"Wow" is right... man... God bless Christopher. He might have been a right-old stubborn fuddy-duddy sometimes, but all of us in this community owe him so much. It'll be weird, him not holding the reins.
We're fantasy fans... we're all well accustomed to horrible films and tv series based on our beloved books. A bad Silm or LotR series/film will twinge, but we'll live. More books, a la Frank Herbert... that would be worse.
I know some casual Tolkien fans who distrust the Children of Hurin and other books on that suspicion already... a "The Easterling Jihad" would *hurt*. My heart, brain, and stomach.