If the rumours on Twitter are true and he was the leaker of the Havertz video, that would explain the abrupt departure. Also send a very clear message that no one who misbehaves is safe

For more KSR, good “hard” SF, try his Mars trilogy. If you read that first, you could then try his Aurora, in which he basically says “the whole concept of the Mars trilogy was stupid and wrong” - not many authors would do that.

Another big read you might enjoy is Peter Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga. I’ve only read books 1 & 2 - *Pandora’s Star *and Judas Unchained , but both were fabulous. They’re effectively one huge book split into two, book 2 starts exactly at the point book 1 ends.