Too bad. Even if his plots were lame and his characters worse.
...And excessively long for no particular reason.
That said, he did leave his mark on SF and it's too bad he didn't finish the 12th book. At least his works would have been "complete" despite the loss of focus around book 7 on through to 10. I guess his contribution to the pattern of ages is complete and the very end of his thread frayed a little.
Prayers to his family.
I think he shoulda stopped after three books, but that’s just me.