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Elfhome #5
Harbinger
The war against the oni heats to a flashpoint even as Tinker learns that the enemy has a dangerous new weapon, the nactka. What’s more, the Stone Clan has sent its most famous warlords, the Harbingers, to take control of the allied war effort. Are these elves friends or foes? Tinker’s newfound baby siblings are up for grabs. The babies, though, are wood sprites and aren’t going to take things lying down. Team Mischief go!
15 pages, Audible Audio
Published October 18, 2022
109 people are currently reading
900 people want to read
About the author
Wen Spencer
44 books894 followersJohn 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
September 20, 2022
Rage. Burn it all down. This book was SO disappointing, especially after waiting for 8 (!) years. Almost nothing significant happens until the very end of the book, where everything explodes, and we have a cliffhanger THAT ALSO SAYS "THE END!" So many things that SHOULD have been significant happened OFF THE PAGE. We have certain events that should have already happened and they have not (Jillian and Louise STILL have not met their sister or cousin and their situation is still up in the air!). We have characters who are doing "important" things, but they aren't important to progressing the plot or important to what this book should have been about. We have important characters who have completely disappeared! We have characters who aren't that important to the story or even all that interesting taking chapters away from our main characters! Tinker only has like 3 chapters from her point of view! There are side characters with more pages! Doing things that ultimately DO NOT MATTER, some of which are also repetitive of other scenes in the series! The book literally has over 500 pages and STILL doesn't even cover a full day! The very title of "Harbinger" is either entirely inappropriate (because the actual Harbingers are barely in the book!) or entirely TOO appropriate because its a harbinger for the end of the series. After waiting this long and being this ANGRY and DISAPPOINTED, I'm most likely done with this author. I've been reading this author for close to 12 years, and I've read multiple series by her, multiple times (some of them as comfort re-reads!), I am just done. This felt like a bait and switch! False advertising! IF (AND THIS IS A BIG IF) the next book comes out within the next year (extremely unlikely), I MAY read it. After waiting for 8 years, having this incredibly bloated, unfinished, unpolished (too many editing mistakes!) piece of work be published as it was (it feels like HALF A BOOK because the "rising action" of the overarching plotline starts in the last three chapters!) is a slap in the face.
July 4, 2024
N.B. Read Monsters in Our Midst before diving into Harbinger!
Multiple POVs. Scattered. Setup, buildup, arranging pieces on a map… Cliffhanger!
I had a lot of expectations for this book, and I need to reread before I can decide whether the disappointment was caused by my expectations or the author not delivering… I hope the next book in the series releases soonest!
Note to author: At a cliffhanger ending, you announce "To Be Continued," not "The End." SRSLY WTF?!!!
Multiple POVs. Scattered. Setup, buildup, arranging pieces on a map… Cliffhanger!
I had a lot of expectations for this book, and I need to reread before I can decide whether the disappointment was caused by my expectations or the author not delivering… I hope the next book in the series releases soonest!
Note to author: At a cliffhanger ending, you announce "To Be Continued," not "The End." SRSLY WTF?!!!
February 23, 2022
Ven Spenser je dobitnica Kembelove nagrade, odnosno onoga što je danas Astaunding, odnosno Huga za najboljeg novog pisca - i nije isplivala u vrh žanra isključivo i samo zbog toga što je autorka koja objavljuje za Bejn buks.
Njeno stvaralaštvo je maštovito, multižanrovsko, društveno angažovano, ali i pustolovno i zanimljivo. Bila je woke pre nego što je to bilo kul i ostala je kul sada kada woke to odavno već nije. Bezmalo svaki roman Ven Spenser predstavlja ljubavno pismo gikdomu i uspeva da prigrli sva njegova raznolika ispoljavanja. Nemam ni izbliza dovoljno reči hvale za nju.
To rekavši, Harbinger je izuzetno kompleksan roman, kome je to i najveći - štaviše, jedini - problem. Glavni likovi ne stižu ništa da rade od gomile sporednih likova, čije se priče pletu u jednu kao niti u podebeo konac, ali tog prediva ima toliko da čak i pasioniranom obožaocu ovog serijala nije lako da sve isprati i da se svega seti. Zato se Harbinger više čitao kao Project Elfhome (zbirka priča iz ovog sveta) nego kao nastavak recimo Wolf Who Rules ili čak i Wood Sprites, na koje se umnogome oslanja. Takođe, završava se kao sekirom odsečen i više je nego očigledno da je Harbinger tek pola romana, slično kao što je Bučer prošle godine objavio Peace Talks i Battle Grounds. Jedini je problem što se između naslova koje Spenser objavljuje često čeka i po 5-6 pa i više godina, ali s druge strane reklo bi se da se nazire i mogući kraj ovog serijala u sledećoj knjizi, ili makar završetak jednog pripovednog niza.
