I thought I'd ask for a random sampling of opinions on several alternatives that I've come up with. The logline I've come up with so far is: Sindari is a slave embroiled in a scheme to free her people from the empire that subjugated her culture, relying on cunning and a newly discovered ability to control elemental energy.

The gist is that she's a slave, she can tap into the power of storms, and she's trying to free her people. With that in mind I've come up with a handful of options, each coming from a slightly different place. I won't tell you my favorite yet.

1. FIRESTORM
2. SHELTERED BY THE STORM
3. THE FETTERS OF FREEDOM
4. THE RESULT OF A PURCHASE
5. ONE GIRL'S WORTH

Feel free to give my logline a crit to if you have opinions one way or another.

Thanks for the help! If you think you need more info about the story I'm happy to post it.
 

I don't really love any of the titles you've listed. Sorry

I think each of them misses the mark. None of them really captures the idea of a slave using with elemental power freeing a people.

I'll throw out a few other titles that probably aren't any better:

The Slave Rebellion
The Elemental Rebellion
The Elemental Rebel
Rebellious Elements

You know your story best, so I think that was just an exercise in futility for me. lol.

 

Your list gave me an idea for another one that I like a bit: THE ELEMENTS OF REBELLION Do you like that one better?
 

How about "Cloudburst", "Firesquall", "Tempest Rising"?
 

how bout Elements Of Rebellion... i dont generally care for the at the start of titles unless its something simple like 'the xxxx war'

[This message has been edited by eyegore242 (edited December 03, 2010).]
 

The Storm Warrior
The Storm Walker

You seem to lean toward literary titles, so something like:
A Cloud of Deliverance

Totally derivative or silly titles:

The Girl Who Kicked Butt with a Storm
The Storm Whisperer (not bad, but lots of whisperers out there)
Dark and Stormy...no, no, no.
 

quote:

---

Dark and Stormy...no, no, no

---

I LOLed

I kinda like The Storm Walker, too. As well, or perhaps 'Element Walker', though I still think The Elemental Rebellion is good, too. The Elements of Rebellion says the same thing with one extra unnecessary word.
 

Storm Walker is a really great option. It's interesting for a reason that never comes up in the story. It might come up in the revision, I don't know yet. In her native language the word for what she is translates to Storm Walker, though I never explicitly state it that way.

Edited to add: Don't worry, the book doesn't start with weather!

[This message has been edited by coralm (edited December 03, 2010).]
 

Elemental Control

Just a couple of thoughts. It seems to me that sometimes the best titles come from the logline (or from explaining what the story is about, anyway).
 

Lis
 

*The Left Hand of Darkness
*A Fall of Moondust
*The Man in the High Castle
*Flowers for Algernon
*Stranger in a Strange Land
*The Lathe of Heaven
*The Mote in God's Eye
*The Years of Rice and Salt
*Ender's Game (would I get booted out of here if this weren't on the list?)
*The Yiddish Policeman's Union

In general, these are evocative titles, not clever in a precious way, nor a la mode. There are many great titles on the nomination list, picking my ten favorite was hard. There are at least ten or twenty more I like nearly as much.

There are relatively few poor titles, so picking my ten least favorite was easy:

*Sword of [choose Aldones, Lictor]
*Dune World
*The Einstein Intersection
*Dragonquest
*The Witches of Karres
*Dreamsnake
*On the Wings of Song
*Project Pope
*The Peace War
*The Calculating God

I don't like this because they don't seem very imaginative to me, which doesn't say much about the story itself. In fact, that's the problem with these titles, they don't say much. They're either variations on old saws ("The Sword of ...", "On the Wings of Song", "Witches of...", "Dragonquest") or they tell you more about the author's brand of wordplay ("The Peace War", "Project Pope" etc.)

As you can see, I don't like titles that mash together a couple of words for contrasting effect, especially if they use words and images that are commonplace. Therefore I'd dislike any title that combines some kind of weather imagery (elementals and weather control are very common in recent fantasy manuscripts I've seen) and uprising or rebellion (also very commonplace). It's not that working with commonplace themes is bad. They're commonplace for a good reason. But commonplace *titles* are really a bad idea in my opinion, because you want to show how you can treat those commonplace motifs with unusual imagination.
 

Everyone thought Jaws was a stupid title, but...

Respectfully,
History
 

I know the feeling of trying to title a novel and not quite getting it.

Some suggestions might be repeats.

Personally I like the "Elements Of Rebellion". It hints at her powers while stating what her mission is. Plus it has a double meaning there like a lot of titles have.

Maybe something shorter like Rebel Elements or Rebel Storm or Winds of Rebellion or Rebel Winds.

As someone sort of suggested there's A Dark and Stormy Knight.

Actually, that last one has been used. But I like it.

It's both Elements in the general sense of the word - components of rebellion (you could argue that your main character and her people are all elements of rebellion) but then also the elemental magic she learns to control, and the role that plays in rebellion.

Nifty. I think you should go with it. And this was such a nice success I think I should pitch my title troubles here, too!
 

Also I liked your 'The Elements of Rebellion' but I think mostly the question that's raised is strictly about the rebellion part. Like the 'elements' are what lead up to and include everything that happens in the rebellion, and not a thought is given to storm control or any of that. With that title I think the book is more about some rebellion, and NOT anything that would include any type of magic. I think a better way to put it would be 'The Elements IN Rebellion' because it gives you more thought about what the MC will actually be doing (if I've understood you correctly).

~Nick

[This message has been edited by Ryuhou (edited December 15, 2010).]

[This message has been edited by Ryuhou (edited December 15, 2010).]
 

(I like that one. It's kind of dreamy and it makes me imagine, especially if I am thinking magical storm power.)

Another idea: "Storm Conjurer"

[This message has been edited by lostdog (edited December 17, 2010).]
 

If your book is mostly about the girl, rather than the rebellion:

The Elemental Revolutionary
Fiery Deliverer
Storm Breaker of Crowns

If your book is more broadly about the rebellion itself:

The Elements Defiant
A Storm of Slaves
The Storm Rebellion
Elements Uprising
 

I ended up going with Elements of Rebellion, but lots of the options listed here were very good.

I'll probably put up the first 13 once I'm done with my first revision and I'll be looking to swap chapters at that point if anyone is looking for crit partners in the near future (January time frame).