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War for the Oaks
336 pages
An electric, guitar-shredding collision of 1980s rock clubs and dangerous Celtic mythology.
What it feels like
Reading this foundational urban fantasy feels like stepping out of a loud, smoky 1980s rock club into a crisp, shadowy Minneapolis night where magic is real and deeply dangerous. The narrative moves at a brisk, rhythmic clip, driven by the thrumming heartbeat of live music and the high-stakes tension of a hidden faerie war. Its prose is sharp and grounded, treating dive bars and ethereal courts with the same evocative weight. There is an electric, autumnal mood that permeates the story, balancing gritty urban realism with enchanting, life-or-death mythology. It is a deeply romantic and earnest exploration of artistic integrity, loyalty, and the literal power of a song, perfect for anyone who loves their fantasy laced with leather jackets and electric guitars.
- Mood
- electric
- shadowy
- enchanting
- autumnal
- Tone
- earnest
- wry
- romantic
- gritty
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the transformative power of music · artistic integrity · hidden magical worlds · loyalty and sacrifice · finding one's voice
- The writing
- Sharp and evocative, seamlessly blending the gritty realism of 1980s dive bars with the lyrical, dangerous beauty of Celtic myth.
- The arc
- The protagonist moves from creative burnout and vulnerability to fierce empowerment and magical agency.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love foundational urban fantasy, rock-and-roll aesthetics, and stories where art is a literal weapon.
Content notes
- fantasy violence
- coercion
- alcohol consumption
About the book
Amazon.com Review 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
Description from Open Library.
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