Ta složenost i donekle nedovršenost jedini je razlog zašto Harbingeru dajem tek 4*, ali svi superlativi i te kako važe. NFSOA
Njeno stvaralaštvo je maštovito, multižanrovsko, društveno angažovano, ali i pustolovno i zanimljivo. Bila je woke pre nego što je to bilo kul i ostala je kul sada kada woke to odavno već nije. Bezmalo svaki roman Ven Spenser predstavlja ljubavno pismo gikdomu i uspeva da prigrli sva njegova raznolika ispoljavanja. Nemam ni izbliza dovoljno reči hvale za nju.
To rekavši, Harbinger je izuzetno kompleksan roman, kome je to i najveći - štaviše, jedini - problem. Glavni likovi ne stižu ništa da rade od gomile sporednih likova, čije se priče pletu u jednu kao niti u podebeo konac, ali tog prediva ima toliko da čak i pasioniranom obožaocu ovog serijala nije lako da sve isprati i da se svega seti. Zato se Harbinger više čitao kao Project Elfhome (zbirka priča iz ovog sveta) nego kao nastavak recimo Wolf Who Rules ili čak i Wood Sprites, na koje se umnogome oslanja. Takođe, završava se kao sekirom odsečen i više je nego očigledno da je Harbinger tek pola romana, slično kao što je Bučer prošle godine objavio Peace Talks i Battle Grounds. Jedini je problem što se između naslova koje Spenser objavljuje često čeka i po 5-6 pa i više godina, ali s druge strane reklo bi se da se nazire i mogući kraj ovog serijala u sledećoj knjizi, ili makar završetak jednog pripovednog niza.
Ta složenost i donekle nedovršenost jedini je razlog zašto Harbingeru dajem tek 4*, ali svi superlativi i te kako važe. NFSOA
June 8, 2022
It’s been several years since the last novel in this series was published, and you need to have read—and recalled—all of the previous stories and the recent collection of short stories and novellas (Project Elfhome) to have any chance of following what’s going on in this book. In addition, this book seems fractured, featuring numerous points of view, with the book title’s Harbingers hardly mentioned. It was a bit confusing and overwhelming. While there are some startling revelations and all the different threads lead up to the final part of the book, it ended on a cliffhanger that resolved nothing.
I love the world and the characters from it, but the disjointed storytelling and cliffhanger leave me disappointed and frustrated with this latest addition to the series. I hope it won’t take several more years to get the resolution to the cliffhanger and that it will be more polished and cohesive than Harbinger.
I love the world and the characters from it, but the disjointed storytelling and cliffhanger leave me disappointed and frustrated with this latest addition to the series. I hope it won’t take several more years to get the resolution to the cliffhanger and that it will be more polished and cohesive than Harbinger.
April 7, 2022
what happened?
Talk about an aggravating book, nothing really happened and then when it was about to it ended….lol it’s the worst kind of filler with about 50 different unneeded point of view jumps. and what makes it worse is how slow this author puts out a new book so they can keep fleecing people on patreon damn this book put me in a bad mood.
Talk about an aggravating book, nothing really happened and then when it was about to it ended….lol it’s the worst kind of filler with about 50 different unneeded point of view jumps. and what makes it worse is how slow this author puts out a new book so they can keep fleecing people on patreon damn this book put me in a bad mood.
April 10, 2022
This book ends in a massive cliffhanger! HATE cliffhangers! After years of waiting, I personally feel disappointed. Instead of the much anticipated meeting between Tinker and the twins, the book consists of 85% of all the side characters and only a few scenes of Tinker, Oilcan and the twins. And no meeting... Many storylines leading to the final goal but for me, it's a let down. I feel cheated.. Now we have to wait a few more years for the next installment? All in all, wasn't a bad book, but it didn't hold my interest for long and it took me almost a week to finish...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2024
I’m not disappointed, but I’m not thrilled either…
I finished the book in three days and waited a couple weeks to give myself some time to think about what I wanted to say.
