One of the things I often do as I'm reading a novel or short story is keep track of words whose definitions I do not know or that I find interesting. Either way, these interesting words are ones I feel might be of use in my own writing. That, and it's good to expand one's vocabulary every once in a while.

These interesting words were found in Jane Lindskold's Through Wolf's Eyes.

apothecary: a health professional trained in the art of preparing and dispensing drugs

attar: essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers

cabochon: a highly polished convex-cut but unfaceted gem

carter: someone whose work is driving ca... [More]

Now that I own an eReader and thus a viable way to read eBooks without having to print them, I plan to read and review each of the featured Tor.com giveaways. This is the eighth of those reviews.

I'm taking LibraryThing's 50 Book Reading Challenge for 2010. This is my 21st read of the 50.

Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold follows the basic Tarzan theme: a feral child living amongst the animals (in this case, wolves) is discovered by an expedition and brought back to civilization. The child, a young woman known by wolves as Firekeeper but by humans as Blysse, is thought to be the daughter of the king's brother. Turns out t... [More]

Today Amazon.com cut the price of their Kindle eReader from $259 to $189. The last price cut for the device was in October of last year. Barnes & Noble prompted Amazon's price cut with one of their own as they lowered the price on their popular nook eReader while also introducing a wi-fi only model.

I think most people have been expecting this move since late last year when Barnes & Noble released their competing eReader, the nook, and especially now that Apple's iPad has proven itself a viable contender (and more depending on who you ask) in the eReader space.

I received my Kindle as a Christmas gift last year. My first impr... [More]

Tor.com has made available the prelude, prologue, and first three chapters of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings as a free online read. The novel is currently available from Amazon.com as a pre-order.

This is the beginning of a grand ol' epic from Sanderson. It's a world fifteen years in the making, the scope of which I was unable to determine. Having just come off completing Jordan's Wheel of Time series, you have to wonder if Sanderson intends to make this as deep of an epic with as many titles. You can read some comments by the author on this new series.

Here's a bit about The Way of Kings taken from the blurb: