This news was unexpected. My favourite author and mentor of inspiration Arthur C Clarke has died at the ripe old age of 90.

Clarke is considered to be one of the worlds greatest science fiction visionaries, penning among other fantastic books 'Rendezvous with Rama' and my absolute favourite books of all time '2001: A Space Odyssey', '2010: Odyssey Two' and '2061: Odyssey Three'. Clarke also coined the well known phrase "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.". Clarke was also knighted by the Queen in 2000, two years after the knighthood was bestowed upon him.

It's been over a year since I read my last Clarke novel 'A Fall of Moondust', first published in 1961. It's an old book no doubt but Clarke was always well known for being able to accurately predict how things would pan out in the future, which is just one reason his older material can still entertain today.

A side note of personal trivia: The name of the web development agency I started several years ago and eventually sold (Creative 9000) was inspired by one of Clarkes' creations - HAL 9000.

Thank you for a lifetime of memories and inspiration, Mr Clarke.

Link: The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation.