War for the Oaks

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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.

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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.