Brandon Sanderson
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
Brandon Sanderson
The original (in-text) name of the city was 'Widor.' Back then, however, I wasn't thinking of a sequel.