AND THE NEW TITLE IS....drum roll please.... (Book 9)

[A Gunslinger]

I like it myself, but agree that it lacks literary dexterity.

[dlbpharmd]

I quite like it, not as good as ''Shal'' but still. AATE - rubbish acroynm though, nowhere near as good as WGW LFB TOT etc.

"SPU" would've been a bad abbreviation - reminds me of Garth in Wayne's World hold a small cup and saying "If you're gonna spew, spew in this."

[Waddley]

"SPU" would've been a bad abbreviation - reminds me of Garth in Wayne's World hold a small cup and saying "If you're gonna spew, spew in this."

That reminds me of a friend who works with salmon. "One fish, two fish, red fish, spoo fish!" cause... getting them to mate... or something.

Never mind.

I still like the new title.

[Revan]

I predict the title will change again.

This is certainly a possibility.

I'm not going to judge the book by it's title; otherwise I'd never have touched the first book.

[dlbpharmd]

I predict the title will change again.

This is certainly a possibility.

I'm not going to judge the book by it's title; otherwise I'd never have touched the first book.

Good point.

[MsMary]

I don't care for the title at all. Weird sentence structure and not at all catchy.

[wayfriend]

Another thing is that it reminds me of Tolkien's famous phrase, The End of All Things.

Really, doesn't every epic fantasy include the struggle Against All Things Ending?

IMO it lacks poesy. Shall Pass Utterly was far more poetic.

Then there's putting book names together. They could come up with a combined edition of the First, Second, And Final Chronicles, and call it

• The Power That Preserves The Wounded Land Against All Things Ending
  

Here's hoping that Darth is correct!

[I'm Murrin]

On that note, "The Runes of the Earth - Fatal, Revenant - Shall Pass, Utterly, the Last Dark" works, whereas "The Runes of the Earth, Fatal, Revenant, Against All Things Ending The Last Dark" is just nonsense.

[danlo]

Against All Things Ending: Attempts to Curtail Entropy

[duke]

Ugh, "Against All Things Ending". I groaned out loud when I read the proposed title. SRD, you can do better!

Runes of the Earth refers to a metaphor used in the book.
Fatal Revenant - well, I'll comment on that title when I've read it
The Last Dark - specific title that has echoes of the 1st and 2nd Chrons titles.

Against All Things Ending is way too general and vague ... and I'd never call SRD's writing "vague".

Shall Pass Utterly reminds us all of Lord Kevin's Lament. It gets SRD's point across by using a quote - something he did plenty of in the 2nd Chrons as well. It just plain "fits".

Jay, crank up the "Bring Back Shall" bandwagon.

[Romeo]

I don't think it's likely to change again. It would have been nice to keep it "Shall/Should Pass Utterly" because of the tie-in with the legends from previous books. But he seemed pretty happy with "Against All Things Ending" as an alternate - and if his agent and editors have bought into it then he doesn't have any pressure to change.

[Fist and Faith]

Mr Donaldson could call it 'Land Go Bye Bye'...

You know what's crazy? I like that!!

"SPU" would've been a bad abbreviation

There was a comic book called Jon Sable - Freelance that was set in the "real world." Jon and a few other people worked together in a couple issues, and sort of jokingly thought they should come up with a name for their group. World Action Response Team and Fast Action Response Team were ruled out pretty quickly.

Anyway, I still wish it was Shall Pass Utterly, and I'll ask him what we need to do to get it changed back. But it's true that we'll love it all, regardless. And I seem to remember SRD answering "What exactly is Lord Foul's bane?" with "I don't know. I called it Lord Foul's Ritual. My editor changed it to LFB."

Also, and this is being picky in a way I can't even define , my feeling is that we can't compare Book 9 to Books 3 and 6. 3 and 6 were the last books in their respective sets, so we must compare 10 to 3 and 6. 8 and 9 are sort of a large 2 and 5.

[Relayer]

For example, all of those horrible madlibish "The Adjective Noun" combinations that people like Jordan love to use

Like...The Last Dark?

I hate being on the road for work and missing this whole thread!

I really don't like either of these names... Shall Pass Utterly was OK because of the obvious reference. AATE is an attempt to state the same concept with different words.

What I realized I don't like is that neither of these titles "fits" w/ the style of every other book in the Chronicles. Most are the Adjective Noun style, but they're consistent in their feel. But Shall Pass Utterly or Against All Things Ending, both of which are poetic (which isn't a bad thing), don't fit w/ the rest. They sound like they should be the next book in the Gap series or something... (which I sure wouldn't mind )

It's too bad there isn't another line in Kevin's Lament that would fit the style of the other titles and convey the right meaning... (will have to review it when I get home).

[wayfriend]

It's too bad there isn't another line in Kevin's Lament that would fit the style of the other titles and convey the right meaning... (will have to review it when I get home).

No, but Kevin's Lament would fit as a title.

[Relayer]

Yep, it sure would!

[matrixman]

Against All Things Ending...well, at least it's better than Should Pass Utterly.

I agree with Relayer, AATE sounds more at home in the Gap series than in the Chronicles.

Revan is right, of course: I'll read the darn book, whatever title it has.

Now that Covenant 9's title is resolved (the "Shall Pass Utterly" petition notwithstanding), I just hope that there will be no change to the last book's title. Don't know about the rest of you, but I think The Last Dark is an AWESOME title - the kind that makes me shiver in anticipation. It's already my favorite Chrons book title next to The Wounded Land.

[Wyldewode]

I'm with the others. Shall Pass Utterly is much more melodic than Against All Things Ending. The latter makes me think of a title generated by computer. Either way, as others have said, we will all read it (yea, even me--eventually). Meh.

[Peven]

though i agree the new title does seem to have style that fits more with the Gap series, i can live with it just fine. i always liked the Gap titles myself. This Day All Gods Must Die has got to be one of the coolest titles ever, imo, for instance. i think as fans we have got to be willing to grow with the changes, the same as i am sure most didn't feel comfortable with the changes to The Land in the Second Chronicles at the beginning but learned to love that trilogy as much as the first as we read on. this is just a change in title style, after all, so i see it as no great obstacle to overcome in embracing another chapter in the Covenant saga.

[Relayer]

I love the Gap titles, too... but in the Gap series.

And I also agree, I'm gonna read it, and the title will have no effect on how much I expect to love it. But until 2010, it's the only thing we have to discuss about the book

New petition for Matrixman: Keep The Last Dark!!

[Relayer]

Chris: I read the GI regularly but never had a comment until now. Whatever possessed you to think "Against All Things Ending" was a good, punchy title? It reminds me of business-speak which uses words and phrases in ways that are ironically less clear than those they are intended to 'improve' upon. It seems to me the average reader will look at this title on the shelf, the words will make no sense and have no immediate impact, and their eye will move promptly along to the next book. Your ear for language is very fine so I am mightily puzzled by this.

Did I not say that I'm contractually bound to supply a title that my editors like? Your criticisms of "Against All Things Ending" are identical to their criticisms of "Should Pass Utterly". What can I do except shrug?

For the record, my editors are excited about the new title, as are some readers who have posted messages for the Gradual Interview.