Wolf Who Rules

By: Wen Spencer

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

A New Breed of Adventure!

Tinker: just a quick-witted girl from Pittsburgh - who happens to be responsible for depositing high elves and her hometown humans into a melting pot of magic. Now the draconian oni seek to destroy the elves by breeding human git to do their evil bidding. But half-breeds who are half-human may not be the slaves the oni imagined. The revolt is on! Its leader - A certain newly-minted elven princess from Pittsburgh, PA, by the name of Tinker. The thrilling sequel to Tinker by Wen Spencer, winner of the 2003 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

©2006 Wen Spencer (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Science and Magic, Oh My! Continues!

On December 21 I noted in a post that Wen Spencer’s Elfhome series was out on Audible. Being a rabid lover of all things Spencer, and of Audio Books in general, I was thrilled.

Over the last few days I have listened to both Tinker and Wolf Who Rules and am more than happy to say that they didn’t disappoint – At. All. If you read my original review of Tinker back in July of 2013 you will read how much I enjoyed the first book. The blend of technology with magic completely charmed me. Magic, in the world of Elfhome, is based upon technology. Spencer delves into the world of quantum mechanics, chaos theory, physics, and various other sciences to build a world where Tinker, the heroine of the story and a junk yard owner, blends science with magic to create magical machines, like the hover bikes that made Wolf Who Rules: Elfhome, Book 2 | [Wen Spencer]her famous in a Philadelphia ripped out of our reality and transported to Elfhome by a mistake in quantum mechanics. A mistake made by her grandfather and extrapolated out to a Chinese space platform which allows travel between worlds. Philadelphians didn’t ask for their city to be transported – but now that it is, a new world of trade has been opened up, and Philadelphia transports monthly between Earth and Elfhome. Sooo interesting!!!

The narration, by Tanya Eby, is beautifully done, and fits the characters well. Tinker is a Elfhome: Elfhome, Book 3 | [Wen Spencer]very mature, very brilliant, eighteen – not a character I would normally identify with at her age, but being raised on another world, by a brilliant grandfather, makes her ‘older’ in some ways, while being incredibly naïve in others. She is an interesting blend of emotionally childlike and intellectually mature, and it shows in all of her actions.

Wolf Who Rules is the second installment of the series, continuing the story of Tinker and her interactions with the Elves whose world Elfhome is. There is danger, suspense, and mystery as there was in Tinker, but the story begins to expand beyond Tinker and her Wood Sprites: Elfhome, Book 4 | [Wen Spencer]cousin Oilcan, spreading out across space and time – and developing the storyline to include a war being waged against the evil (and they truly ARE evil, in the most disgusting and painful manner) Oni – true monsters from another, massively overpopulated word, who are determined to take over Earth and Elfhome, destroying both humans and elves. Complete savages, they can nonetheless breed with humans – a situation that leaves human women at risk, and half-human/half-Oni on the razors edge, brutalized by the Oni and hunted by the Elves. Betrayed by a friend, causing her capture by the Oni, can Tinker rescue herself before she is forced to open a new gate between worlds, allowing the Oni to capture both Earth and Elfhome? Will she be able to save the humans, the Elves, the half-Oni, and a new, previously unknown slave race being brutalized by the Oni?

Action, adventure, suspense – it’s all here in spades in the series. Elfhome and Wood Sprites are the two books of the series I still have to read that are available on Audible.com. I am thrilled to see that there are two “Shorts” also available that are set in the Elfhome world. Wyvern is a prequel of sorts, set in the world of Elfhome shortly after “Startup” – when Philadelphia is first brought over to Elfhome. Blue Sky is the story of human John Montana and his brother, Blue Sky, a half-sekasha – one of the elven warrior class who protects the leaders of Elfhome – a class which is above the law, and who are a danger to Blue Sky. Can Tinker protect Blue Sky and John? This story is set after Wolf Who Rules and it is highly recommended that you read that novel before picking up this short or you may spoil your read of WWR. I am about to pick it up now that I have listened to Wolf.

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3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Action, intellect, and good characters

Would you consider the audio edition of Wolf Who Rules to be better than the print version?

It is hard to top the written version of a Wen Spencer, but this one tries. The more characters involved, the more distinct voices Tanya Eby provides.

What did you like best about this story?

Impatience is my favorite character. There is lots of good stuff, but gotta love the dragon.

Which scene was your favorite?

With one unexpected twist after another, it would be hard to say what was best.

Any additional comments?

I don't know how easy it would be to start this series with a later book, without the earlier books to build upon. Like real life, the characters don't just interact with a limited cast, and it grows, and background expands, as the series progresses. I highly recommend the series!

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

be ready to go... huh... so that's what happen...

well Tincker is a walking, talking force of nature... that that is a genius... if not a physically imposing one... this time the book is set up a duet Tincker's point of view along her husband's pov. This time Tincker is going a bit nuts... and not in a good way, with dreams warning her about different threats and nightmares from previous book... well there no rest for the mad genius. One thing I liked in peculiar that I liked in specific on this book is how Tincker matures and becomes more aware of surrounding and her actions... some heads were lost, but you know eggs and omelets...

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Favorite series

When people ask what my favorite book is, this is the series I tell people. I was thrilled that I got to enjoy the book again through the audio version and that the audio performance was up to the task of telling this amazing story.

Still enjoy the series ... but

I still enjoy the series. The world has been expanded to include many more species and the interactions between each other. In this story the author build the plot around the of the Wizard of Oz. Included is also the story is a history of Tinker’s parentage. Tinker spends most of the time whinnying about what is her part is in the Wizard of Oz. Pieces of information is presented in her dream and she stumbled around trying to find how it pertains to her current situation. There is a lot going on with the history of the species that is setting up for future conflicts.

More of the story deals with Wolf and Tinker trying to clean up the problems that her gate created in book one than of their relationship. This leads to a story line, which deals with Tinker and Pony since they spend much of their time together.

There are two conflicts. What laws (human or elf) are followed since the city is locked in position. How do they both work together defeat the Oni. Of course, Tinker is stumbling around getting into situations where she learns that species being all evil is not something you can apply to any species.

I wish there was a guide to explain the relationships between/within the species history of interactions between the species. There was place when the elves are negotiating for land and one clan asked for Pony. I did not understand the significance.

Storm Song was explaining the hierarchy among the body guards in the service to an elf is based on the age of the elf and the order in which the guard was selected. When listening to the information it is easy to misunderstand or lose some information.

I do intend to get the next book. I could not give it a higher rating because I don’t understand many of the relations among the species. Those nuances are important to appreciate the story more thoroughly. It is like watching a movie and at some points the dialogue switches to another language.

Ehhh.....Average read I guess

I kind of like this series but it's also kind of boring. And I'm noticing that the endings are all pretty anticlimactic and just kind of neatly "work out" for everyone at the end, while occasionally leaving some details up in the air.

Tinker saves the Day again

High adventure with a cool role reversal were the princess saves the prince from the dragon.

Takes awhile to get warmed up but then it's great!

I have listened to both books and enjoyed each one, but they are slow to start. The live story is in its proper place, as a back ground item. I mean it doesn't get in the way of the actual story. There is no entire chapter devoted to a sex scene. Thank you. I am looking forward to hearing more