Popular Australian fantasy author Sara Douglass has revealed that she is suffering from terminal cancer and made a powerful statement about her thoughts and fears over mortality at the link.

This is sad news. I only read her debut AXIS TRILOGY which I thought was enjoyable, if somewhat middle-of-the-road, but I know she has a significant fanbase, particularly in Australia and New Zealand. Her statement is also striking, echoing as it does some recent comments by Terry Pratchett (who is suffering from Early Onset Alzheimer's).

As a genre, we have also suffered far too many premature losses recently (Robert Jordan, Robert Holdstock and Kage Baker, among others) and the news that another of our authors is battling a terminal illness is startling and unfortunate.