Goodreads Ireland discussion

Hi, I'm Katie. I'm 21 currently living in Meath but going to Dublin next year to study. I love reading, my favourite genres are fantasy/sci-fi/magic realism/anything with a concept that's just a little bit weird or different but as I've just finished an English degree and am about to start a masters a large part of my time is spent trawling through the classics (they aren't all bad). I want to be an author, my masters will be in creative writing and my current WIP is set in Ireland in the fifties involving Changelings, fairies, the otherworld and all that good stuff

sounds fascinating. Do you have any authors to recommend that write about Irish fairies? Welcome!

Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill writes a lot of poetry about them, there's a few in the collection Rogha dánta and (I think) a few in Pharoah's daughter. They're all translated into English so don't worry about that. Meeting the Other crowd: the fairy stories of hidden Ireland is pretty interesting too. It's a collection of stories about different encounters with them but to be honest I don't know of many contemporary authors that write about them, I read these just for research but I don't want to be too influenced by other writer's interpretations of them until I have my first draft finished

I totally understand...i will look for these in the library. I wish you luck. thanks!!!

Welcome, Katie. And good luck with your studies, next year.

Thanks Declan, I see you read Iain M. Banks, 'Use of Weapons' is my favourite book. I always go back and re-read it. I have 'Surface detail' sitting next to my bed to read next

I loved Use of Weapons. I've read all of his Sci-Fi at this stage. I can't decide if that or The Player of Games is my favourite. If you haven't read that I can recommend it. You might also like Asimov's Foundation series.

The player of Games is pretty awesome too. Have you read the Bridge? Not one of his scifi ones but still pretty weird.

I haven't read Asimov but you're the second person to recommend them to me so I think I'll give them a go

The only non Sci-Fi that I've read from Banks is The Wasp Factory. I enjoyed it, but not to the same degree as his Sci-Fi. I'm adding The Bridge to my to-read list, though. Why not?