Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 of The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released by Amber Polo…

Synopsis

The werewolves meet at the Bistro to discuss the problems that have recently arrived, including Dustbunnie, who was not originally invited. Needless to say, she is miffed at the mockery of her position as the Alpha.

After the meeting, Dustbunnie visits Burney to discuss the latter’s book-stealing activities.

Finally, we get a glimpse of Godiva’s undying affection for the Griswold, two shapeshifting dogs who live in the basement.

Analysis

This chapter, like many of the chapters in this book I’m finding, are composed mostly of reflection and conversation. While dialog is an important element in any story, too much is a distraction from the actual things that are happening (or should be happening) on the page.

The one-sided relationship between Godiva and Griswold has been building in parts up til now. So far, I see little to no value in it.

And as a mostly unrelated aside, I have a question about dog shapeshifter physiology. So, some dogs, at birth, have cropped tails, ears, or toes. Do the shapeshifters have this done when they’re young? If so, does it reflect on their human bodies? Like, if they lose a toe, are they missing the corresponding toe? And if not, what if they lost an arm or eye? Or is it just “magic”? “I’m a shapey-shiftey dog, and I want to look like a Pomeranian! Boom!” And if that’s the case, why can’t they alter their “breed” at will?

Just a few questions to leave you with. On to the next chapter...

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 is next in The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released by Amber Polo.

Synopsis

Cutter meets a local homeless woman who used to work for the library. Further, she waxes on why she hasn’t found true love, going on to describe her ideal man.

She finds the werewolf book club ladies harassing children, and has McCasson evict them. Meeting up with Lite, she gets a copy of Alice in Wonderland, only for it to bring up sad memories of her mother, for this was the last book she read to Cutter.

She discusses her parents with Chronus, indicating that both lived much more interesting lives than your typical library employee, with much of what they did shrouded in mystery.

Analysis

I suppose we can start with the interesting lives of librarians. This is the premise of one of my favorite book series, A Series of Unfortunate Events, where a bunch of noble librarians who have unusually interesting lives battle a group of book burners led by an unusually hairy individual, all of whom originate from the same group. I understand that book readers versus book burners is a common trope among books by and about those who appreciate literature, yet at the same time, if you remind me of something I like but fall far short from being just as amazing, you’re not going to hold my interest.

Once again, why Cutter doesn’t realize why the werewolf book club group are evil is beyond me. It’s way too suspicious, if you ask me.

Further, I’m amused by the fact that Cutter’s “ideal man” is basically Chronus. Let’s see where that goes. As long he’s not secretly her estranged father, it’ll probably work out well. The discussion of The Shaggy Dog could hint at either of these cases.

Once again, Polo uses Dewey-speak. Let’s analyze it:

Number	Polo	Dewey.info
363.5	homeless	housing
636.71	female dog (yeah, really)	breeds of dog

This does get annoying, especially when it’s off the mark like this.

And so is the fact that a number system is “under copyright.” Last I checked, the definitions of Dewey Decimal System, while in some ways “proprietary” shouldn’t be protected by copyright. Isn’t the point of a system like this meant to propagate information? Doesn’t putting it behind a paywall defeat that purpose?

I end my rant.

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 8

We’re making good progress; now we’re on Chapter 8 of The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released by Amber Polo.

Synopsis

More dog books have gone missing, and Cutter discovers that the local book club devoted to werewolf fiction, made almost entirely of disgruntled former library employees, are being exclusionary to potential new members. Cutter kicks their group out of the library.

After that she has a brief discussion with Chronus in which they discuss life, again, and Chronus reveals a little more about himself.

Analysis

So, you’re running a library, and you hear about book-burning werewolves, and you believe it, and you notice that a bunch of books about dogs, the sworn enemy of the werewolves, are mysteriously going missing, and you notice that a group of former library employees, all buddy buddy with the former director, who is a werewolf, all of whom like chain smoking, and all of whom have a multitude of other red flags indicating that THEY ARE STEALING THE DOG BOOKS, and you neglect to realize this? You must be totally preoccupied.

