Creating an entirely new world is no small undertaking, but for Dublin author Conor Rennick, imagination is only the beginning. His debut novel, Electric Blue, Plague Green, the first in the Arbiter series, introduces readers to an urban fantasy where folklore, mythology, conspiracy theories and modern beliefs all coexist beneath the surface of everyday Dublin. The second novel is already well underway, with an expansive mythology and carefully constructed lore continuing to evolve.
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Rennick describes his work as urban fantasy with science fiction elements, but the premise is unlike anything readers might expect. His starting point is deceptively simple: what if everything humanity has ever believed in gained power through belief itself?
“It’s our Earth,” he explains, “but taking our folklore and our myths and treating them as real.”
That single idea opens the door to an extraordinary cast of characters. Ancient Irish fairies exist alongside UFOs, alien abductors, reptilian conspiracies and creatures drawn from Indian mythology. As modern societies become increasingly multicultural, Rennick believes their myths naturally become part of the same shared landscape.
“I realised that if belief creates reality, then you can cast a much wider net than traditional fantasy. More people probably believe in little grey aliens these days than they do in fairies.”
Although the supernatural lies at the heart of the novels, Dublin itself is every bit as important. Real streets, landmarks and folklore provide the backdrop for the story, with familiar places becoming the setting for extraordinary events. Fairy forts, UFO sightings and even local legends all become potential inspiration.
“I think when you’re writing something like this, you take those little facts and see where you can build from them.”
At the centre of the series is Agent Riley, a magi working for the mysterious Order of the Enlightened Eye, an organisation dedicated to ensuring humanity never discovers that belief itself can create supernatural beings. If that secret were ever exposed, Rennick argues, the consequences could be catastrophic.
“It’s the realisation that if enough people believe in something, they could literally make it real.”
The first novel begins with a UFO abduction gone badly wrong before unfolding into a mystery involving a deadly magical pathogen targeting supernatural beings across Ireland. It is a fast-paced thriller, but beneath the action lies a carefully designed magical system where symbols, ritual and belief govern everything from magic to advanced alien technology.
While Rennick’s fictional world feels fully formed, becoming a novelist was anything but inevitable. As a young man, he planned to study zoology rather than literature. It was only during Transition Year, when short story writing replaced essays in English class, that something clicked.
“I started really enjoying coming up with stories,” he recalls. Missing the points for zoology eventually led him in a completely different direction: a degree in World Religions and Theology at Trinity College Dublin, knowledge that now underpins much of the mythology woven throughout the Arbiter series.
Like many aspiring writers, life initially got in the way. Finding stable employment took priority, and the dream of writing a novel was put on hold. Ironically, it was the uncertainty of 2020 that finally gave him the opportunity to begin.
“If I’m not going to do it now,” he remembers thinking.
He enrolled in courses at the Irish Writers Centre, where Agent Riley first emerged as a character, and from there the world of Arbiter steadily took shape.
Now self-published, Electric Blue, Plague Green is available through Amazon and Rennick’s own website. Alongside writing the second novel, he also produces a blog, Modernising Mythology, exploring folklore and supernatural traditions from around the world. Much of the research that feeds the novels also finds its way into these articles, giving readers a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of his creative process.
For Rennick, writing is about more than inventing magical creatures or thrilling adventures. It is about asking “what if?” and then following that question wherever it leads. In his version of Dublin, ancient myths sit comfortably alongside modern conspiracy theories, folklore evolves with every new community, and belief itself becomes the most powerful force of all.
With one novel already published, a second well underway and an entire mythology still waiting to be explored, Conor Rennick has created far more than a single story. He has built a world readers can return to again and again—and judging by the imagination behind it, the adventure is only just beginning.