In a lot of ways this book feels as if someone took 3 or four related novellas, split them up and grouped all the chapter ones together, chapter twos together, etc. There are 5 chapters focused on Tinker, four or five on Oilcan, a few on the twins, and everybody else has a few chapters of their own. Of the book’s namesake Harbingers, one never appears and the other one is relegated to two paragraphs of dialog.
I have heard that the original version of this book grew too large to release as a single volume, and that’s fine I suppose. But in my opinion this volume is mostly an interlude before what should be the actual book starts. It’s very scattered and there is not really any meaningful progress. In fact, I think the series would have been better served if this book had been split into novellas and released one at a time in the last eight years to progress the narrative and the next actual novel be released this year.
The first four novels were tight, well-paced, internally consistent, and had resolution even if you knew it was a lead into the next installment. By contrast this one seems to meander, with no clear point or direction. It may be that this work has gotten too large and unwieldy for one novel to hit all the beats as clearly and concisely as has been shown in the rest of the series.
Don’t get me wrong I love the characters and this universe, including Jane, Hal, Taggert, Law and Bare Snow, et. al. I loved reading Project Elfhome and in a lot of ways this book seems a continuation of that one. There is absolutely value here and new things to learn about this world.
With five books in 19 years (plus a collection of short stories) this series has absolutely passed George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire for length to completion. 8 years between books is a long time, and I’m feeling a little bit like this was a bait and switch. I don't want to wait another 8 to see what happens next.
Oh, and I absolutely loathe the new style of cover art. Nothing to tie to the story or Pittsburg at all.
*Update: 18 May 2023* 1 year on and still no news about what is going on with the next novel.... unless you are on the authors Patreon. If you want a good example of how to do a 2-volume split story look at Laurell K. Hamilton. She released ‘Smolder’ in March of this year. The next one, ‘Slay’ will be release this November. It was also printed right in the book when the next title would be out, so no ambiguity there. Bravo, Ms. Hamilton: Mrs. Spencer could learn a lesson here. I'm still aggravated and disappointed.
I finished the book in three days and waited a couple weeks to give myself some time to think about what I wanted to say.
In a lot of ways this book feels as if someone took 3 or four related novellas, split them up and grouped all the chapter ones together, chapter twos together, etc. There are 5 chapters focused on Tinker, four or five on Oilcan, a few on the twins, and everybody else has a few chapters of their own. Of the book’s namesake Harbingers, one never appears and the other one is relegated to two paragraphs of dialog.
I have heard that the original version of this book grew too large to release as a single volume, and that’s fine I suppose. But in my opinion this volume is mostly an interlude before what should be the actual book starts. It’s very scattered and there is not really any meaningful progress. In fact, I think the series would have been better served if this book had been split into novellas and released one at a time in the last eight years to progress the narrative and the next actual novel be released this year.
The first four novels were tight, well-paced, internally consistent, and had resolution even if you knew it was a lead into the next installment. By contrast this one seems to meander, with no clear point or direction. It may be that this work has gotten too large and unwieldy for one novel to hit all the beats as clearly and concisely as has been shown in the rest of the series.
Don’t get me wrong I love the characters and this universe, including Jane, Hal, Taggert, Law and Bare Snow, et. al. I loved reading Project Elfhome and in a lot of ways this book seems a continuation of that one. There is absolutely value here and new things to learn about this world.
With five books in 19 years (plus a collection of short stories) this series has absolutely passed George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire for length to completion. 8 years between books is a long time, and I’m feeling a little bit like this was a bait and switch. I don't want to wait another 8 to see what happens next.
Oh, and I absolutely loathe the new style of cover art. Nothing to tie to the story or Pittsburg at all.
*Update: 18 May 2023* 1 year on and still no news about what is going on with the next novel.... unless you are on the authors Patreon. If you want a good example of how to do a 2-volume split story look at Laurell K. Hamilton. She released ‘Smolder’ in March of this year. The next one, ‘Slay’ will be release this November. It was also printed right in the book when the next title would be out, so no ambiguity there. Bravo, Ms. Hamilton: Mrs. Spencer could learn a lesson here. I'm still aggravated and disappointed.
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November 5, 2015Goodreads shows me as having read this book ... not true, I can not read this book, it is not available.
April 8, 2022
If you haven't read the books that precede Harbinger, this book won't work for you. You won't know the many characters - and you won't know why you're expected to care about them. If you have read preceding books, you'll want to have read *all* of them, because most of the book follows characters who are familiar primarily from short stories set in this milieu.