Also, you may be wondering by now: “Why aren’t the burglar alarms going off when somebody breaks into the library to steal books, as it’s obviously not those shapeshifting dogs who are doing it?” You get the answer here, because a few chapters ago, Harold Dinzelbacher didn’t approve it. That’s why!

You just didn’t know until now.

This is an indication of sloppy editing, in my humble opinion. Were this fact relevant, it probably should have been seeded during the infodump that was Harold Dinzelbacher’s rant against fire safety.

This is yet another chapter, sadly, that has more stuff take place in the past relative to the action on the page, than on the page itself. Yawn.

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 7

Moving right along to Chapter 7 of The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released by Amber Polo.

Synopsis

Cutter’s bright mood is dissipated when she discovers that several books are unaccounted for. More specifically, a whole lot of dog books are missing. She tells Chronus who in turn has his librarians look into. Since werewolves are unable to enter the library, this is met with a modicum of skepticism.

Analysis

Okay, so when perusing reviews for this book, someone said that the Dewey-speak was annoying. I agree.

Dewey-speak is replacing certain words with their Dewey decimal number. In the book, Polo renders it as “Cut the 631.8 (Dewey number for compost)...” which is visually distracting and interrupts the inner narrator’s voice. This would be less annoying were the lookups rendered as footnotes.

Also, according to dewey.info, the following numbers used in this section have this actual definition:

Number	Polo	Dewey.info
631.8	compost	fertilizers, soil conditioners, growth regulators
299.935	devil	anthroposophy
291.23	hell	[unassigned] (usually used for “death” elsewhere)

That being said, it makes what Cutter says 100% more hilarious:

CUTTER	Cut the fertilizers, soil conditioners, and growth regulators and tell me what the anthroposophy is wrong.
MCCASSON	Books are missing. Not on the shelf. Not checked out.
CUTTER	Nonsense. The library has only been open for one week. There is no way in death there can be a great problem.

(I must also present my frustration for another topic as I was looking these up, and that’s the walled garden that is the Dewey Decimal System, but this isn’t Polo’s fault.)

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is next in The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released by Amber Polo.

Synopsis

Sybilla Dinzelbacher opens her new restaurant to great acclaim. Just about every important person from Ohio is there. She has a confrontation with Dustbunnie, but gets an earful from the Alpha.

Meanwhile, Chronus and reminisces on the students and faculty of his school while he prepares to teach his next class. He hears complaints from some faculty, doing his best to resolve them with the resources he has at hand (or paw). He also reflects on his lost friendship to another dog shapeshifter who fell in love with a werewolf, eventually fathering Harold Dinzelbacher, revealed to be a half-dog/half-werewolf.

Analysis

This is an example of what I was discussing in my last post on this book, talking about how entire chapters (or, here, half-chapters) are dedicated to events that are not happening on the page. Sybilla Dinzelbacher basically walks into the restaurant, grumps at her husband, and then grumps at Dustbunnie, and then gets an exposition on werewolf history, including more library fires. Chronus basically walks down the hallway and peeks into the different classrooms, all while reflecting on dog shapeshifter history.

All in all, nothing really happens. Everything has already happened.

And, yes, I will keep complaining about this.

Also, as I mentioned before, I doubt that the “glitterati” of Ohio would all make the trek down to the southwest Ohio to go to a fancy restaurant (In fact, the general impression of Cincinnati up here in Cleveland is that it might as well be in Kentucky). Maybe people from Columbus would be there, but most likely nobody from Cleveland. In fact, I would be willing to wager that the “three baseball players” that showed up were all Reds, and no Indians.

Keep in mind, I’m not hating on Cincinnati (or even Kentucky), I’m just expressing the general view of people in Cleveland. Keep in mind that up here in Cleveland, there’s even a dichotomy between east Clevelanders and west Clevelanders, where it’s actually noteworthy when they meet someone from the other side.

