Storm Furies

Elfhome #6

by Wen Spencer

THE GODDESS OF WAR RIDES, HERALDED BY STORM FURIES

The oni have invaded Pittsburgh on Elfhome. And, so far, it looks like they are winning. All this is according to prophecy. But the prophecy is big on symbols and light on specifics. Tinker and her allies are doing the best they can to defend the city and the civilians caught in the crossfire of a war between elves that’s been brewing for centuries. But the enemy has no hesitation whatsoever in involving innocents. All the pieces in this deadly game are in place—and everyone trusts Tinker will save them. All she needs is a plan. And then the lights go out, and the storm begins to rage . . .

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Magic, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Dragons, Fiction

448 pages, Hardcover

First published August 6, 2024

About the author

John W. Campbell Award Winner Wen Spencer resides in paradise in Hilo, Hawaii with two volcanoes overlooking her home. Spencer says that she often wakes up and exclaims "Oh my god, I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific!" This, says Spencer, is a far cry from her twenty years of living in land-locked Pittsburgh.

The Elfhome series opener, Tinker, won the 2003 Sapphire Award for Best Science Fiction Romance and was a finalist for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Fantasy Novel. Wolf Who Rules, the sequel to Tinker, was chosen as a Top Pick by Romantic Times and given their top rating of four and a half stars. Other Baen books include space opera thriller Endless Blue and Eight Million Gods.

Reviews

[Nicola Pike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good reason to go back and re-read the whole series. This complex and super compelling next instalment in the series is literally hard to put down. Trust me, I was reading into the small hours of the morning, even though I had work the next day. The gritty eyes were well worth it.

This book weaves together the stories of all the people we've been introduced to in a high-action novel that takes us through a literal war zone.

FYI check out Baen. You can get eARC's much earlier than release dates.

I went back and reread all the other books. Much better. Definitely re read.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great New Book in the Series

Lots of action and adventure in this book, and the multiple POVs seem to work better than the previous book in the series. Tinker and her family come together to fight for Elfhome with determination, bravery, and cleverness.

[ReadKnitHoard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally. Most of the dangling loose threads were bound off in a satisfying way. Almost entirely. Though the end felt abrupt. And I still need more to believe the happy endings for some of the characters… nor did all of them get their finale.

But I'm satisfied for now, unlike after Harbinger.

Updated after second read: There's more to solve and more to find out, but at least there are no cliffhangers. And there were some revelations that I need to ponder for a bit… But I can wait without tearing out my hair. (And I can't wait for the audiobook to release—I'll notice different facts when my eyes aren't skipping over words…)

[Katyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a part 2 of book 5, which was good because that book felt utterly cut off in the middle.

I enjoyed it, but...this can't possibly be the end of the series. Is it? The conclusion is satisfying - like the earlier books in the series, it brings its arc to an end - but is absolutely not a series conclusion, because we have a million questions/threads remaining:

- How to stop the skin clan/evil empire for good
- What are the dragons trying to accomplish
- What is Tooloo trying to accomplish
- What is the deal with Pure Radiance, because she seems like an entitled asshole
- How to structure things between Earth and Elfhome, removing the Skin Clan influence
- How to separate the Westernlands from the rigid structure of the eastern elf society
- Is Wolf's brother Blue Jay friend or foe
- How to cement Pittsburgh as a free land for all species / half-breeds
- How things are going to shake out with Stone Clan and the guardianship of the new Dufae babies (though I feel like Forge will make anyone who tries to take those kids from him pay dearly)
- We need some resolution with Tristan (and his siblings, frankly)
- Tinker seems to be claimed by 3 dragons - Brilliance, Clarity, and Joy (from Joy's mutterings). That's not the case for anyone else. What does that mean?
- How will things settle with Jewel Tear and Tommy? Also, Stone Clan seems to have sent her here to betray people...so how much of the rest of Stone Clan is in league with Skin Clan?
- Will Tinker and Windwolf ever get to function as a unit, fighting side by side, or will they always be running in different directions to put out fires?

We have hints and implications about a lot of these, so I could make guesses, but nothing is concrete.

All this leads me to conclude that this can't possibly be the end of the series.

I hope more comes soon!

[Kathy Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

STORM FURIES is the direct sequel to HARBINGER. In fact, it begins moments after HARBINGER ends.

The oni have invaded Pittsburgh and a great many different groups are fighting them. This story is told from numerous viewpoints with each chapter following one person or group or another. Among the viewpoints are Tinker, Windwolf, Oilcan, Jillian and Louise Mayer, Tommy Chang, Law, Jane Kryskill, and Olivia or Olive Branch over Stone. Each character has their own role to play in the larger conflict and their own personal problems and interests too.

