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Author | Emma Bull |
---|---|
Cover artist | Pamela Patrick |
Language | English |
Genre | Fantasy |
Set in | Minneapolis |
Publisher | Ace Books |
Publication date | 1987 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Pages | 309 |
ISBN | 0-441-87073-2 |
OCLC | 16615723 |
War for the Oaks (1987) is a fantasy novel by American writer Emma Bull. The book tells the story of Eddi McCandry, a rock musician who finds herself unwillingly pulled into the supernatural faerie conflict between good and evil. War for the Oaks is one of the first works in the subgenre of urban fantasy: although it involves supernatural characters, the setting (Minneapolis) is decidedly real-world. The novel is considered one of the first examples of the subgenre known as romantasy. [1]
Walking home one night through the streets of Minneapolis after quitting her rock band and breaking up with her boyfriend, Eddi McCandry discovers that she is being pursued by a threatening man and an even more threatening black dog. They turn out to be one and the same: a shapeshifting prankster faerie known as a phouka, who drafts Eddi to be the linchpin in the ongoing battle between faerie's good and noble Seelie Court and the evil Unseelie Court, ruled by the Queen of Air and Darkness. Eddi soon finds herself in a struggle for survival against the Unseelie Court, all while trying to put a new rock band together. Meanwhile, her initial feelings of resentment toward the phouka develop into gratitude for his efforts to protect her against the dark queen, and ultimately turn into love. The novel climaxes in a rock concert playoff between Eddi and the Queen of Air and Darkness, which decides the fate of both faerie courts, as well as the fate of her loved one.
Many references are made to British folklore. During the course of the novel, Eddi meets a glaistig, the phouka, a brownie, and redcaps. Many traditional beliefs about faeries are incorporated; for example, their aversion to rowan berries and St John's wort.
Rock music also features prominently in the novel. Much of the novel is devoted to Eddi's efforts in putting together a rock band. Her band plays covers of songs by diverse musicians including Prince, Peter Gabriel, The Beatles, Kim Carnes, Men Without Hats, and Bram Tchaikovsky. Eddi also plays songs written by herself - in actuality of course, written by the author, Emma Bull. Some of these (including Wear My Face and For It All) were performed by the band Cats Laughing (of which Emma Bull is a member), and are on their second album Another Way To Travel.
There are also references to historical landmarks of Minneapolis as locations for the story. Eddi is chased down Nicollet Mall at night by the phouka; the Fey battles take place at Minnehaha Falls and at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory; and her band, Eddi and the Fey, plays at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and at First Avenue, which is where the climactic playoff occurs for the fates of Minneapolis and the phouka. The opening band in that scene is Twin Cities Celtic-punk group Boiled in Lead, whose 1987 album Hotheads also appears in an earlier scene in Eddi's apartment.
War for the Oaks won the Locus Award for Best First Novel [1] and was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award.
Meredith "Merry" Gentry is the protagonist of an eponymous fantasy series by US writer Laurell K. Hamilton, best known for her other fantasy series Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter. The series comprises nine novels and was written between 2000 when the series began with "A Kiss of Shadows" and the final book, "A Shiver of Light", published in June 3, 2014.
Emma Bull is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her novels include the Hugo- and Nebula-nominated Bone Dance and the urban fantasy War for the Oaks. She is also known for a series of anthologies set in Liavek, a shared universe that she created with her husband, Will Shetterly. As a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, she has been a member of the Minneapolis-based folk/rock bands Cats Laughing and The Flash Girls.
Romantic fantasy or Romantasy is a subgenre of fantasy fiction combining fantasy and romance, describing a fantasy story using many of the elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre.
Adam Stemple is a Celtic-influenced American folk rock musician, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is also the author of several fantasy short stories and novels, including two series of novels co-written with his mother, writer Jane Yolen.
Ironside: A Modern Faerie Tale is a young adult urban fantasy novel by Holly Black. It was published in 2007 by the Margaret K. McElderry imprint of Simon & Schuster and is recommended for readers aged "14 and above".
Eddi or EDDI may refer to:
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale is a young-adult fantasy novel written by Holly Black. It was published in 2002 by Simon & Schuster, who recommended it for "ages 12 up". Sequels--Valiant (2005) and Ironside (2007)--completed a trilogy that is sometimes called [A] Modern Tale of Faerie, the subtitle of volume two.
Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie, is a young adult urban fantasy novel by Holly Black. It was published in 2005 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, who recommended it for ages "14 up". Valiant is a sequel to Black's debut novel Tithe, and the second in a trilogy that is sometimes called [A] Modern Tale of Faerie (2002–2007).
A Stroke of Midnight is the fourth novel in the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton.
Seduced by Moonlight is the third novel in the Merry Gentry series by American writer Laurell K. Hamilton.
A Caress of Twilight is the second novel in the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton.
A Kiss of Shadows is an erotic horror novel by American writer Laurell K. Hamilton, the first book in the Merry Gentry series.
Mistral's Kiss is the fifth novel in the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton, and was released December 12, 2006.
Cats Laughing is a folk rock band, founded in the late 1980s in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and revived in 2015. Several of its members, including Emma Bull and best-selling author Steven Brust, are better known as writers of fantasy and science fiction.
A Lick of Frost is the sixth book in the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton.
Jack, the Giant Killer (1987) is a contemporary fantasy novel by Charles De Lint. The book is set in present-day Ottawa, but incorporates many elements of fantasy, folklore, and myth.
Divine Misdemeanors is the eighth novel in the Merry Gentry series written by Laurell K. Hamilton. The book was one of the top selling novels of 2009.
The Merry Gentry series is a series of urban fantasy novels by New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton. The series is narrated in first person format through the eyes of the series' title character Meredith "Merry" Gentry, a faerie princess turned private investigator in a world where faeries exist and are known to the general public. The first book in the series, A Kiss of Shadows, was released by Del Rey on October 3, 2000. There are nine books in the series.
Lord of Shadows is a young adult urban fantasy novel by Cassandra Clare. It is the second book in The Dark Artifices, which is chronologically the fourth series in The Shadowhunter Chronicles. The book is set in the Los Angeles area in 2012. The titles from each chapter are derived from the poem Dreamland by Edgar Allan Poe.
Queen of Air and Darkness is the third and final book in The Dark Artifices trilogy by Cassandra Clare, which is the fourth chronological series in The Shadowhunter Chronicles. This series follows the characters of the LA Institute in 2012 and features characters from all of the previous series. The chapter titles all come from the poem The City in the Sea by Edgar Allan Poe.