Review of War for The Oaks

I kept trying to pick this book up when I would get into bed at 12:30 am, and I kept putting it down and shutting my eyes. I think this has equally to do with me being just to tired to start something at that hour, and also that this book has a slow start. Awkward, even.

However, once I opened the book at a decent hour and skimmed over the first page or so, I was hooked. I read most of this book in one day. Typically with books I get tired and need a break, but this one kept me captivated. It reminded me a lot of de Lindt's Newford series, where mortals and the supernatural co-exist and sometimes interact.

The main character, Eddi, is a singer/guitar player who quits her band, meets up with fey folk, including a phouka who becomes her bodyguard, unwillingly agrees to help the Seelie court win a war against the Unseelie fey, and starts another band--this one including (unbeknownst to her) two fey musicians.

I'm not sure if the reader is expected to be smarter than Eddi, but I spotted the two fey in her new band immediately. And when it comes out that there's a traitor amongst the Seelie fey, I knew who that was right away, too. And I also knew she'd fall in love with the phouka.

However, obvious plot devices and all, this book had enough action and adventure and romance to keep me hooked until the very end, where I felt it lost a bit of its momentum. I didn't feel that the final battle was very convincing. At the back of the book were excerpts from the screenplay (no, it hasn't been optioned for a movie...the author just wrote a screenplay just in case), and I thought the screenplay version of that final scene was actually more exciting, so I was glad it was included.

Regardless, I'd recommend this one, and I'll probably check out Territory, which is the author's next novel (not a sequel to this one).

You'll note that there's a quote from Neil Gaiman on the cover...that's because Emma Bull is in a band with Neil's assistant Lorraine. But I'm sure that he also enjoyed it.