Bull, Emma: War for the Oaks
War for the Oaks (1987)
Written by: Emma Bull
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 332 (Trade Paperback)
Ah, we come to our very first discussion for our monthly book club, and let me tell you, do you KNOW how HARD it was to WAIT and post this review? DO YOU? It's so hard I decided to post this sucker a few hours early! You can't blame me, right? :)
When I selected the theme, "Fantasy that takes place in an urban setting," I wanted to select books that were known for either pioneering the urban fantasy genre we know today and/or books where the setting is just as important of a character as the, well, characters. Of all the selections, I had a feeling that War for the Oaks would be the most familiar in terms of what we see marketed as urban fantasy today, and boy, was I right. Fortunately, I was right in a very, very good way.
I'd already had this book on my shelf. My interest in urban fantasy made me predisposed to want this book, and when a friend of mine, quiet_rebel, had to read it for her SHU Master's Program, I got to hear her talk all about it. She loved it, and that alone was my reason for purchasing it so long ago and letting it languish on my shelf. Fortunately, and perhaps sadly, it took our September Challenge to make me read it.
The premise: Eddi McCandry is a rock-and-roll girl who drops out of her band and breaks up with her boyfriend all in one night. To make matters worse, on her way home, she's chased by a crazy man and his dog. Once they have her cornered, she learns the crazy man IS the dog, and that she's been selected by the faerie to be a vital part in a coming battle. Eddi doesn't want a thing to do with it, but she doesn't have much choice. The story that unfolds is full of Eddi coming to terms with this new, magical, but frightening world she's been pulled into, and the world of rock-and-roll she's always loved.
Review Style: the hard thing about WAITING to review a book is it becomes harder to remember details, so this review will be of the stream-of-conscious variety, and it will contain spoilers. If spoilers bother you, just skip to the "My Rating" section of the review, and you'll be good to go. :) For those of you who participated in the September challenge, there's questions within the review that I'd love your feedback on, so don't be afraid to comment (or disagree with me!).
You guys. You know I have trouble with faeries, right? And you know by selecting this book, you FORCED me to read a book about something I have trouble with, right? Of course, it's my own fault for sticking it on the list, but I couldn't very well leave it off considering its roots in the genre.
And boy, am I glad things worked out the way they did. While this is definitely a little more familiar in terms of what urban fantasy readers are used to reading today, there are enough differences to make things INTERESTING, and more to the point, do these urban fantasy writers have ANY idea how much they owe to Emma Bull for being one of the first, if not THE first, writer to pioneer this particular genre? DO THEY?!?!?!
Seriously. This should be REQUIRED READING for anyone who THINKS they might want to write a story under the urban fantasy/paranormal romance umbrella, YA or not, and especially for those writers who are writing the Buffy-Lit that's so popular today.
More to the point, this book makes every single faerie book I've ever read PALE in comparison. And let me name those books for you, so you know where I'm coming from:
Elizabeth Bear's Blood and Iron
Holly Black's Tithe
Marie Brennan's Midnight Never Come
Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, and Fragile Eternity
Maggie Stiefvater's Lament: A Faerie Queen's Deception
And then there's the urban fantasy/paranormal romance series that don't feature faeries as the main thing, but include them in the world-building, like Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega books, Yasmine Galenorn's Otherworld books, Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire mysteries, and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. And those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head (that I've read, that is. Yes, I meant to rhyme).
The fae, much like vampires, are EVERYWHERE. But let's look at this particular oh-so-important pioneer of the genre.
Because there's similarities and there's differences. Let's discuss them.
For starters, there is very little court politics and intrigue in War for the Oaks. THANK GOD. If there's one pet peeve I have in urban fantasy that features the fae, it's the court politics and intrigue. It bores me to tears, and it always comes back to a faery queen who is EVIL and will BETRAY YOU or at least enslave the man you love.
However, despite the fact there's very little court politics and intrigue, we do get a faerie queen who isn't so nice, who kidnaps Eddi's former lover and ransoms him to win the land she's fighting over.
But this didn't bother me. For starters, the book wasn't ALL ABOUT THIS. It just happened at the start of the climax, and what followed afterward made perfect sense. Everything was handled in a straight-forward manner too: Will gets kidnapped, he's tortured under her care but Eddi and the Fey (ha!) rescue him, but the kicker: he dies in the ensuing battle (and not by the hands of the Queen). Eddi then makes a deal with the Queen to stop the fighting. She's tired of it and simply wants peace, and the Queen agrees. There's a wee bit of trickery when the Queen ends up demanding the Phouka so everything goes fair, but again, this is straight-forward and is over rather quickly, so there's no languishing over the EVIL QUEEN having Eddi's LOVER and fear of deception, you know?
