Tinker, by Wen Spencer

Tinker is an odd mix of genres.

First off, you have the city of Pittsburgh, transported to the home of the elves for most of each year. Second, you have a heroine who is a scientific genius, and the daughter of the man who created the gate between the worlds.

Spencer does a good job of not having any exposition that explains why Pittsburgh is in the land of the elves. Instead, you discover what's going on over the course of the book as the characters interact, and as the main character discovers more. While this is the recommended way of writing, it takes a bit of patience on the part of the reader...there will be bits you just don't understand at first, that you need to take on faith. Everything is explained by the end of the book.

The book itself is a lot of fun. I wasn't too sure if I'd like it at first, but how can you not like a heroine who uses a scrapyard supermagnet to interfere with illusion spells? The book grows on you pretty quickly, so if you start it and aren't too sure about it, keep reading.

Spencer also does a good job of throwing the heroine into the action quickly, and keeping it all moving. All in all, one of the better books I've read recently.