I *have* read the other books, and I've been enjoying this series. Harbinger was less fun to read than its predecessors, partly because of the lack of focus. (There is focus in the sense that the plot threads are all leading to the same climax. But the reader's attention and engagement is scattered across too many minor characters.) And partly because Harbinger is half a book. It becomes apparent about halfway through the book that there simply aren't enough pages left to end on anything but a cliff-hanger.
The first thing I did after reading the previous book - Wood Sprites - was go back and reread it. That didn't happen with Harbinger, but the series as a whole still charms, and I look forward to the next book.
I *have* read the other books, and I've been enjoying this series. Harbinger was less fun to read than its predecessors, partly because of the lack of focus. (There is focus in the sense that the plot threads are all leading to the same climax. But the reader's attention and engagement is scattered across too many minor characters.) And partly because Harbinger is half a book. It becomes apparent about halfway through the book that there simply aren't enough pages left to end on anything but a cliff-hanger.
The first thing I did after reading the previous book - Wood Sprites - was go back and reread it. That didn't happen with Harbinger, but the series as a whole still charms, and I look forward to the next book.
August 27, 2024
Wow.... oh no .... how long is the wait for the next book? #Cliffhanger 😱😰😭
April 15, 2022
I'm not really (or: really not) excited by this book.
After five years of waiting, we finally got an attempt to take up ALL loose threads and put them together. And that means not only the main novels, but also the stories in Project Elfhome and a story recently published online on baen.com.
It didn't go well.
There are about 15 main characters, most of them getting their POV, doing things, which are not necessarily well motivated.
And of course, bringing them all together needs too many words to fit in a single book. So: It ends in the biggest cliffhanger I ever encountered in 60 years of reading history.
Suggestion: Do NOT buy the book. Wait until part 2 is published (which might take years).
After five years of waiting, we finally got an attempt to take up ALL loose threads and put them together. And that means not only the main novels, but also the stories in Project Elfhome and a story recently published online on baen.com.
It didn't go well.
There are about 15 main characters, most of them getting their POV, doing things, which are not necessarily well motivated.
And of course, bringing them all together needs too many words to fit in a single book. So: It ends in the biggest cliffhanger I ever encountered in 60 years of reading history.
Suggestion: Do NOT buy the book. Wait until part 2 is published (which might take years).
April 22, 2022
Ok first of all my pet peave - measuring units - twins are shown to be in a 8 sq ft room. This is 2 by 4 feet or 60 by 120 cm. If you used normal measuring units you'd know how ridiculous that is. Second get an editor. There's A LOT of recapping. Why? People are not going to buy book #5 in a series and expect to get in the story. People buy books 1 to 4 and then book 5. Get rid of little explanations and memorries of what happened. We all know what happened. And last but not least. Last book was 10? years ago. We readers expect and deserve something better than a cliffhanger. All the previous books had some logical conclusion. This one is 100 pov's and none of them really as satisfying as previous books.
September 23, 2022
Warning: Cliff Ahead!
Book 5 is a decent sized volume, but with the spiderweb of characters, relationships, agendas, betrayals, and choices it is still far too short to close out this storyline.
The good news: your favorite character is in it, regardless of which character that is. The bad news: as everything pulls together, events happen continuously, and I guarantee that scenes you are looking forward to haven’t happened by the end.
And the end is a cliffhanger. All the pieces are in place, but we’re going to have to wait to find out how this game plays out.
I can’t wait!
Book 5 is a decent sized volume, but with the spiderweb of characters, relationships, agendas, betrayals, and choices it is still far too short to close out this storyline.
The good news: your favorite character is in it, regardless of which character that is. The bad news: as everything pulls together, events happen continuously, and I guarantee that scenes you are looking forward to haven’t happened by the end.
And the end is a cliffhanger. All the pieces are in place, but we’re going to have to wait to find out how this game plays out.
I can’t wait!
June 24, 2022
My initial reaction to the news that this novel was coming out was not unalloyed joy. First, I had the sense that the first three novels in the series made a perfectly good arc. Two, that with the fourth novel Spencer seemed to be going in directions that didn't interest me, so I skipped it. Three, the basic reality is that I've gotten a lot more critical about my fiction reading in the last five or so years.
That said, do yourself a favor and don't read this novel unless you've at least read "Wood Sprites," and probably some of the related short fiction too. That I'm giving three stars is my admission that I'm probably not being totally fair to the book, that it wasn't a total wash for me, and that there have been novels I've read this year which have annoyed me more. Still, I thought I was being promised kick-ass elven warlords and there was damn little of that in this novel.
