The Grand Illusion
I was wondering for perhaps obvious reasons how you come up with your names? Specifically Rhennthyl, but in general as well. I tried searching the name, but it seems to be entirely original to you.
Generally, I try to come up with original but pronounceable names, often riffs on other names. “Rhennthyl” is actually the spin-off of the name of a dear departed Greek friend [Rennus]. At times, I steal from mythology (Maegara, for example). And for those who say a name is unpronounceable, I suspect they never learned phonics. By the way, “Alyiakal” is pronounced AL-eee-ah-kahl, for those who have complained.
A couple of thoughts…
“I suspect they never learned phonics.” I have no doubt you’re right – because I think in the last few decades, too many schools haven’t tried to teach it.
Meanwhile, as to how a name is pronounced, I figure if I bought the book, as long as it’s just me, not talking with another fan, I can pronounce it anyway I like! (Nothing wrong with al-YAI-ah-kahl…except it is wrong, per the author.) 🙂
Do you provide pronunciation guides for the narrators of the audio books? I’ve noticed that names change over the course of a series. The one that comes to mind is Nacliano, which in the Scholar audiobook was pronounced with a ch in the middle, and in later books was pronounced with the L. Are the pronunciations in the audiobooks just a best guess by the narrator?
For a great many audiobooks, I have provided pronunciation guides, but that depends on the company and the reader.
For the (I suspect) hundreds of original names even just one series spawns, I have a hard time wrapping my head around coming up and the KEEPING TRACK of all the names across SEVEN different series and 25+ other books. I would say “Excel spreadsheet,” but I have my doubts about that.
No spreadsheets… just memory… and sometimes picking up older books. Usually, rereading a few pages brings things back.
But with a long name like that, can we call him Al? He already feels like my long lost friend 🙂