Author Topic: Help me name a book  (Read 12717 times)

EUOL

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Help me name a book
« on: June 10, 2004, 12:49:23 AM »
Okay, so here's the thing.  I want to write a sequel to ELANTRIS someday--or, at least, I want to leave myself open to the possibility.  

The first book is named after the city of Elantris, where most of the action takes place.  The sequel, set ten years after the first book, will take place in the capitol city of the prime antagonists in the series.  For cohesion, this book should probably be named after that city.

So, here's the problem.  Usually I have months and months to settle on a book title, and I'm usually pretty happy with what I get.  However, I don't have an opportunity to write the book this time before I name it.  I mention the city that will be the title of the next book several times in ELANTRIS.  I have to make certain I really like this city name now, since I'll probably name a book after it sometime in the future.

So, I've been digging for ideas.  The country the book will take place in is called 'Fjorden.'  As you might guess from that name, the dialectical genre of the culture is a Scandinavian spin-off.  (It's kind of a guttural Norse--Scandinavian with some harsh Germanic sounds thrown in.)

Other words in the language:

Hrathen
Dilaf
Arteth
Dakhor
Grondkest
Svorden

I need a name for the new city that would work well as a book title (i.e., it needs to be fairly easy to pronounce, and needs to sound cool) but that still fits with the linguistic style of the region.

Here are some I've come up with so far.  What do you think of these?  Which is your favorite?  Which don't you like?

Zinareth  
Widor
Velding
Klynair
Valinrath
Skaln
Vallensha
Vallinor  


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fuzzyoctopus

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2004, 01:13:29 AM »
First of all - what's the current name of the city?  What's in the text right now?


Zinareth  
Widor (doesn't look good or impressive)
Velding
Klynair  (hard to pronounce from sight)
Valinrath (this one's good)
Skaln (one syllable=ick)

Vallensha
Vallinor  

The last two are the best- which one you choose from those, I'd ask whether you want a more masculine or feminine feel.  Elantris is more feminine as names go.  Do you want this second book/ city to sound more masculine?  Then go with Vallinor
« Last Edit: June 10, 2004, 01:13:44 AM by fuzzyoctopus »
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EUOL

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2004, 01:26:19 AM »
Fuzzy--I'll respond to your questions in a bit.  I want others to post first, and I don't want to taint the pool a bit.  

PS--I just sent you a HUGE email.  Sorry.  Guess I'm feeling chatty today....
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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2004, 01:48:50 AM »
I'd say Vallinor. It seems to be the easiest to remember.

Skaln could work, but only with a cool voice-over. Something like, "You don't think you know fear. Well, fear is coming for you. Be prepared for SKALN!"
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Brenna

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2004, 02:49:20 AM »
Of the names you've got, I like

Valinrath (sounds like a strong capital name to me)
Vallensha (this sounds more feminine, like Elantris does)

Zinareth sounds like a good name for a city, but not for a book (I'm not sure why, it's just the impression I get from it)

Vallinor is good, except that I instantly thought of "Valdemar," which is Mercedes Lackey's world.

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2004, 09:00:10 AM »
We have the facts and we're voting "vallinor"

anyway, that's the one I like best.

stacer

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2004, 09:32:58 AM »
I like Skaln or Vallinor. Both have a consonantal quality to them that I like.
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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #7 on: June 10, 2004, 09:34:39 AM »
how 'bout Skaln of Vallinor, that's a cool name for a person.
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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #8 on: June 10, 2004, 09:45:43 AM »
Hrathen <- not bad
Dilaf <- bad
Arteth <- moderate
Dakhor <- bad, and confusing to pronounce
Grondkest  <- i like this one, but it sounds very gutteral... might give the wrong impression of the book.
Svorden  <- a slight tad too boring, but could work


Zinareth   <- doesnt sound scandanavian at all. But its not that bad.
Widor <- boring.
Velding <- too boring.
Klynair  <- sounds like an aircraft company.
Valinrath <- doesnt sound like a city name, and sounds very stereotypically fantasy
Skaln <- not powerful enough, and its close to Skald, which is a type of bard.
Vallensha <- sounds like a female characters name
Vallinor    <- LoTR ripoff. Valinor (1 L) is the name of the undying land in middle-earth, and is copyrighted i believe.

Hope that helps.
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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #9 on: June 10, 2004, 11:28:10 AM »
Quote

Vallinor    <- LoTR ripoff. Valinor (1 L) is the name of the undying land in middle-earth, and is copyrighted i believe.



I thought it sounded familiar.
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Lieutenant Kije

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #10 on: June 10, 2004, 12:01:54 PM »
Yes - nix the Vallinor.

If you don't mind waiting I could bust out my Danish dictionaries when I get home (I have three) and come up with some cool-sounding authentic Scandinavian words that you could mess with.

fuzzyoctopus

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #11 on: June 10, 2004, 01:39:32 PM »
Kije, please do.  Or, I could bust out "Citizen of the Galaxy" and see what I can come up with (they speak Finnish on the one ship)

If we like Vallinor so much, all we've got to do is change the vowels, kids.  It's not that hard to get around copyrights, especially when it's not something that we all immediately recognized, (ie it took a LoTR expert to put a finger on where they'd heard it.)
« Last Edit: June 10, 2004, 01:41:18 PM by fuzzyoctopus »
"Hr hr! dwn wth vwls!" - Spriggan

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #12 on: June 10, 2004, 01:52:02 PM »
Finnish isn't really Viking though. You want swedes and Norwegians for htat. FOr example, the Finnish word for Finland is "Suomi." It's probably not the gutteral sound EUOL was looking for.

fuzzyoctopus

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #13 on: June 10, 2004, 02:10:43 PM »
Which is probably why I like Finnish better than any of the harsher languages.

I'll let Kije do his thing
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I reject your reality, and substitute my own. - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

French is a language meant to be butchered, especially by drunk Scotts. - Spriggan

Lieutenant Kije

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Re: Help me name a book
« Reply #14 on: June 10, 2004, 03:38:27 PM »
Yeah - Norse, Swedes, and Danes all think the Finns are a little goofy.  I'm sure the sentiment is returned.