War for the Oaks

Rating:
Summary: A good book got lost in all the waste
Review: Books like this are the reason I tend to avoid fantasy novels. Emma Bull's War for the Oaks has everything I don't like about the genre: stilted fairy dialogue and a preponderance of overblown florid prose.

Unfortunately, there is a decent novel hiding underneath all the garbage. Eddi McCandry is a rock chick who unwittingly becomes selected to be the mortal mascot for a war between the light and dark sides of Faerie. The scenes with Eddi and her friends and bandmates Carla, Dan, Willy, and Hedge are what make this novel tolerable. The music scene of Minneapolis is given some play and makes me want to visit.

But interspersed between these really cool scenes about a rock band on the make are purple patches of fairy-type creatures (each, it seems, with a different style of speech) and their silly little battles with each other. This war they're fighting seems like nothing more than a couple of egos playing "Yes I will; No you won't" over and over again. I didn't give a whit about it and tended to skim those scenes after a while.

A novel about Eddi and her friends would be a fun book indeed, but War for the Oaks was in many ways underwhelming. I don't regret reading it (at least now I know what my friends at Green Man Review are talking about), but I don't know if I'll search out any other Emma Bull novels to read any time soon. Specifically, the transition between different styles of speech hurt my head after a long time reading, and I would have to read something else to take my mind off it.

It's considered a classic of the genre, so if you like a combination of low and high fantasy, you'll likely find something to enjoy in War for the Oaks. However, if fighting fairies aren't your cup of tea, or if you prefer tightly-written fiction, stay far away.

Rating:
Summary: Could Barely Finish It
Review: I had to force myself to finish this book. The inane plot couldn't keep my attention at all. The few characters that I liked didn't even survive the whole book. Typically I love this genre and this is the first book of the genre that I really couldn't appreciate.

Rating:
Summary: The Real Deal
Review: I have been a sci-fi/fantasy reader for over 30 years. This book blew me away. The characters were "fully fleshed out." The plot, which would have come off as inane in less capable hands, resonates with, well, reality. That's it! Emma Bull got me to buy in to this story line - with all the "diversity" in the fey - and yes! it works. I enjoyed it. I loved the love story of Eddi and the phouka. All in all, a great, fun read. What more can you ask for?

Rating:
Summary: Well written, a little bit dated.
Review: I have been hearing about this book for years. Somehow I never managed to find it. I had nearly forgotten about it when I ran across the new edition-- an impressive-looking trade paperback with glowing Neil Gaimon blurb on the cover. I picked it up with a great deal of enthusiasm.

War for the Oaks belongs to the Urban Fey fantasy subgenre. Think Tom Deitz or Charles de Lint. The not-conventionally-pretty heroine is recognized for her true talent by the Seelie Court, and along the way finds magic, true love, and extreme danger.

Sound familiar? It should. The War for the Oaks suffers at least a bit from its status as a forerunner. Since publication the theme has been picked up, copied, made more complex and generally just evolved. What must have seemed revolutionary in 1987 loses a lot of its gloss and charm for a first-time reader in 2004.

This is not to say that War For the Oaks is without its own merits. Bull is a skilled writer. Eddi is an endearing character. The ups and downs of band dynamics and bad boyfriends are extremely well done. The problem with the book is largely that the Fairy part lacks depth-- the plot feels too simple and too easily resolved. Many of the resolution plot points were predictable more or less from the beginning.

The strong ugly duckling wish fulfilment element of the novel will most likely make it a satisfying read for younger fantasy readers or readers who like their Fairy Tales unmixed with heavy politics. Readers with a taste for darker or more complex fantasy world may well find this book just a little bit lacking.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Fantasy
Review: I picked this book up on a reccomendation and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was! An urban fatasy that is well writen and a truly enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book
Review: In 'War for the Oaks' Emma Bull wrote about many of the same issues as Tom Wolfe did in 'Bonfire of the Vanities.' Yes, I mean it. But Emma does a better job, getting to the heart of the matter without adding on all the pretentious goop. Style vs. substance. Selfishness vs. altruism. And all in a book you really can't put down!

Rating:
Summary: This is the real deal
Review: People go on and on about "urban fantasy" and the deserved popularity of the Borderlands shared universe has essentially created a new genre space for heroic fantasy in an urban setting.

But War for the Oaks is the real deal. Bull has taken a solid foundation of traditional fairy folklore and made it new. Eddi McCandry isn't another calque on Janet from Tam Lin; she's Eddi McCandry. Bull has also captured the essence of Fey game-playing and ethics here, with fabulous dialog. I just wish she'd recorded the songs.

Rating:
Summary: OK, but not something I'd read again.
Review: Some good writing interspersed with long boring sections of "deep and meaningful" lyrics when then band plays. Some of the sections were so slow I skipped over them-and didn't miss anything.

Don't know that I'd read more by this author.

Rating:
Summary: So so
Review: This was not such a great book for me. Granted it was not bad but it did not hold my attention. I found I did not care so much for the characters especially the protagonist. Also I found all the music and band jargon tedious.

Rating:
Summary: A Bit Hollow
Review: _War for the Oaks_ is supposed to be a classic of the Urban Fantasy genre. I found it an engaging read, but classic? Not to me.

The concept, that the armies of the Sidhe are duking it out for control of Minneapolis and must have a human on the battlefield to make death stick, is great. I also liked the depiction of the musician's life; as a working musician myself, I could definitely see that Bull knew what she was talking about in that quarter.

But as a whole, the story stuck me as hollow. When I was finished, I kept worrying it like the gap from a missing tooth. Everything just seemed like too much of a lark, too pat. The people died who were obviously going to die. The outcome was obvious. The relationships were obvious. Whenever something could have gone on to make a deeper statement, Bull shied away from it.

****SPOILER****
I was also really disappointed that Bull felt she had to make Eddi and the Phooka lovers by the end. I thought the Phooka was much more interesting without that -- or interesting enough that it seemed unnecessary. And as for Eddi, well, can't a woman exist in a fantasy without ending up in a sexual relationship? It just seemed pointless, and I couldn't believe in it.

All in all, good candy, but it left me wanting a real meal.