Content levels
Trigger warnings
Hero archetypes
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Themes
Synopsis
Amazon.com Review Emma Bull's debut novel, War for the Oaks, placed her in the top tier of urban fantasists and established a new subgenre. Unlike most of the rock & rollin' fantasies that have ripped off Ms. Bull's concept, War for the Oaks is well worth reading. Intelligent and skillfully written, with sharply drawn, sympathetic characters, War for the Oaks is about love and loyalty, life and death, and creativity and sacrifice. Eddi McCandry has just left her boyfriend and their band when she finds herself running through the Minneapolis night, pursued by a sinister man and a huge, terrifying dog. The two creatures are one and the same: a phouka, a faerie being who has chosen Eddi to be a mortal pawn in the age-old war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Eddi isn't interested--but she doesn't have a choice. Now she struggles to build a new life and new band when she might not even survive till the first rehearsal. War for the Oaks won the Locus Magazine award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Society Award. Other books by Emma Bull include the novels Falcon, Bone Dance (second honors, Philip K. Dick Award), Finder (a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award), and (with Stephen Brust) Freedom and Necessity; the collection Double Feature (with Will Shetterly); and the picture book The Princess and the Lord of Night. --Cynthia Ward
Is War for the Oaks: The Screenplay appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This urban fantasy contains moderate violence from faerie warfare, some romantic tension and scenes, and likely moderate language. The protagonist is thrust into supernatural conflict and faces life-threatening danger throughout.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, mild sexual content, and moderate language. Content notes include death, violence, and manipulation.
Who'll love this
Teens will enjoy the rock band setting, the reluctant heroine forced into faerie politics, and the mix of real-world Minneapolis with magical warfare.