Wen Spencer Books in Order
Explore Wen Spencer books in order, with short summaries, series guides, and tips on where to start with Elfhome, Ukiah Oregon, and her standalones.
Last updated: July 2, 2026
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Publication Order
22 books
Alien Taste
by Wen Spencer
2001
Tracker Ukiah Oregon and his partner Max Bennett are called to a brutal murder scene and a missing student in Pittsburgh. The search drags Ukiah into a secret conflict where his strange talents may have an alien explanation.
Tainted Trail
by Wen Spencer
2002
Ukiah and Max head west to Oregon to find a missing niece who vanished while digging into Ukiah's past. The case turns personal fast, opening old questions about who, or what, Ukiah really is.
The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy: Alchemy with Words
by Wen Spencer
2002
This opening volume gathers many writers to tackle the nuts and bolts of fantasy craft. It covers worldbuilding, religion, food, fighting, research, and other details that make invented worlds feel solid.
Bitter Waters
by Wen Spencer
2003
Barely home from one case, Ukiah and Max are sent after a missing boy. Their search pulls them through kidnappings, biker gangs, cult weirdness, and deepening trouble with the Pack and the forces circling Ukiah's life.
Tinker
by Wen Spencer
2003
Tinker is a teenage inventor running a salvage yard in a Pittsburgh that shifts onto the world of Elfhome. When an elven noble crashes into her life, she is pulled into court politics, smugglers, danger, and first love.
Dog Warrior
by Wen Spencer
2004
Atticus has always known he is not quite human, but he thinks he is alone. He is very wrong, and his discovery opens the door to a wider, more dangerous world already tangled up with Ukiah Oregon.
The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy: The Opus Magnus
by Wen Spencer
2004
A multi-author craft guide for fantasy writers, this volume moves past basics into more advanced ground. It explores topics like horror, mystery, herbalism, and deeper worldbuilding for writers building bigger stories.
A Brother's Price
by Wen Spencer
2005
On an alternate Earth where men are rare and marriage is a family bargain, Jerin Whistler expects a carefully managed future. Then a rescue pulls him into royal politics, danger, and feelings that could upend everything.
Wolf Who Rules
by Wen Spencer
2006
With an oni invasion underway, Windwolf struggles to keep peace among humans, elves, tengu, and half-oni children in Pittsburgh. At the same time, Tinker hunts the mystery behind the Ghostlands and the nightmares haunting her.
Endless Blue
by Wen Spencer
2007
When the lost drive of the spaceship Fenrir reappears encrusted with sea life, Captain Mikhail Volkov jumps after its mystery. He crash-lands in a vast oceanic graveyard of ships where a discovery might save humanity.
The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy: The Author's Grimoire
by Wen Spencer
2007
The third volume shifts from building fantasy worlds to building a writing career. Its essays dig into publishing, promotion, criticism, and the practical side of getting a book into the world.
Blue Sky
by Wen Spencer
2012
John Montana has spent years hiding the truth about his younger half-brother Blue Sky, a rare half-elf with dangerous lineage. When that secret comes out, only Tinker may be able to keep the boy safe.
Elfhome
by Wen Spencer
2012
Pittsburgh is now stranded deep in elven forest, cut off, running short, and under attack from hidden oni. Tinker must navigate war, politics, and a city fraying at the edges before the conflict turns into open slaughter.
Wyvern
by Wen Spencer
2012
Soon after Pittsburgh first shifts to Elfhome, animal-control expert Kate is hired to stop a wyvern the size of a jet. Deep in dangerous forest, she and the warrior Stormsong race to protect a railroad crew from becoming prey.
Eight Million Gods
by Wen Spencer
2013
Hiding in Japan from a powerful mother who wants her locked away, Nikki thinks writing horror online will keep her afloat. Then a murder copies one of her stories, and the case leads toward monsters, gods, and real terror.
Wood Sprites
by Wen Spencer
2014
Louise and Jillian Mayer are nine-year-old geniuses who discover they are tied to a much stranger family than they knew. To save their frozen unborn siblings, they plunge into riots, war, and the dangerous crossroads of science and magic.
Project Elfhome
by Wen Spencer
2016
This collection of six Elfhome stories widens the spotlight beyond Tinker, following friends, neighbors, and allies across a Pittsburgh stranded in elven wilderness. As war closes in, small lives and side paths start to matter.