And that's another thing. I think that, editorially, Baen is really just going through the motions these days and is merely interested in pumping out "product." Tougher editing would have produced a better book. I'll admit I'm prejudiced because the author is an acquaintance of mine and I still think rather well of her.
That said, do yourself a favor and don't read this novel unless you've at least read "Wood Sprites," and probably some of the related short fiction too. That I'm giving three stars is my admission that I'm probably not being totally fair to the book, that it wasn't a total wash for me, and that there have been novels I've read this year which have annoyed me more. Still, I thought I was being promised kick-ass elven warlords and there was damn little of that in this novel.
And that's another thing. I think that, editorially, Baen is really just going through the motions these days and is merely interested in pumping out "product." Tougher editing would have produced a better book. I'll admit I'm prejudiced because the author is an acquaintance of mine and I still think rather well of her.
January 21, 2023
This book is incomplete, a broken promise.
The previous book (Wood Sprites), and the synopsis of Harbinger, set up expectations that aren't fulfilled, primarily the meeting between all the Dufae sisters. That never happens.
Otherwise, this book feels a little disjointed. Not bad enough that reading it is too confusing, it's fairly easy to follow the action. But many IMPORTANT and rather central plot points that are referenced happened off the pages, or rather, in bonus releases that aren't necessarily available to everybody. Amazon certainly offered me no hint that those existed, so imagine my surprise when I came to goodreads.com and sought this series to give this feedback.
Turns out I would've had to know to go look for those bonus stories to really get the full picture Harbinger tries to paint... Or even does so successfully, just not with the detail it could have afforded. As I said, the plot of this book is not so disjointed that I am confused, just enough that I am annoyed.
Nonetheless, Harbinger would be a very good book, if it were complete. As it stands, it is not, it has no ending.
I recommend reading Harbinger only once the next book is already immediately available to you, then it should be a very good and satisfying read, I imagine. Until then, avoid.
The previous book (Wood Sprites), and the synopsis of Harbinger, set up expectations that aren't fulfilled, primarily the meeting between all the Dufae sisters. That never happens.
Otherwise, this book feels a little disjointed. Not bad enough that reading it is too confusing, it's fairly easy to follow the action. But many IMPORTANT and rather central plot points that are referenced happened off the pages, or rather, in bonus releases that aren't necessarily available to everybody. Amazon certainly offered me no hint that those existed, so imagine my surprise when I came to goodreads.com and sought this series to give this feedback.
Turns out I would've had to know to go look for those bonus stories to really get the full picture Harbinger tries to paint... Or even does so successfully, just not with the detail it could have afforded. As I said, the plot of this book is not so disjointed that I am confused, just enough that I am annoyed.
Nonetheless, Harbinger would be a very good book, if it were complete. As it stands, it is not, it has no ending.
I recommend reading Harbinger only once the next book is already immediately available to you, then it should be a very good and satisfying read, I imagine. Until then, avoid.
September 14, 2022
This book did a lot of telling. I didn't remember what had gone before nearly enough to make sense of this book. Which means if I had read this series straight through, this book would have almost certainly been annoying. It also had a noticeable amount of typos, some of them bad enough that my library copy had penciled in fixes. I'm not sure that this book moved the story forward hardly any. It spent so much time setting the impossibly complicated scene that there was no time left. Sure it was cool and intriguing. And I liked a whole bunch of the characters. But I want more from my books than this. Maybe the next one will be different.
June 17, 2022
The first couple of books were innovative and interest. The last one and this one have devolved into children's anime. This is a bunch of scenes the author thinks will amuse kids in the single digits, and she seems to have a fetish about child brides.
The title and flap description mention Harbingers, the elite of the bad guys. They don't appear. The book is almost all backstories and there is no plot movement in more than 400 pages. It's a huge waste.
I don't know if I'll bother with the next, but if it starts off like this one it'll be the end for me. The author is ruining this series.
The title and flap description mention Harbingers, the elite of the bad guys. They don't appear. The book is almost all backstories and there is no plot movement in more than 400 pages. It's a huge waste.
I don't know if I'll bother with the next, but if it starts off like this one it'll be the end for me. The author is ruining this series.
May 6, 2022
All info dumps and no story
The first 70% is mostly info dumps of the first books in the series. It does eventually get flowing but then ends abruptly on a cliff hanger.
Instead of building on the success of a cultural comparison and character interaction, it becomes just a war story. As such store go, the goalposts keep being moved so there are more and more bad guys (eye roll). Very disappointing .
