Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Tinker - Wen Spencer

I've heard lots of people recommend Tinker, but for some reason, I never actually knew what it was about for the longest time. Well, I recently fixed that. And as soon as I read the backcover blurb, I knew I'd have to read this book.
Inventor, girl genius Tinker lives in a near-future Pittsburgh which now exists mostly in the land of the elves. She runs her salvage business, pays her taxes, and tries to keep the local ambient level of magic down with gadgets of her own design.

When a pack of wargs chase an Elven noble into her scrap yard, life as she knows it takes a serious detour. Tinker finds herself taking on the Elfin court, the NSA, the Elfin Interdimensional
Agency, technology smugglers and a college-minded Xenobiologist as she tries to stay focused on what’s really important – her first date. Armed with an intelligence the size of a planet, steel toed boots, and a junk yard dog attitude, Tinker is ready to kick butt to get her first kiss.
I loved this book. Tinker is such a great character. She's a super genius, and yet she's normal enough to run around saying: "Yes! Be healed!" Tinker cried. "I am your magic god! Say Amen to me! Woohoo!" She danced around the room. "Oh yes, I am a god! The one! The only! Tinker!" after she pulls off something difficult. (Hands up if you've ever done something similiar ;) ).

The world is pretty amazing, too. Elves, magic and hoverbikes in one awesome package. Magic is only quantum physics to Tinker, and she makes even the weirdest things seem grounded and real. And yep, there's more than enough romance in the book to satisfy. But, don't take my word for it - there's a great excerpt available on the author's site.


I'm definitely looking forward to diving into
Wolf Who Rules, the sequel to Tinker.

7 comments :

Sweet said...

I've heard Tinker compared to Ilona Andrews' Magic Bites which I absolutely love. Its been kinda on my radar for awhile. I'll have to add it to my TBR pile.

Anonymous said...

Oh I'm going to have to check this one out since I live in Pittsburgh!

Kerry said...

These are great books, Nalini. I'm sure you'll love "Wolf Who Rules" just as much. I love Wen Spencer and she's on my "buy in hardcover" list.

I've just finished her new release, "Endless Blue" which is totally different and I loved that too. It's kind of space opera, and it still has a romance, although it's not shown as much as in the Tinker books, it's more just there.

Her Ukiah Oregon books are great too, and "A Brother's Price" is a very clever and fun spin on romance tropes in a world where women outnumber men by something outrageous like 10-1. In other words, I've enjoyed everything she's written and recommend them all. (Heck, I'd happily lend them to you, just to convert you; they're those sorts of books.)

Jenny Schwartzberg said...

I love all of Wen Spencer's books and I have been rereading all of them since getting my hands on Wolf Who Rules. I've already read that one twice in the last couple of days. Great fun. I have to go and get a copy of Endless Blue but probably Monday after all my final projects are done. It's dangerous to read Wen Spencer in the middle of urgent work. I've lost too much time already!!

LesleyW said...

Endless Blue is out? Darn it, that's more money spent. :)

I love Wen Spencer, she's very eclectic - fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, now space opera. But I've never read a book by her that I haven't enjoyed. Even if sometimes I'm scratching my head at the physics stuff.

Unknown said...

Was anyone else in the world confused at the chatter at the end of the book?

"-evil- Eh heh heh heh! -/evil- Finish the gate in 21.54 days or the HEDGEHOG GETS IT!!!" ??????!!!! Seriously... what?

Loved the book. Was seriously taken aback by the amount of physics-talk in it, but hey! It actually made me feel smart reading it. And I loved the Japanese mythology being an anime freak myself.

It sucks that I'm trying to signify how it was odd to use HTML writing in the book when this stupid comment box won't let me explain and yells at me for writing HTML. So for every -, a sideways carrot. :(

Unknown said...

this webpage explains hedgehog comment

kimuro.livejournal.com/224637.html

Yours sincerely
Lea Thume