New viewpoints are added as Oilcan, Tinker's cousin, discovers the existence of and eventually takes responsibility for a group of young Elves lured to Pittsburgh in hope of creating freely in their chosen fields. They may be artists over 70 years old, but they have fewer clues as to how to get on than a human pre-teen. Then there is the half-oni Tommy who is responsible for his aunts and young cousins all of them victims of exploitation by their, thankfully dead, oni fathers. And we meet more of the Stone Clan, whose difficult reputation seems earned. This story is about what commitment to making a home in a war torn city requires of them. ( )

This third book in the Elfhome series is told from multiple viewpoints. While Tinker does have a substantial role, the focus for me was on her cousin Oilcan. Oilcan has been the supportive side-kick in earlier books but this time he gets center stage.

His story begins when he rescues a Stone Clan child who has just arrived on the train. She is being kidnapped when Oilcan comes on the scene. Saving her leads to a conspiracy wherein multiple Stone Clan children have been drawn to Pittsburgh and then kidnapped to be experimented on by oni.

Because Pittsburgh is under control of the Wind Clan, no one at the train station did anything to help these children. Oilcan calls in Tinker to help rescue the children and finds them in horrible situations. The only Stone Clan in the city are very unsuitable as guardians which is why Oilcan ends up responsible for five Stone Clan children who are in various states of distress including one who has lost her name and memories and only makes the sound of a duckling and is called Baby Duck.

Oilcan needs a new home that will accommodate his expanded family and takes over a former girls' school which needs lots of repair. That brings in Riki and his clan of tengu who have been taken under Tinker's care despite the way he betrayed her to the oni. Tinker can forgive him but Oilcan isn't there yet. Oilcan contemplates sponsorship by Wind clan but hesitates when he finds out the depth of commitment needed.

Meanwhile, Tommy Chang is also dealing with the new situation in Pittsburgh. He is the head of his group of half-oni - most of whom are either children or pregnant women. Although Windwolf offers sponsorship to him, Tommy sees it as just another kind of slavery and his people have been slaves to their oni masters for far too long. It takes the head of the tengu reframing the situation for him before he realizes that he needs relationships with other groups if he's to keep his own people safe.

As Tinker tries to discover why the oni wanted the children Oilcan is now protecting, she discovers a long-term plot with some members of Stone Clan cooperating with, or being puppets for, a new oni leader who is determined to conquer Elfhome. Tommy discovers huge encampments of oni in the wilderness outsside Pittsburgh while he is looking for a kidnapped member of Stone Clan whom he is searching for to forestall being blamed for her disappearance.

The worldbuilding in this story was excellent. It was fascinating to see the various groups - elves, humans, half-oni, and tengu - try to learn to work together and build a new sort of society. The characters were richly drawn and brought to life by Tana Eby's masterful narration of this story. ( )

This third book in the Elfhome series is told from multiple viewpoints. While Tinker does have a substantial role, the focus for me was on her cousin Oilcan. Oilcan has been the supportive side-kick in earlier books but this time he gets center stage.

His story begins when he rescues a Stone Clan child who has just arrived on the train. She is being kidnapped when Oilcan comes on the scene. Saving her leads to a conspiracy wherein multiple Stone Clan children have been drawn to Pittsburgh and then kidnapped to be experimented on by oni.

Because Pittsburgh is under control of the Wind Clan, no one at the train station did anything to help these children. Oilcan calls in Tinker to help rescue the children and finds them in horrible situations. The only Stone Clan in the city are very unsuitable as guardians which is why Oilcan ends up responsible for five Stone Clan children who are in various states of distress including one who has lost her name and memories and only makes the sound of a duckling and is called Baby Duck.

Oilcan needs a new home that will accommodate his expanded family and takes over a former girls' school which needs lots of repair. That brings in Riki and his clan of tengu who have been taken under Tinker's care despite the way he betrayed her to the oni. Tinker can forgive him but Oilcan isn't there yet. Oilcan contemplates sponsorship by Wind clan but hesitates when he finds out the depth of commitment needed.

Meanwhile, Tommy Chang is also dealing with the new situation in Pittsburgh. He is the head of his group of half-oni - most of whom are either children or pregnant women. Although Windwolf offers sponsorship to him, Tommy sees it as just another kind of slavery and his people have been slaves to their oni masters for far too long. It takes the head of the tengu reframing the situation for him before he realizes that he needs relationships with other groups if he's to keep his own people safe.

As Tinker tries to discover why the oni wanted the children Oilcan is now protecting, she discovers a long-term plot with some members of Stone Clan cooperating with, or being puppets for, a new oni leader who is determined to conquer Elfhome. Tommy discovers huge encampments of oni in the wilderness outsside Pittsburgh while he is looking for a kidnapped member of Stone Clan whom he is searching for to forestall being blamed for her disappearance.

The worldbuilding in this story was excellent. It was fascinating to see the various groups - elves, humans, half-oni, and tengu - try to learn to work together and build a new sort of society. The characters were richly drawn and brought to life by Tana Eby's masterful narration of this story. ( )

So my favorite part of this book was all the intro to Oilcan, who I love so much. It gave some more in depth look at some of the other minor characters important to the story as well. ( )

The other clans that have been summoned to Pittsburgh to help root out the Oni are at each others throats, and even Tengu and half-Oni are ready to turn on each other. Then young people from Stone Clan start showing up in Pittsburgh and have apparently been captured by Oni. Oilcan, Tinker's cousin, takes in the Stone clan youth after Tinker leads an attack to rescue them from the Oni. Meanwhile, Tinker begins to realize that someone is organizing all the discontent and seems to be manipulating the situation in Pittsburgh. She has to find out who and with the help of Oilcan, the Tengu and half-Oni, defeat him/her.