In fact, Cincinnati-style chili happens to be my favorite. Just don’t tell the people I know in Texas know...

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 5

Now we cover Chapter 5 of The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released by Amber Polo.

Synopsis

Cutter has finally finished the work to open the brand new Shipsfeather Public Library. It’s been too long since she’s seen Chronus, but he’s been helping in the background, even if he hasn’t been socializing with her. She’s denied a grand opening so as it won’t interfere with Sybilla Dinzelbacher’s restaurant’s grand opening.

After discovering a stack of somewhat mutilated books in the library, she goes on a small tour, trying to identify potential werewolves in her staff. Unable to identify a single one, she eventually discovers a more innocuous cause of the book mutilation: a library patron’s teething puppy.

Chronus meets up with her and the two catch up. They discuss the problems Cutter had in funding the library and the over-the-top measures Harold Dinzelbacher has been trying to enforce to ensure that the library would not be safe from fire and arson. In the end, they reminisce on family, especially Cutter’s lack thereof, having been orphaned and raised by aunts.

Analysis

So, if I knew of the existence of book-burning werewolves, and some guy was doing almost everything he could to ensure that my library was a stray spark away from becoming a literary inferno, I’d start to suspect him. I mean, Harold Dinzelbacher might as well be demanding that the fire suppression heads be filled with gasoline. And nobody catches that?

You would think, even though the town is effectively run by werewolves, that someone on the county or state level would step up and enforce code. While I may not like Kasich’s anti-Libertarian attempts, I highly doubt he’s a werewolf… And iff he is, someone needs to explain to him the difference between a “libertarian” and a “librarian”.

The most irritating thing about this book though are not things solved by my actually suspending my disbelief for a moment, but rather the fact that most of the events that are described in the book happen in the past relative to the events in the book. An entire chapter may involve someone walking across a hallway, but will take up several pages as that character reminisces on the history of each thing he or she sees. This can be annoying for a reader such as I, as I’m painfully aware of “showy” versus “telly” writing (hint: showing is better than telling).

That is to say there are not places where telling gets things across. Many great writers do that. In fact, the first chapter of The Hobbit is practically Bilbo’s family history (and takes about an hour to read aloud). It just takes a bit of finesse to make it work. In Released, it’s not working.

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 4

Moving on to Chapter 4 in The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released by Amber Polo.

Synopsis

In this chapter, Chronus makes himself known to Cutter, revealing the ancient history of shapeshifters, the presence of dog shapeshifters in the basements of the building, and their recent battle with the book-burning werewolves. Cutter takes a moment for it all to sink in, but finally accepts it. Chronus leaves her for a few days while construction commences on the academy to fully transform it into the new library.

Analysis

It is at this point that something completely unrelated to the prose has come to bother me. It’s the print. The printers used some sort of dot-based printer. Now I can’t help but notice the individual dots of each letter as I read the book. Ugh.

Besides that, though, I felt that this chapter existed solely to bring the reader (through Cutter) up to speed on what’s going on. There are shapeshifters, and they have existed since forever, and the dogs decided to become librarians to help catalog wisdom. The wolves have become book burners, dedicated to squashing ideas. And that’s what it’s been like until now. In some ways I’m reminded of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

I found it funny that the burning of the Library of Alexandria and the destruction of the Maya codices was blamed on werewolves, as were lesser problems, like the deeds of grumpy librarians and ill-informed parents who want to prevent their kids from reading The Catcher in the Rye. I think those events have something else in common, and it’s not werewolves… (with possible exception of the Library of Alexandria, but the jury’s still out)

All in all, each chapter has left me more “meh” than anything else. I read it because it has more pages, and that’s about it.

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 3

Time to discuss Chapter 3 in The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released by Amber Polo.