And better still, no queen was really destroyed. There were two queens, and their courts were battling it out over Minneapolis, and one of them ends up winning, thanks to Eddi, and the other is banished. Other books about the fae would have Eddi locked into the intrigue, but she just plays rock-and-roll until the battles come up, and then she does what she has to while worrying for the people she cares about.
Another similarity, yet difference, is the way the romance is handled. At first, we think the true love is going to be Will, who was OBVIOUSLY one of them, but Eddi didn't know it until she saw him on the battlefield. I loved how Bull handled that relationship: once Eddi learns the truth about who Will really was and how he really thinks (he doesn't know what love is, and doesn't understand that using glamour to influence Eddi's reactions is wrong), she doesn't want to be involved, yet she doesn't let that break up the band either. He stays in the band with her permission (and because he truly loves making music), and they forge a careful friendship. That's really neat to see, especially in light of Eddi's growing feelings for the Phouka, another relationship that was handled with expert care. I loved the Phouka for so many reasons, but I really loved how Bull had the balls to write what was probably a bit of a taboo relationship back in the eighties--a white girl and black man. Of course, maybe I just think it was taboo back then, but it really wasn't. I was, what, seven years old when this book came out? I didn't know jack. But I'm guessing if it wasn't taboo, it still wasn't comfortable, depending on who was reading the book at the time, where they lived, and how they were raised. Just guessing.
But Eddi and the Phouka had a fantastic dynamic together, and he played the right kind of hero with a perfect balance. Funny, gorgeous, but a man who makes mistakes and clearly has faults. It was a lot of fun seeing him fall in love with Eddi, and I'm REALLY glad this book was a stand-alone. Nowadays, Eddi would've been IN LOVE with Will the whole time while fighting her feelings for the Phouka and/or ignoring them, and once Will got killed, she'd have to spend a SECOND book grieving before realizing the Phouka was the man for her. Which would've probably happened in a THIRD book.
Now let's focus a bit on the urban part of this fantasy, as that was the whole point of this month's theme, no? Setting description was very prominent in this book, and more to the point, the setting was the very reason for the war between the factions of the fae. So not only did I get a sense of what Minneapolis was like as a city, I felt like I lived there a little bit, I understood the importance. It wasn't just some random city thrown on paper so that the book could be labeled "urban fantasy," which has been my complaint of the genre of late. Often, there's too much stress on the fantasy and the urban element is ignored. This was a beautiful balance, and what I'd like to see more of in the genre.
Did the book have flaws? Sure. While the writing itself wasn't dated, I had to giggle over some of the clothing descriptions and whatnot, because I knew what decade I was supposed to be envisioning. That said, I think the book holds up pretty well, despite its age. Anyone disagree? I didn't think it was too cheesy in terms of eighties references (subtle as they were), but maybe others had problems?
That said, it really made me step back and think about the timeless quality that certain books have because they don't date themselves. If there's a reason that writing instructors tell writers to NOT stick pop-culture events in their books and brand names, it's that very reason: unless the book is meant to be seen as a slice of history, a slice of life at a certain time, the book dates itself pretty quickly. Hell, even writing styles will date themselves in time, and I have a feeling that no matter how much we enjoy certain books in the Buffy-Lit category of urban fantasy, ten years from now, these books may make us cringe. Then again, that's a whole other question: does a book have to be timeless, and if it isn't, why is that okay?
Applying that to Bull's work, which is just a smidgen over twenty years old, how well does it stand up? Not just because of fashion and pop culture references, but writing style? For my buck, it stands up beautifully. I won't say it's COMPLETELY timeless, but I have a feeling it's going to last. It already has, you know? I can see it lasting longer.
Moving on, I have to say I loved how completely the rock-and-roll was integrated into the story. It was an important part of the plot as well as the characters, and I couldn't imagine this book without it. And at first, this book re-ignited my desire to go back to the urban fantasy I was toying with earlier this year, which featured a rock-and-roll band, but by time I finished reading? I asked myself, "Why bother?" because THIS is how you do it, and I sure as hell couldn't do it better. All I wanted with a band was window dressing, and really, what's the point of something so cool if it does nothing more than look cool?
