{"id":244,"date":"2006-05-08T07:10:47","date_gmt":"2006-05-08T11:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=244"},"modified":"2021-05-31T19:50:43","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T23:50:43","slug":"war-for-the-oaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/244","title":{"rendered":"War for the Oaks"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nWar for the Oaks<\/a><\/em> (1987) Emma Bull<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wow. I’ve been bypassing this book for years<\/em>. Initially, because wasn’t on the shelves. Then when the reprint came out, because the cover made it look like something I wouldn’t like. <\/p>\n

Boy was I wrong.<\/p>\n

And I shouldn’t have been, because I liked Freedom & Necessity, which she co-wrote with Steven Brust, and I’ve liked all her short stories I’ve come across in various anthologies. But I never picked up War for the Oaks<\/em>. (Okay, there’s also the fact that I’ve never come across it used. I’m much more likely to pick up books when I’m uncertain about the cover, if I can find the book used.)<\/p>\n

In tone, War for the Oaks<\/em> reminds me of a cross between Charles de Lint –there’s a magical world that’s just out of reach for most of us, and the people most likely to slip over to that world are musicians and artists. That’s what happens to Eddi McCandry. Faerie needs a mortal for their wars, and the phouka has selected her for the task. All he has to do is make Eddi come to terms with the idea. <\/p>\n

What I love best about this book is the characters. Especially the phouka. Although I can see that he might be annoying as all getout, I think he would also be a lot of fun in person. <\/p>\n

I also loved the fact that it was set in the mid 80s, so I got all kinds of musical references to 80s music PLUS lots of mention of Prince. (Yes, I was a huge Prince fan in the 80s and early 90s.)<\/p>\n

There were two things that I didn’t like as well. The first few chapters struck me as overwritten, however, once the book got going, that feeling disappeared, and I was sucked in, especially to the dialog. The other thing that bothered me, was that Stuart seemed to get off scott-free. Of course he might have been dealt with by the Unseelie Court, but I had a hard time believing that Eddi was just willing to let things go so easily.<\/p>\n

But those were two small details in an otherwise fantastic story. The writing was good, I loved the characters, I loved the dialog, and I was pulled into the story by the second chapter, and didn’t want to put the book down if I didn’t have to.<\/p>\n

If you love Charles de Lint, or Neil Gaiman’s American Gods<\/em> or Anansi Boys<\/em>, then you should enjoy Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks<\/em>.
\nRating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

War for the Oaks (1987) Emma Bull Wow. I’ve been bypassing this book for years. Initially, because wasn’t on the shelves. Then when the reprint came out, because the cover made it look like something I wouldn’t like. Boy was I wrong. And I shouldn’t have been, because I liked Freedom & Necessity, which she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,2,291,41],"tags":[250],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-fantasy","category-paper","category-reread","tag-emma-bull"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3W","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":264,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/264","url_meta":{"origin":244,"position":0},"title":"The Book of Ballads","author":"Michelle","date":"June 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Book of Ballads (2004) Charles Vess To create The Book of Ballads, Charles Vess worked with some of the biggest names in fantasy, to recreate a graphic rendition of some of the best known songs of folklore. Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, Emma Bull, Jane Yolen... It's like a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/Book-of-Ballads.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/58","url_meta":{"origin":244,"position":1},"title":"Freedom & Necessity","author":"Michelle","date":"February 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Freedom & Necessity (1997) Steven Brust and Emma Bull Delving back into Brust section of my bookshelves, I came back with Freedom and Necessity, a book that I remember as complicated, although good. And since I remembered nothing of the plot, I figured it was a good candidate for re-reading.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/02\/FandN.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":800,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/800","url_meta":{"origin":244,"position":2},"title":"Territory","author":"Michelle","date":"November 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Territory (2007) Emma Bull Matilda is a widow living in Tombstone and working as a typesetter for the paper. Jessie Fox is a horse trainer who ends up in Tombstone after someone tries to steal his horse. In Tombstone Wyatt Earp is consolidating power, including keeping Doc Holliday in town.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Territory-Emma-Bull.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2146,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2146","url_meta":{"origin":244,"position":3},"title":"Firebirds Rising","author":"Michelle","date":"December 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Firebirds Rising (2006) edited by Sharyn November Huntress by Tamora Pierce Unwrapping by Nina Kiriki Hoffman The Real Thing by Alison Goodman Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles de Lint I'll Give you My Word by Diana Wynn Jones In the House of the Seven Librarians by Ellen Klages Wintermoon Wish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Firebirds-Rising.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2524,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2524","url_meta":{"origin":244,"position":4},"title":"Vampires: The Recent Undead","author":"Michelle","date":"September 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Vampires: The Recent Undead (2011) edited by Paula Guran As with many anthologies, this one has some stories I especially liked, and others I didn't care for at all. I believe I'll focus on the ones I liked. The anthology opens with Holly Black's story, \"The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/vampires-the-recent-undead.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3584,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3584","url_meta":{"origin":244,"position":5},"title":"Teeth: Vampire Tales","author":"Michelle","date":"February 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Teeth: Vampire Tales (2011) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling This is an Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling anthology, so as always, there are fascinating bits of folklore. Rice, not garlic, was the most effective means of keeping Chinese vampires at bay, for they had a strange compulsion to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Teeth-Vampire-Tales","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Teeth-Vampire-Tales-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}