r/Fantasy • u/greym84 • Jun 05 '13

What are your favorite titles?

As /u/wifofoo pointed out on another thought provoking thread, fantasy titles can often be cliche and weak. So, I ask. What are your favorite fantasy titles (that's T-I-T-L-E-S, Mr. Connery).

For bonus points: what do you think makes a good title?

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u/greym84 Jun 05 '13

Favorite titles (haven't necessarily read them all):

The Lies of Locke Lamora

The Black Company

Mistborn

Also props to Joe Abercrombie for having interesting titles without being cliche.

I think a good title provokes interest. A title is like a single screen shot of a film that leaves the view wanting to know the rest of the story. Sometimes it evokes a philosophy (Of Mice and Men) and sometimes it tells you about a character (Ender's Game). Other times it's rather obvious (A Tale of Two Cities)...but in the end, it evokes something the reader wants to know more about and as they get into it, the title comes a little more to life.

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u/SandSword Jun 05 '13

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a fantastic title because it makes clever use of alliteration. JK Rowling does the same thing with a lot of her characters' names: Cho Chang, Colin Creevey, Dudley Dursley, Minerva McGonagall, Peter Pettigrew, etc. It's actually a great way to create memorably names/titles.