The first 70% is mostly info dumps of the first books in the series. It does eventually get flowing but then ends abruptly on a cliff hanger.
Instead of building on the success of a cultural comparison and character interaction, it becomes just a war story. As such store go, the goalposts keep being moved so there are more and more bad guys (eye roll). Very disappointing .
April 15, 2022
too many loose ends
Still fun read but typos and lack of cohesion with so many loose ends made this the lesser book of the series.
However I’m still looking forward to the next if she writes it.
Still fun read but typos and lack of cohesion with so many loose ends made this the lesser book of the series.
However I’m still looking forward to the next if she writes it.
April 12, 2022
to many different view points, therefore not enough pages to get forward with the story.
The most happen in the last 10 pages and end in a cliffhanger
The most happen in the last 10 pages and end in a cliffhanger
November 23, 2024
Unfortunately, this book only gets a 3.5 from me.
It isn't that the plot fell apart. The problem is that the author was trying to do too many things. We had a zillion more POV characters in this book, most of them brand new (they seem to have come from spin-off shorts set in this world, which I haven't read, so I don't know them at all). Most of them felt unnecessary, some of them felt annoying (I'm looking at you, Olivia), and overall they needed to be drastically condensed and reduced.
The result is this book had probably 4 total chapters with Tinker. Probably about the same with Oilcan. Only two with Windwolf. I think there were two with the twins. Easily 2/3 of the book was spent on a bunch of new people, but only 3-4 chapters with each of them, so not enough for me to honestly know and care about them. Like, at all.
It made the book feel choppy and slow, and that wasn't helped by the total non-ending. At least the last book is out now, so I can go right into it.
One last thing: the series has a layered and complicated plot that I very much enjoy. However, the cast has grown so mammoth that I'm having a hard time keeping track of everyone now, and that is made even worse by so many people having like 77494362 fucking names. I'm starting to get lost. Stop that, seriously. I'm reading all these books in a row, so there are no memory gaps, and yet I'm struggling. I can't imagine what a shit show it would be if I was reading them as they released, years apart. It was already a little clunky in the last book with Esme's family having a gazillion names, but I'm not even joking here: it gets worse in this one, because all those assholes seem to have YET ANOTHER name in this one.
It isn't that the plot fell apart. The problem is that the author was trying to do too many things. We had a zillion more POV characters in this book, most of them brand new (they seem to have come from spin-off shorts set in this world, which I haven't read, so I don't know them at all). Most of them felt unnecessary, some of them felt annoying (I'm looking at you, Olivia), and overall they needed to be drastically condensed and reduced.
The result is this book had probably 4 total chapters with Tinker. Probably about the same with Oilcan. Only two with Windwolf. I think there were two with the twins. Easily 2/3 of the book was spent on a bunch of new people, but only 3-4 chapters with each of them, so not enough for me to honestly know and care about them. Like, at all.
It made the book feel choppy and slow, and that wasn't helped by the total non-ending. At least the last book is out now, so I can go right into it.
One last thing: the series has a layered and complicated plot that I very much enjoy. However, the cast has grown so mammoth that I'm having a hard time keeping track of everyone now, and that is made even worse by so many people having like 77494362 fucking names. I'm starting to get lost. Stop that, seriously. I'm reading all these books in a row, so there are no memory gaps, and yet I'm struggling. I can't imagine what a shit show it would be if I was reading them as they released, years apart. It was already a little clunky in the last book with Esme's family having a gazillion names, but I'm not even joking here: it gets worse in this one, because all those assholes seem to have YET ANOTHER name in this one.
July 15, 2022
Many reviewers complained about the fragmented nature of this book, its too many POVs. I agree. The story structure is unusual, to say the least. The author took every major character of the series, from both novels and short stories, altogether 8 of them, and gave each two or three chapters to drive forward their separate stories. The entire novel takes place in the short time frame of a couple of days, and all the plot lines of all the characters converge towards one big confrontation with the bad guys. All those lines are also the continuations of their separate books. Unfortunately, the novel ends in a cliffhanger. The confrontation starts, and the narrative is cut off abruptly. We have to wait for the next book in the series to learn what happened. :((
One problem with such an approach is that if you haven't read and re-read all the books in the series multiple times and if you don't know all the characters intimately, the book seems very confusing. You wouldn't understand who is who and why they are doing what they do. You can't read this story as a stand-alone.
Another problem - the characters are not defined. As each is given very little page space, they seem like faceless cardboard cutouts, differing from each other only by their name tags. Only your inner references to the previous books give any definitions to their personalities.