The story is filled with battles and skirmishes and life-changing decisions. Tinker comes to learn that Pittsburgh is the place where long-standing rivalries and viewpoints have to come together if they want to win against the oni and change the world.

This is an epic story filled with wonderful characters and an intriguing society. While the story ends with a victory that is more like a breathing space, there are still a number of plot threads dangling. After all, Emperor Heaven's Blessing is still out there scheming.

The story proceeds at breakneck speed. I found it very hard to put down. In fact, rereading HARBINGER and then STOEM FURIES has made me very much sleep deprived. I don't regret a minute though.

[Beth Dubeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome!

What a satisfying book. All of the pieces from harbinger are brought to a safe landing while still leaving room for new adventures

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gonzo madcap book, but it is what I expected of this series. The first 3/4 was basically all combat. The last 1/4 all plot. I couldn't possibly have explained who anyone was, but this was written in a way that I could follow it anyway. And there were enough hints and info drops to remind me of more than I expected. Fast paced. And it refreshed my memories of Pittsburgh that I never felt like I needed to pull up a map. If this series ever wraps, I'll definitely re-read.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The action ramped up to break neck pace from 30 to 80%, Wen did amazing job organizing the action scenes that take pretty much simultaneously across the city in a way that wasn't confusing.
Occasionally it meant backtracking a little from the next groups pov 😉 but it kept the pace going all the same.

[ReadKnitHoard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cribbed from my kindle edition review: Finally. Most of the dangling loose threads were bound off in a satisfying way. Almost entirely. Though the end felt abrupt. And I still need more to believe the happy endings for some of the characters… nor did all of them get their finale.

But I'm satisfied for now, unlike after Harbinger.

Updated after second read: There's more to solve and more to find out, but at least there are no cliffhangers. And there were some revelations that I need to ponder for a bit… But I can wait without tearing out my hair. (And I can't wait for the audiobook to release—I'll notice different facts when my eyes aren't skipping over words…) 4 stars

Narration: Great basic narrative, voices, and accents. Expressive. Different voices/accents from earlier in the series, more narrowed down/spot on than before. 4.5 stars

[Ann Brookens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful and amazing!

Storm Furies is an astounding story! Spencer shifts viewpoints each chapter: from Tinker to Oilcan to Wind Wolf to Olivia to... You get the idea. Any character who has another important piece of the action! The battle against the oni ramps up to burst on Pittsburgh. It's fascinating! I keep wishing I knew the layout of Pittsburgh, thinking it might help me track the action. It might not help since parts of Pittsburgh didn't travel to Elfhome, but maybe? Excellent story, but I still want more. Spencer has plans to write a novella about Jane's wedding to Taggart. I hope she will be inspired to continue with the work of rebuilding the mixed society of imported Pittsburgh.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spencer has moved from a character-centric story mode to more of an event one, so this tells the story of the battle for Pittsburgh from the point of view of many people. I enjoyed it as her skills of balancing multiple viewpoints, centering readers in a perspective with very few sentences and a careful attention to detail, and an exuberant imagination that keeps a multitude of unexpected objects spinning without many (any?) drops.

My son, also a fan (he finished the paper copy that arrived while I was reading my e-arc) did think it over-did the viewpoints, and we had fun talking through which and how they could be trimmed. And both of us now plan to read through the whole series again so clearly our enthusiasm for Spencer’s stories is undimmed.

[Debrac2014 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! Action packed fun! Wood Sprites to the rescue!

2025 reread - I enjoyed it and can't wait for Jay's story!

[Georgina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vast improvement over Harbinger, but not without flaws.

If the previous all-setup-no-payoff book drove you insane, rejoice! Here is a sufficient climax that will let you feel like plotlines moved forward and things were accomplished. You may finish the book with some minor confusions or disappointments about "but what about X?", but you will not be infuriated.

Still suffers from the too-many-characters issue, and the viewpoint-hopping occasionally makes the timeline super-confusing, but it doesn't slow down the action nearly as much as the previous "book" - book in quotes because IMO these two books should have been combined into one with several of the extraneous character plotlines excised and held back for a separate novella.

In particular, EVERYTHING involving Tommy and Olivia, in both books, is essentially a digression that never really connects back to the main plot. They do tie in thematically to the "people finding their own way" but the only connections to the main action (moving Duff, sending a train to Windwolf) were shoehorned in and would not be missed if their story weren't in this book. It kind of felt like their whole Thing in Harbinger existed solely because no one else accomplished *anything*, so we suddenly invented an entire rescue plot so that we could have a short-term win, even though that requires introducing a whole new set of power players and cluttering up the narrative even further.

