Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy has been named as Ireland’s Book of the Decade. Earning first place in the Irish Book Awards sponsored by Bord Gáis Energy, Landy’s first title in what is now a much loved series beat off strong competition. In a web-poll of over 5000 votes, Skulduggery Pleasant put renowned literary favourites by such authors as Joseph O'Connor, Sebastian Barry, Colum McCann and John McGahern in the shade. Other contenders for the top position included Paul Howard, Sheila O'Flanagan, Marian Keyes and Cecelia Ahern who consistently top the bestseller lists, not forgetting bestselling biographies from Diarmaid Ferriter and Bill Cullen. John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was also predictably among the list of favourites. But it was the affable Dublin author who triumphed for bringing us the fedora-wearing skeleton detective and his girl sidekick and able young apprentice Stephanie, in the action-packed series which has reached its fourth book with five more to come. Commenting on the setting for his novels and his intention for them to be recognizably Irish, Derek Landy said: "I figured being distinctly British didn’t exactly hurt Harry Potter. The only way to get the fantastic to pop out at you is to surround it with reality. I took the decision, this is Irish and is going to be proud to be Irish."
Thursday 3 June 2010
Skulduggery Pleasant - Ireland’s Book of the Decade
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy has been named as Ireland’s Book of the Decade. Earning first place in the Irish Book Awards sponsored by Bord Gáis Energy, Landy’s first title in what is now a much loved series beat off strong competition. In a web-poll of over 5000 votes, Skulduggery Pleasant put renowned literary favourites by such authors as Joseph O'Connor, Sebastian Barry, Colum McCann and John McGahern in the shade. Other contenders for the top position included Paul Howard, Sheila O'Flanagan, Marian Keyes and Cecelia Ahern who consistently top the bestseller lists, not forgetting bestselling biographies from Diarmaid Ferriter and Bill Cullen. John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was also predictably among the list of favourites. But it was the affable Dublin author who triumphed for bringing us the fedora-wearing skeleton detective and his girl sidekick and able young apprentice Stephanie, in the action-packed series which has reached its fourth book with five more to come. Commenting on the setting for his novels and his intention for them to be recognizably Irish, Derek Landy said: "I figured being distinctly British didn’t exactly hurt Harry Potter. The only way to get the fantastic to pop out at you is to surround it with reality. I took the decision, this is Irish and is going to be proud to be Irish."
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