Synopsis

We meet Sybilla Dinzelbacher, the wife of Harold Dinzelbacher just prior to her weekly spa treatment. However, just before her massage, she begins to transform into a werewolf. She cancels her appointment and finds her husband at their new restaurant, built where the library once stood.

Meanwhile, Cutter is amazed at the transformation that occurred in the library practically overnight. The new architect, Max Levelin, is enthralled by the plans she supposedly sent him; Cutter has no clue what he’s talking about, but plays along. They survey the recently discovered art gallery together, filled with priceless works of art, mostly featuring dogs.

After the visit, Cutter discusses magic and fantasy stories with Lite, recently revealed to be a psychic.

In the basement of the library, we discover who’s been fixing up the library, as well as who wrote the plans out to send to the architect: the dogs. Well, the shapeshifters. They discuss whether or not this plan is a smart one, but all doubts are cast aside by Chronos, who has an important announcement to make.

Analysis

This chapter laid it on heavy with the exposition. Especially in the scene with the dogs in the basement. Not only did it answer every single question you might have had as to why the academy-cum-library looks so nice, but also where the report came from (as if you couldn’t figure it out on your own), but it also drilled this point home, in case you missed it the first time.

Also, at times, I imagine Cutter became a Mary Sue for Polo, what with favorite movies (such as Cutter having watched The Shaggy Dog five times, this year!). I had a feeling that Cutter’s amazing things to say about fantasy may reflect Polo’s opinion exactly.

Lite make a mention of enjoying anthropomorphic fiction, which I suppose is a healthy thing to enjoy in an anthropomorphic fiction book.

There was an interesting dichotomy between the transformation of werewolves and the transformation of dogs. Wolves seemed to treat it as an ugly burden, while dogs treated it with a sense of dignity.

In addition, there was some foreshadowing with respect to the art collection: the works will be given to the city if the owner does not return. Dun dun dunnnnn.

Three things in this chapter particularly grated my nerves. One was the fact that Levelin’s nephews/assistants always prefixed their statements to him with “Uncle.” Now, I have five uncles, not including ones that are married to my aunts or uncles to my wife, and I have never, not once, called them “Uncle” in place of their name. It’s always been “Uncle X” (where X is their name). This made it seem awkwardly formal.

The second was the part in the basement where we are introduced to all the dogs in their human forms. It felt like I was brisked through a room, introduced to a new person every second and told an interesting but otherwise useless fact about them, and then was expected to remember their names and how they’re related to everybody else. It was a major infodump in a small area of space.

The third was the fact that a restaurant in a small city on the border of Ohio could attract the uppity-ups from all over Ohio. I live in Cleveland and not once have I heard any of the uppity-ups I know talk about driving 4 hours for some chaw. I don’t believe it.

All in all, the book is showing a lack of polish most professionally published books tend to have. Aside from its valleys, it still seems readable and coherent, yet ultimately predictable.

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 2

Let’s talk about Chapter 2 in The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released by Amber Polo.

Synopsis

Prior to a meeting with an architect, Cutter decides to investigate the academy. Here she finds a distinct dog motif and briefly reflects on the lack of dogs and the surplus of dog catchers in Shipsfeather.

The academy seems to be an ideal candidate for the new library, having a pleasant mixture of knowledge and character.

In her investigation of the school, she encounters an Old English Sheepdog in the basement. Their meeting is cut short, though, by the honking of a horn outside, signaling Cutter to meet with the chairperson of library commission, Harold Dinzelbacher.

Outside, Dinzelbacher and Foly O’Hurley, the architect, discuss their desire to demolish the academy, including several lupine references (e.g., huffing and puffing and blowing the academy down) in their discussion. It is revealed that they are werewolves and that they are at war with the dogs who are apparently trapped in the academy by a curse. This same curse keeps the wolves out, which they discover first hand when they are prevented from setting foot onto the library grounds. They signal with the car horn for Cutter to come meet them outside.

Meanwhile, the sheepdog, named Chronus, holds a discussion with some other dogs about enlisting the librarians to their cause. In they end, they decide that an alliance with the librarians would be the best way to overcome the werewolf curse.