The Black Wolves of Boston
by Wen Spencer
2017
Joshua wakes after prom night covered in blood and no longer fully human. Drawn together with a weary vampire, a young wolf prince, and a monster hunter, he steps into Boston's hidden war with witches.
Harbinger
by Wen Spencer
2022
War with the oni is reaching a breaking point, and Tinker learns the enemy has a terrifying new weapon. When elite Stone Clan warlords arrive to take charge, even her newly found wood sprite siblings are suddenly at risk.
Monsters In Our Midst
by Wen Spencer
2023
Jane Kryskill is juggling family secrets, an impending wedding, and the fragile public story around Pittsburgh's growing monster trouble. As she and a TV crew hunt dangerous river eggs, keeping the truth contained gets harder.
Storm Furies
by Wen Spencer
2024
The oni have invaded Pittsburgh, and prophecy says the worst is still coming. Tinker and her allies scramble to protect civilians and hold the city together while the war around them finally breaks wide open.
Black Tie and Tails
by Wen Spencer
2025
Joshua just wants to survive senior year, but his new school belongs to Boston's werewolf pack and the Goth kids know exactly what he is. Then a talking penguin hires him, and one of the students disappears.
Where should I start?
If you want her signature blend of magic and tech: Tinker → Wolf Who Rules → Elfhome
If you like paranormal mysteries: Alien Taste → Tainted Trail → Bitter Waters → Dog Warrior
If you want a standalone with a sharp social twist: A Brother's Price
If you want myth, murder, and modern Japan: Eight Million Gods
If you want a dark, funny supernatural Boston story: The Black Wolves of Boston → Black Tie and Tails
Author bio
Wen Spencer was born in Evans City, Pennsylvania, and grew up in western Pennsylvania, with Pittsburgh leaving a deep mark on her imagination. She studied information science at the University of Pittsburgh and stayed active in science fiction fandom, which fits her books surprisingly well: big ideas on one side, lived-in communities on the other.
Storytelling showed up early. Spencer has said she was making up stories before kindergarten, wrote plays as a child, and spent one memorable summer hammering out a very long juvenile novel on a battered typewriter. By high school and college, writing was already a serious habit, even if publication was still a long way off.
The real turn came later.
In her late thirties, she decided to treat writing like work instead of waiting for inspiration to strike. While raising her son, she carved out hours at night, wrote steadily, and kept at it until the effort paid off. Within a few years, she sold her first novel.
That debut was Alien Taste in 2001. The book won the Compton Crook Award and introduced Ukiah Oregon, a tracker with unusual gifts who works cases that keep sliding from mystery into science fiction. Readers who click with Spencer there tend to stay for the mix of suspense, odd family dynamics, and the slow reveal that Ukiah is not quite human.
A lot of readers, though, know her best for Tinker and the Elfhome books. Those stories throw a junkyard genius, near-future Pittsburgh, elves, oni, gates between worlds, and a lot of engineering-minded problem solving into the same pot. The result is busy, funny, high-stakes science fantasy. Tinker won a Sapphire Award, and in 2003 Spencer won the award now known as the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.
She is also good at standalones built around one strong sideways idea. A Brother's Price imagines a world where men are rare and marriage is a family deal. Endless Blue sends a captain after the mystery of a lost ship and into an oceanic graveyard of vessels. Eight Million Gods brings murder, OCD, and Japanese folklore together in a contemporary fantasy mystery set in Japan.
Character is usually the glue.
Even when Spencer is writing about werewolves, vampires, angels, half-aliens, or elf politics, the stories stay close to people trying to make sense of a life that has suddenly become impossible. That is part of the appeal of The Black Wolves of Boston as well, where a newly changed werewolf, an exhausted old vampire, and other supernatural players get pulled into the same fight. The magic is strange, but the feelings are very grounded.
Her settings matter too. Pittsburgh shows up again and again, not as a postcard city but as a working place full of bridges, neighborhoods, scrapyards, diners, traffic, and local loyalties. Japan also matters in her work. Spencer has lived briefly in Osaka, traveled widely, and has spoken about her fondness for Japanese folklore, which helps explain why that influence feels natural instead of pasted on. After years in Pittsburgh and Boston, she settled in Hilo, Hawaii, a long way from western Pennsylvania, but her books still carry a Pittsburgh heartbeat even when the plot heads to Elfhome, deep space, or the world of eight million gods.
Edited by
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