I have no idea why I feel as if someone has just punched me in the stomach.

That he’s not even 60?

That it’s so sudden?

That I like his work so much?

That I only read one of his sci-fi novels for the first time last month?

Don’t know.

http://www.orbitbooks.net/2013/04/03/a-personal-statement-from-iain-banks/