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A fantasy novel by Emma Bull and one of the pioneering works of Urban Fantasy, War for the Oaks is the story of Eddi McCandry, a Minneapolis rock singer who's just been kicked out of her band and breaking up with her boyfriend. There's also the matter of The Fair Folk moving in — quite literally — with her, and an impending war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts into which she's just been drafted.
Contains examples of:[]
- A Good Name for a Rock Band: Eddi & the Elves.
- The Baroness: the Queen of Unseelie Court.
- Black Best Friend (and a Muggle Best Friend): Carla.
- Bodyguard Crush: Eddi and phouka.
- Dancing Is Serious Business.
- Duet Bonding: Eddi and Willy.
- Elemental Barrier: around the battle area.
- Elvish Presley.
- The Fair Folk: Two courts: the Seelie and Unseelie courts, roughly corresponding to good and evil.
- Fairy Companion: phouka and Meg to Eddi.
- Fairy Sexy: many examples.
- Gender Blender Name: An offbeat one, too.
- Ice Queen: two of them.
- Interspecies Romance.
- In the Style Of: Eddi and her band like to try it as a kind of exercise.
- Invisible to Normals.
- Killed Off for Real: Willy Silver.
- Like Reality Unless Noted.
- Loveable Rogue: Most of the (non-evil) faeries, but the Phouka in particular.
- Magic Music: True to folklore, the music of the faeries is impossible to resist, as audiences soon find.
- The Mole: Hedge.
- Mundane Utility: the magic of phouka and Meg.
- Myspeld Rokband: InKline Plain.
- Nature Spirit: glaistig and many other fairies.
- Never Trust a Title: there are no strategically relevant oaks in the novel.
- Not Quite Saved Enough: Poor, poor Willy.
- The Power of Friendship: the special bond between Eddi and phouka, created by Eddi's answer to the Queen, gives her a special power over fairies' fate.
- The Power of Rock: Present throughout the novel including the final battle.
- Twin Cities: The setting of the book; all the places mentioned in the novel are real.
- Urban Fantasy: One of the Trope Codifiers.
- Your Mind Makes It Real: that is why phouka warns Eddi against doubt.