War for the Oaks

Plot summary

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 same: a shapeshifting prankster faerie known as a phouka, who drafts Eddi to be the key 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.

Characters

Eddi McCandry

The book's protagonist. A guitarist and gifted singer; the nature of her gift is revealed during the course of the novel. Several plot points in the book involve her relationships with her ex-boyfriend Stuart Kline, Willy Silver, and the phouka.

Phouka 

A trickster faerie resembling the musician Prince with the ability to shapechange into a dog. He is never named in the book, although at one point in the novel he temporarily adopts the name Robin Goode. When he meets Eddi, he is nominally working on behalf of the Seelie Court, but it is revealed he has other motives for his actions.

Carla DiAmato

Eddi's best friend and confidante, and drummer for her band. Carla is instrumental to the formation of the band - she pressures Eddi into starting one and suggests their name, Eddi and the Fey.

Dan Rochelle

Keyboard player for Eddi's band. Eventually, he and Carla fall in love.

Hedge

Bassist who responds to Eddi's classified ad. He is reserved most of the time, but at one point sings a soft, tuneful folk song. Member of Faerie, allied to the Seelie Court.

Willy Silver

Lead guitarist who responds to Eddi's classified ad. Willy is one of the Daoine Sidhe and a member of the Seelie Court.

Awards and nominations

War for the Oaks won the Locus Magazine award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Emma Bull and her husband, Will Shetterly, have adapted the book into a screenplay. In turn, this was made into an eleven-minute short film or trailer [1]. In an appendix to the book's reprint in 2001, Bull included an excerpt of the screenplay, and it was published in full by Hollywood Comics (ISBN 1-932983-08-2) on August 31, 2004.

Release details

1987, USA, Ace Books ISBN 0-441-87073-2, Pub date 1987, Paperback

2001, USA, Orb Books ISBN 0-7653-0034-6, Pub date 6 July 2001, Paperback