So I loved how the band and its music played a vital role in the climax of the book. I loved how Eddi's brand of personal magic came from her ability to make music. I also giggled at how the titles of the chapters were song titles, which might help date the book a wee bit, but I didn't care. I think anyone who wasn't aware of what was happening wouldn't feel lost, and that's the important thing. It's just icing on the cake for the people who DO notice.
And let's talk about something that's sorely missing from the Buffy-Lit of today: best friends. And not just any best friend, but a best friend of the female variety. Often, we see our urban fantasy heroines as the lone woman on campus, and any other women are either villains or just not the kind of people our heroines can relate to. In War for the Oaks, however, the best friend plays an important role in helping out Eddi and keeping her sane, and by all rights, Carla does what any best friend should do: look out for her best friend's interests and help her whenever she's able. That's another relationship in this book that was completely awesome, but I'll be honest: on the whole? I was very pleased with the whole cast and its interactions.
Another thing I really appreciated, though it may be because I'm familiar with faerie conventions at this point and didn't need the explanations, was how Bull showed us how the fae worked instead of outright telling us. The Phouka gets pissy over "thank you" but never explains why until much later, we see his thorough discomfort in a vehicle, which is made of steel, several times before he explains what the deal is, and then there was the lovely retort when Eddi asked him "Why me?" a second time and he gets mad and begs her not to ask him again, because then he'd have to answer and she's not ready for it.
Now don't get me wrong, in most of those cases, we do get explanations, but even in those explanations, they aren't a sit-down lecture of any sort. They fit into the flow of the narrative in such a way that it doesn't intrude, it doesn't feel like an info-dump, and that is something I can really admire. :)
And I had to laugh: because Eddi is a rocker chick, we end up seeing her ride a motorcycle and wear leathers. Why does that make me laugh? Because UF heroines tend to wear lots of leather these days, whether they ride motorcycles or not. :)
So, book-clubbers: what say you? Was War for the Oaks a yay or nay? Agree or disagree with my points? Please, for the love of everything pure and good, sound off below. I want lots of discussion, but in order for that to happen, you need to comment. :) Oh, and if you're a book blogger like me and have a review posted in your space, please comment here with the link! I don't know about anyone else, but I'd love to read your review!
My Rating
Must Have: but this is very, very close to a "keeper shelf." That's how much I loved this book. And that's saying something, because you know I'm so very tired of faeries, but this book is above and beyond them all, even those series that I love. I think every single author writing urban fantasy/paranormal romance owes their career to this book, to say nothing of those writing about faeries. For a book that's over twenty-years old, it's still beautiful, engaging, and a must-read for anyone who's a fan of the urban fantasy genre, and it's really a MUST for anyone who wants to write (or is writing) in the genre. Trust me, it's fun to compare what Bull was doing twenty years ago to what's popular now. It's similarities and differences that are just delightful to look at. And this is also one of the many fantastic examples of balancing the fantasy elements with the urban setting. It really is. I loved this book so much that when I finished it, I promptly ordered Emma Bull's Bone Dance off Amazon. If that doesn't say something, I don't know what will. I thank the readers of calico_reaction for selecting this for our very first book challenge, because I don't know when I would've gotten around to this otherwise. It's worth the read. It is. I can't stress that enough.
Cover Commentary: I like it well enough. It's not something that would grab my eye on the shelf, and the Phouka looks quite vicious on the cover, but I guess that fits, since he appears to be quite vicious the first time Eddi meets him.
Further Reading: No, this isn't a new feature for all of my reviews, but rather for the book club. If you enjoyed this month's theme of "Fantasy with an urban setting" and you enjoyed War for the Oaks, check out the following titles to explore the same theme in different ways:
Charles de Lint: Someplace to be Flying ( review)
China Miéville: Perdido Street Station ( review)
Neil Gaiman: American Gods (sorry, no review: I read this in 2003)
Sergei Lukyanenko: The Night Watch ( review)
Ekaterina Sedia: The Secret History of Moscow ( review)
A few I haven't read, but will because I own them:
China Miéville: The City & The City
Catherynne M. Valente: Palimpsest
Ekaterina Sedia: Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy
And don't forget the other books we voted for:
Charles de Lint: The Onion Girl
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere
China Miéville: The Scar
Book Club Poll: this is the only way I can really track participation, so if you follow this journal, answer, okay? :)
Poll September Participation
If you started but couldn't finish it, please comment and talk about the reasons why. What turned you off from the book? How far did you go before throwing in the towel?
Thanks, everyone! On Thursday, I'll announce October's book club selection and we'll do this all over again! :)