What do you call it?

I've been ruminating recently on the subject of titles.  A title is a story's first hook--even before a reader claps eyes on your first sentence, he's going to see the title, and that constitute's his real first impression of the story (whether he/she be an editor or a consumer).  So naturally it's important and worth some thought.

Of course, there's few things more frustrating than having a killer opening, a tense middle, and a crescendo of an ending, then being stumped as to what phrase to type above the whole thing.  I've been there before.  On other occasions an awesome phrase will come exploding into my head and I'll have to write a story to match it.  My unpublished Shabak story "Black Water" is one example of that.  I've even got titles mapepd out for books I won't write for years, if ever.

I think a great title does three things:

1.) It hooks the reader's attention.  Create a powerful image, suggest awesome content, or present the reader with an interesting juxtaposition.  Or just have something cool.  For fantasy stories, it's probably better to avoid generic words like "king", "dragon", "dream", "magic", etc.  "The King's Dragon" or "The Dream Sword" isn't particularly arresting.  The exception is if you're really putting some new twist on the word's usage or making some allusion; I think Naomi Novik's novel His Majesty's Dragon is well-titled (and it's a great book too).  A similar consideration applies to SF stories: "The Stars my Dream" isn't as attention-catching as something like Dune or Speaker for the Dead.

2.) It conveys information about the book/story's content.  Again, I'll use His Majesty's Dragon.  It tells a reader that the story will involve dragons, but it also hints at the setting in Regency England and the fact that, not only is it about dragons, it's about dragons in the Napoleanic Wars.  The title should generally give the reader some indication of what kind of story they can expect--action, romance, psychological drama, etc.

3.) It hints at theme.  His Majesty's Dragon hints at the themes of loyalty, honor, and duty which underlie the story.  Dune emphasizes the barren landscape of Arrakis.  E. E. Knight's Dragon Champion establishes what the overall arc of AuRon's life is: that of a champion, conquering a series of obstacles to emerge victorious.  Dragon Avenger indicates that--surprise!--the book centers around a revenge story.  Those are also examples of titles which are attention grabbing but use "dragon". . .hm. . .some life left there, maybe.

I'm going to quick try one of my titles at those three categories. . .a semi-Bronze-Age heroic fantasy I call Harpy Slayer.

1.) I think it's attention grabbing.  Sure would grab my attention ;).

2.) It's about a hero slaying harpies, and it also contains plenty of battles.  I think both of those are sufficiently captured by Harpy Slayer, yes?

3.) Hm. . .probably weakest here.  I think what it _does_ do is center attention on my hero, Tarsok, whose conflicts, courage, and choices lie at the book's heart.  I also think the idea of him as a "slayer" is important to the book's overall thrust.  Tarsok would definitely consider himself a slayer.

So, I'm going to risk a jaunt on the borders of egotism and say that I think Harpy Slayer is a fairly good title.  Feel free to disagree :).

In conclusion, I present a list of titles I really like.  Make of them what you will.

Dune (Frank Herbert)
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik)
Speaker for the Dead (Orson Scott Card)
Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
The Gallows Thief (Bernard Cornwell)
Over Sea, Under Stone (Susan Cooper)
Mistborn: The Final Empire (Bradon Sanderson)
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)--a great thematic title!
Dragon Champion/Avenger/Outcast (E. E. Knight)
"Wings in the Night" (Robert E. Howard)
The Devil's Novice (Ellis Peters)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Feel free to post some of your own!