More importantly, while Olivia's storyline in Storm Furies wraps appropriately with her holding onto Forest Moss, Tommy's is left somewhat unresolved because when we last saw Jewel Tear she was potentially happy about the prospect of not being domana anymore, but then Tinker forcibly fixes everyone and we don't see how that works out. A separate novella focused on all these characters would allow for a proper ending for them in which Jewel Tear might choose to opt out of being fixed.

Her fate is certainly not the most important question left unanswered at the end of the book, but I mention it as part of my argument that this story would have been better told elsewhere.

[J. Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book is much improved over Harbinger. There are structural problems with both books, but the conclusion of Storm Furies does not leave me immediately wanting to shred the book like with the previous volume. With 1,064 pages between them they are a very long single story, so I grudgingly admit that splitting them was perhaps a smart idea.
That being said, I’m not sure the editor did a good job of helping steer this ship. Both books suffer from bloat, although Storm Furies has less than Harbinger. The constant bouncing around between POV characters can make it hard to stay involved in the story. The story lines for Olivia, Tommy, and Jane (much as I love the characters) are part of the bloat I mentioned. The author seems to be trying to promote them into ‘Main Character’ status, but they really aren’t that developed yet. In my view, ideally these parts would have been stripped out of Harbinger and Storm Furies, bound into a separate novel or novella depending on actual length and released in-between the two main books to clarify side action occurring in Harbinger, and then to set the stage for Storm Furies.
Barring my complaint that Harbinger was all rising action and no payoff, Storm Furies delivers quite nicely. I think if there were better communication from the author and publisher to her fans the furor over Harbinger would have been much less. After the Battle of Pittsburg and fixing the problems that arose via Heavens Blessing, Lucien, and the Eyes the series is nicely situated for continuation into hopefully several more volumes. Overall I have to say: Well Done!
(Edited to add: There is a nice call out to Stomsongs short story from Project Elfhome in here as well.)

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earth is under attack by the oni. Massive hordes of oni rampage across Pittsburgh (which is now on Elfhome full-time instead of switching back & forth from the universe we know and the elves' universe). Tinker finally gets to meet her younger twin sisters and the "babies" (four more Tinker siblings who very much have a role in this book, even though they have not yet been born. Don't ask. It's magic.)

Action has been building in the last several books and comes to a mighty climax in Storm Furies. I would definitely NOT recommend starting the Elfhome series with book six. This is definitely one of those series where you really need to start with book one.

That said, I really enjoyed finally seeing the different sets of characters from previous books get to interact on the same playing field.

It reminded me somewhat of the The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the last in the Hobbit trilogy. That movie also had a LOT of moving parts.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Storm Furies, and I am, at this point, hoping that this was not the last book in this series. A number of characters have new beginnings in this book so, in my humble opinion, there is room for book seven.

Highly recommended for Tinker/Elfhome series fans, Wen Spencer fans, and fans of well-drawn character action and well-drawn aliens!

[Charles D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admire the early Tinker books and would happily list Book Four, Wood Sprites, among the most entertaining novels I've read. A lot of laughs, balanced with not a few tears. That said, this book suffers from the same issues as the previous effort: it's primarily exposition. The writing is not as strident as in Harbingers, which is pretty much exclusively exposition with all the action in past tense. There is quite a bit of forward motion in this story, but even when there's action happening in the present, it's almost always interrupted by whole pages of declarative sentences, all exposition, piled up one after another, with no rhythm. That's Wen Spencer's version of style, and somehow it works in the early books and here. Harbingers did not engage me, but Storm Furies did. This "style" works because Wen Spencer's world-building and characters are nerdy-brilliant. She believes in her people and makes us believe, too. I'll surely buy the next book if there is one, hoping fervently there is. Heck I will buy whatever she writes.

[Sylvia McIvers · Rating 5 out of 5]

War is complicated.
There's at least 3 sides, and that's just on the good-guy's side.
Even more sides for the bad guys.

A wonderful adventure.

A few characters seems to finish their character arcs, while some take a sharp turn that seems to bring them much closer to Happy Ending than they have been before.

One character introduced last book is absolutely brilliant, while a mysterious "new side" introduced last book remains mysterious.

2 plot lines are resolved. A few new plot arcs build up.
Big Bad remains on the looose, so the war is clearly Not Over Yet.

Last book started at midnight and ended at sunset.
This one starts just after sunset (in a rainstorm). Most of the action takes place from dark to breakfast. Several support characters remind main characters that food and sleep are important.

At some point, I'm going to probably buy this set - I already own most of the series.
Last book and this one are part of a longer arc, I wonder if the next one will finish it.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

War comes to Pittsburgh!