Despite the above flaws, I enjoyed the book. I'm a fan of the series. I re-read all the previous books multiple times. I know and love all the characters. For me, it was like a collection of short stories about all of my favorite Elfhome personages. Only the cliffhanger in the end spoiled my joy.
But objectively, it is a structural mess. It should've never been published if it wasn't #6 in the series. Yes, it is #6, not #5, as the title line says. Here is the full list:
#1 Tinker
#2 Wolf Who Rules
#3 Elfhome
#4 Wood Sprites
#5 Project Elfhome (short stories)
#6 Harbinger
And you have to read all five of the previous books in short order before you could fully appreciate this one.
One problem with such an approach is that if you haven't read and re-read all the books in the series multiple times and if you don't know all the characters intimately, the book seems very confusing. You wouldn't understand who is who and why they are doing what they do. You can't read this story as a stand-alone.
Another problem - the characters are not defined. As each is given very little page space, they seem like faceless cardboard cutouts, differing from each other only by their name tags. Only your inner references to the previous books give any definitions to their personalities.
Despite the above flaws, I enjoyed the book. I'm a fan of the series. I re-read all the previous books multiple times. I know and love all the characters. For me, it was like a collection of short stories about all of my favorite Elfhome personages. Only the cliffhanger in the end spoiled my joy.
But objectively, it is a structural mess. It should've never been published if it wasn't #6 in the series. Yes, it is #6, not #5, as the title line says. Here is the full list:
#1 Tinker
#2 Wolf Who Rules
#3 Elfhome
#4 Wood Sprites
#5 Project Elfhome (short stories)
#6 Harbinger
And you have to read all five of the previous books in short order before you could fully appreciate this one.
January 17, 2023
I recently discovered this series, and devoured the first three books. Loved Tinker, Windwolf, Pony and Oilcan and their trials and tribulations on Elfhome. Then there was the twins story, and how their world imploded once they discovered the truth of their heritage, which lead us directly into this book… and boy, was I disappointed 😔.
The story itself might have been enough if it was from a limited pov. I love getting the majority of the story from Tinker’s pov, with bits and pieces - a paragraph, small chapter, or other interludes - from a few select characters. However in this book it seems like there are too many voices trying to add their two cents worth, and instead of a clear narrative, I feel like I’ve been bouncing from place to place, trying to figure out why I should give a damn about some of these characters. Then, we get left on the mother of all cliffhangers, and Tinker still hasn’t met the twins - and that was the opening plot point! Gives me a headache just thinking about how many seperate voices will be guiding the next book.
So, the four previous books I’ve given 4 stars, they were great. Harbinger is more like a 2.5 ⭐️ read. I was expecting a continuation of the twins and their story wrapping up, but got a weird mishmash of the two worlds colliding.
The story itself might have been enough if it was from a limited pov. I love getting the majority of the story from Tinker’s pov, with bits and pieces - a paragraph, small chapter, or other interludes - from a few select characters. However in this book it seems like there are too many voices trying to add their two cents worth, and instead of a clear narrative, I feel like I’ve been bouncing from place to place, trying to figure out why I should give a damn about some of these characters. Then, we get left on the mother of all cliffhangers, and Tinker still hasn’t met the twins - and that was the opening plot point! Gives me a headache just thinking about how many seperate voices will be guiding the next book.
So, the four previous books I’ve given 4 stars, they were great. Harbinger is more like a 2.5 ⭐️ read. I was expecting a continuation of the twins and their story wrapping up, but got a weird mishmash of the two worlds colliding.
January 14, 2022
Wow, Spencer is riding a lot of horses in this one! There are many things going on in Pittsburgh, and everyone communicates with each other in wildly different ways and amounts. I'm amazed at how well she does it, even if it ends on a huge revelation that means I really hope the next book isn't as long awaited.
Talking it over with my son, I agree that I would have pushed to lose some of the viewpoints, as not everyone has read all the side-stories. He would have ruthlessly pruned some of them (although I would miss them!) to give more time to the main characters. It suffers a bit from not letting any character have as much time, but on the other hand I get a real sense that this is stuff that is actually happening, and I'm getting to see it from a lot of different angles. Spencer has always been good at seeing how differently the same events seem for people in different circumstance; even when she is going over the same time line her characters are experiencing completely different situations.
