War for the Oaks
From AwardAnnals
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| Author(s) | Emma Bull |
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| Publisher | Orb Books |
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| Eddi McCandry sings rock and roll. But her boyfriend just dumped her, her band just broke up, and life could hardly be worse. Then, walking home through downtown Minneapolis on a dark night, she finds herself drafted into an invisible war between the faerie folk. Now, more than her own survival is at risk—and her own preferences, musical and personal, are very much beside the point. By turns tough and lyrical, fabulous and down-to-earth, War for the Oaks is a fantasy novel that’s as much about this world as about the other one. It’s about real love and… | |
Eddi McCandry sings rock and roll. But her boyfriend just dumped her, her band just broke up, and life could hardly be worse. Then, walking home through downtown Minneapolis on a dark night, she finds herself drafted into an invisible war between the faerie folk. Now, more than her own survival is at risk—and her own preferences, musical and personal, are very much beside the point.
By turns tough and lyrical, fabulous and down-to-earth, War for the Oaks is a fantasy novel that’s as much about this world as about the other one. It’s about real love and loyalty, about real music and musicians, about false glamour and true art. It will change the way you hear and see your own daily life.
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
Emma Bull’s debut novel, War for the Oaks, placed her in the top tier of urban fantasists and established a new subgenre. Unlike most of the rock & rollin’ fantasies that have ripped off Ms. Bull’s concept, War for the Oaks is well worth reading. Intelligent and skillfully written, with sharply drawn, sympathetic characters, War for the Oaks is about love and loyalty, life and death, and creativity and sacrifice.
Eddi McCandry has just left her boyfriend and their band when she finds herself running through the Minneapolis night, pursued by a sinister man and a huge, terrifying dog. The two creatures are one and the same: a phouka, a faerie being who has chosen Eddi to be a mortal pawn in the age-old war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Eddi isn’t interested—but she doesn’t have a choice. Now she struggles to build a new life and new band when she might not even survive till the first rehearsal.
War for the Oaks won the Locus Magazine award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Society Award. Other books by Emma Bull include the novels Falcon, Bone Dance (second honors, Philip K. Dick Award), Finder (a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award), and (with Stephen Brust) Freedom and Necessity; the collection Double Feature (with Will Shetterly); and the picture book The Princess and the Lord of Night. —Cynthia Ward
Barnes and Noble
An original blend of modern music and magic in a contemporary urban setting, Emma Bull’s novel is exceptional in its portrayal of a faerie world that exists alongside our own. It’s even more extraordinary for the way it manages to find magic in everyday life.
Musician Eddi McCandry has reached a crossroads in her life. She just broke up with her boyfriend and has decided to quit the band she plays for. Things could be worse—her boyfriend was a creep, and the band was mostly out of work—but they could be better, too. Eddi’s money is running low, and the idea of a regular job repels her. She seeks options, wondering whether it would better to abandon her hopes and dreams or risk it all for one last chance at stardom.
At this juncture there appears a phouka, a being that alternately assumes the form of a dog and a man. This fantastic—and frequently annoying—creature informs Eddi she’s to play a vital role in the upcoming battle between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. The phouka turns Eddi’s reality upside down just as she’s trying to pull together the pieces of her life. And things are about to get even worse: A battle is meaningless without loss; victory in war is impossible when no one dies. Eddi Chandry is an ordinary mortal, chosen to bring her mortality to a battlefield of immortals—and neither side is particularly happy about it. (Joel Feigenbaum)
