked in the front of my first published novel (1983). Mythago Wood ranks as one of the finest fantasy books ever written, let alone all his other wonderful books. He has left us a rich legacy but the writing world is a poorer place without his tremendous presence.
Condolences to Sarah and all who will miss him.
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I have read all of Robert’s books, from the time when Mythago Wood first came out. His death is tragic and untimely. I would like to send my deepest sympathies to Robert’s family and those who loved him. His worked touched many people.
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Just a grateful reader. Condolences to all the family and friends
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