Talking it over with my son, I agree that I would have pushed to lose some of the viewpoints, as not everyone has read all the side-stories. He would have ruthlessly pruned some of them (although I would miss them!) to give more time to the main characters. It suffers a bit from not letting any character have as much time, but on the other hand I get a real sense that this is stuff that is actually happening, and I'm getting to see it from a lot of different angles. Spencer has always been good at seeing how differently the same events seem for people in different circumstance; even when she is going over the same time line her characters are experiencing completely different situations.
August 28, 2022
Amongst the stories of a gazillion POV characters, I found that I cared only when Tinker's younger siblings showed up, which wasn't often enough. I experienced this book as being extremely boring and mostly inaccessible if you don't remember a lot about what came before, which I didn't. I'm kind of astonished this book got published, actually. When I finished reading, I checked to see if maybe it had been self-published, but it turns out Baen published it.
I've really liked some of Spencer's stuff in the past, but this book...I kept reading to see if there was some forward movement on the wood sprite story, but when the book ended up on a cliffhanger, I actually chuckled at how stupid this whole book was in terms of being a satisfying story in any way. Two stars because of just how much I love Tinker's younger siblings.
I've really liked some of Spencer's stuff in the past, but this book...I kept reading to see if there was some forward movement on the wood sprite story, but when the book ended up on a cliffhanger, I actually chuckled at how stupid this whole book was in terms of being a satisfying story in any way. Two stars because of just how much I love Tinker's younger siblings.
August 13, 2022
I read and reread the series. Moments of delight and awe.
Eight years I waited for the publication of Harbinger. I was shocked and disappointed.
The First problem is the publishers deception of the book as over 500 words. If so, what size font and margins achieved this? I have read longer novellas.
Second was the disjointed rehashing of prior books that accounted for 80% of the content.
Third was having paid over $13 for just a kindle ebook.
Why is Amazon not posting new reviews? Damage control?
Eight years I waited for the publication of Harbinger. I was shocked and disappointed.
The First problem is the publishers deception of the book as over 500 words. If so, what size font and margins achieved this? I have read longer novellas.
Second was the disjointed rehashing of prior books that accounted for 80% of the content.
Third was having paid over $13 for just a kindle ebook.
Why is Amazon not posting new reviews? Damage control?
April 8, 2022
Wen has brought out the big guns , Tinker an friend must defend their homes.
When we open we are greeted by Him Wong telling Tinker of the Twins who have saved the meetings from earth as well as killed Yves while escaping to Elfhome . along the way we get various pov's from Jane to Law to Wind wood an the Harbingers all wrapped up in knots of story telling like we have come to appreciate from Wen.
When we open we are greeted by Him Wong telling Tinker of the Twins who have saved the meetings from earth as well as killed Yves while escaping to Elfhome . along the way we get various pov's from Jane to Law to Wind wood an the Harbingers all wrapped up in knots of story telling like we have come to appreciate from Wen.
April 14, 2022
Elves and oni battle in Pittsburgh
The previous books showed first moves of the oni forces in their war to take over Pittsburgh. The war finally breaks out into open warfare between armies. Humans have organized a resistance and join in the fight. Characters from all the previous books come together for the big fight. The author doesn't forget to include plenty of fun scenes like Oilcan getting ice cream with the kids and getting to know a new sekasha in town called Moon Dog.
The previous books showed first moves of the oni forces in their war to take over Pittsburgh. The war finally breaks out into open warfare between armies. Humans have organized a resistance and join in the fight. Characters from all the previous books come together for the big fight. The author doesn't forget to include plenty of fun scenes like Oilcan getting ice cream with the kids and getting to know a new sekasha in town called Moon Dog.
February 6, 2023
Ugh. I was waiting years for this book. I hope Tinker does more "tinkering" in this.
The magical engineering is what made me fall in love with this series.
Really Spencer? You had us wait years for this book, then end it on a flipping cliffhanger?
This book was also all over the place with the different POVs.
Book six better be next year.
3/5 Stars
The magical engineering is what made me fall in love with this series.
Really Spencer? You had us wait years for this book, then end it on a flipping cliffhanger?
This book was also all over the place with the different POVs.
Book six better be next year.
3/5 Stars
August 3, 2022
I enjoyed the previous books in the series and enjoy the authors other books.
This one felt like a build up to a big final, so was a bit boring. I found I had to keep careful track of characters, as they dipped in/out or who had been referenced in previous books.
This one felt like a build up to a big final, so was a bit boring. I found I had to keep careful track of characters, as they dipped in/out or who had been referenced in previous books.
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