Analysis

Again, this is not a book I would probably have picked up on my own. I’m one of those people who’s weirded out by most fiction regarding shapeshifters. I think it has to do with the fact that, like in this book, they seem more comfortable in their animal forms, but at the same time, hold human discussions while in this form. It’s a little too Animal Farm-y for me.

Nevertheless, Polo’s writing is very readable. It does have a few rough patches from time to time, but fortunately, the exposition here was minimal. Aside from the fact that some characters were discussing their inability to enter the academy because of the curse, when by all rights, they should have already been aware of this long before they ran into it’s segregating force field.

Polo definitely is a fan of puns without being too annoying about it, thankfully (I’m looking at you, Piers Anthony). In a building inhabited by shapeshifting dogs, the predominant foliage are dogwood trees.

So far, it has not become a chore to read, for which I'm glad.

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters' Library: Released by Amber Polo - Chapter 1

In this post, I’ll cover the first chapter in Amber Polo’s The Shapeshifters’ Library: Released.

Synopsis

In the first chapter, we are introduced to Liberty Cutter, the young library director of Shipsfeather, Ohio. She is about to deliver her resignation for her post, but her plans are deferred when she arrives at the Shipsfeather Public Library only to find it ablaze.

Most of the books are ruined by the fire or the water used to extinguish it, and the city’s politicians aren’t too keen on building a new library. They provide Cutter and staff a warehouse in which to house the library pro tem, until the mysterious and dilapidated “Academy” can be outfitted to house the new library.

However, this Academy gives Cutter a weird vibe, as often she believes that she sees something, or someone, watching her from the windows. And she’s right. Somebody is watching her with keen interest.

While the community gets together to bootstrap their new library by contributing books and baked goods, Cutter takes some liberties with her position and has the Shipsfeather Public Library join the county library chain.

Once things start looking steady in the warehouse, one of the town firefighters reveals something the city bigwigs didn’t want anybody to know: The fire had all the signs of arson.

Analysis

First impressions with books, and just about everything else, are very important. The story started out as readable, and then took a brief (thankfully) detour for some exposition. Once that was out of the way, the story started up again just as readable. The story is written as third person limited, mostly, with Cutter being the POV character.

One thing that I was constantly jostled with in my reading was the town’s name. After seeing the cover for several days, seeing the word “Shipsfeather” just looks like “Shapeshifter” to my trained mind. No wonder, though, as they’re anagrams, and they both start and end with the same phoneme. I think that, added to the fact that “shipsfeather” is not a common word, or possibly even a real word (I’ll have to defer to the linguists and nautical experts on this one), my mind forces it to shift its shape into a more readily understood word.

One must commend Polo on that clever usage of an anagram in a book about creatures who can change their shape.

Another thing I noticed were the names of the characters. Many of the people in the book have names that sound like they’re James Bond characters. With names like Bliss D. Lite and Elsie Dustbunnie, I’m sure you can see. There are also names that might only be funny to literary nerds, like Webster Bartlett, the reference librarian.

All in all the chapter was a pleasant read with little to no challenges to reaching the end. My attention did drift a little in the middle, but it often does that. While the genre is not normally one I read (shapeshifters), so far, so good.

Book Miner - The Shapeshifters Library: Released by Amber Polo

I received the first book in Amber Polo’s The Shapeshifters Library series. It is entitled Released. I use the website LibraryThing to catalog my books. Through LibraryThing, users may request books offered by other users of the site. Years ago, I was set to receive a book from Polo. However, it never arrived.

Then, when I had all but forgotten about this unreceived book, I received this book in the mail. It was a pleasant surprise (free books always are).

While I haven’t yet cracked the book, my first impression is that it involves a library, a librarian, and some sort of shapeshifter magic, mostly involving dogs. As I read this book, I’ll break it down chapter by chapter for your reading enjoyment.