All the skirmishes and undercover missions finally break into open war between the oni forces and the elves and their human allies. The elf army is trapped outside the city and the human militia must fight the oni trying to takeover the city. Tinker, Oilcan and the twins are pulled in multiple directions to keep Pittsburgh free. The first half of the novel was super exciting with full on military action with Jane leading the militia and Hal getting in the way (as usual!). I loved the car chase with huge trucks that Olivia gets into that reminded me of the Fast & Furious movies. The last half gets some huge revelations about the things Tooloo has been hiding for hundreds of years! A really fantastic book in the series that answers so many questions but also sets up more action to come in the next book!

[Henry Lazarus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wen Spencer has been writing about Tinker (paper), a young girl who lives in a version of Pittsburgh that jumps from Earth to Elfhome on a regular basis since 2003. In the 6th tale she and her friends have to face the Storm Furies(hard from Baen) of war as the Oni attack on Pittsburgh intensifies. There’s a spell designed to remove magical abilities from Elf mages, and monsters designed to weep the city clean of both humans and elves. All the characters from the previous books face death and only a seeress working in the shadows and maneuver events to insure survival. There’s also baby dragons. This may be the conclusion to a fun series, though there is enough pending to allow for sequels. Great series that should be read in order.

[William Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

oof

This is…a lot. So many moving pieces, all during a war with sneak attacks and secret hideouts and…oof. Tinker meeting her mini-me’s are worth the ride.

Now for the bad: the cast list is expansive and the backstory is massive. A lot is explained as the narrative progresses, but so much is barely mentioned. You *can* read this book without being familiar with everything that comes before, but I don’t recommend it.

I love Wen Spencer’s writing and I own everything she has published (I think).

[Mark R. Buckowing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional wrap up to the primary series

Wen Spencer really delivered with this book. She successfully brought all of the various characters and their respective story threads together and provided an excellent and satisfying resolution to the major plot points. Are there still issues to address? Definitely! I hope that there will be another anthology that will cover some/all of those issues...there are so many opportunities in this universe.
Well done and highly recommend this series.

[Rainer Prem · Rating 4 out of 5]

The End? Happily ever after? Not really

After HarbingerHarbinger, this book was rather quick to be published. It was combining (most of) the loose threads from the last book. Unfortunately, that was done by a) rotating through all POV characters several times again and b) pulling some Deus ex Machina moments as well.

Before this book arrived, I read through the whole Elfhome saga again. Still, books #1..#4 are great, and #5 not. This one is somewhere in between.

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild and crazy in a good way

Many of the expanding threads of the last two books are brought into connection with each other in this book. We still have some major points to follow and quite a few unanswered mysteries. A fun romp that I will find again in a few weeks again to see what pops out that was hidden the first time.

[Nicole Luiken · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to finally read this--Harbinger ended on a huge cliffhanger. I love these characters and this world. In addition to lots of battles and magic there's lot of satisfying character moments and I love the sense that even now in book six we are still learning about this world, that it's still deepening. I was fascinated by the background on Vision and Pure Radiance for example and the need for elf society to stop stagnating.

[Diane McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Team Tinker!

Storm Furies starts back up right after Harbinger (The Tinker Series Book 5) where the oni and greater bloods have taken most of the domana out of the battle for Pittsburg with a magical bomb. Now Tinker and her allies have to save everybody from the oni while on the run from their enemies.

Storm Furies is not a standalone book because each book in the Tinker Series adds more to the series.

[Ay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the second part of the story begun in Harbinger.

Why they couldn't just name all these books "Elfhome saga book 2, 3, 4..." is quite beyond me.

It is engrossing, and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. It is complex, epic and gripping.

It took a bit of concentration, and ended a bit abruptly.

[Tendo Kayiira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope there is a next book

This book felt like the second part to the previous book. It started right where the last one left off. It continued smoothly till the end. The book was good. There were many moving pieces that came together well. It also raised many questions about things and make me really wonder where the story is going next. I can't wait!!

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been too long. I really should have re-read the entire series, because of how little I remembered… I re-read #5 only. At least this one isn’t a bad cliff hanger. We don’t know if the spell worked in the end but it should have with all of the smarty-pants wood sprites including a thousand year old experienced elf.

[Christie Aulick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth the wait!

And Tinker, with her wood sprites family, is out to win the war. It picks up right were Harbingers ends. The author does a fantastic job of fleshing out the conflict, how it really started, while fighting the current war. I finished it in a day. Aha while it does "end", I feel like there's still story to tell. Loved it!

[Michael Bonkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a most excellent wrap up for this series

This concluding book of the series wraps up most of the mysteries, especially those surrounding Tooloo. There are a few loose threads but they are very minor. I'm looking forward to the next black wolves book.