Naming books can be a pain.

Take this from a writer who comes up with great titles for books he’s never written. When it comes to actual novels, my creativity tends to dry up like a stream in the Sahara. Others have the opposite problem: a book to boggle the mind and stir the heart, but a slew of try-and-fail titles that are as boring as eating tofu for dinner.

It makes you wonder, “What if some books need revised titles?” Maybe the authors didn’t get it right the first time, or later they came up with a way better title.

Or they need some help—outside opinions and creativity, as it were. Which is where this post comes in. Not saying I’m an expert, because I’m not, but why not take a stab at it? (Did you catch the fantasy pun?) Fantasy…swords…stabbing.

Okay, getting back on track, here’s a list of 16 sci-fi and fantasy novels and possible alternate titles. Not because these books need new titles, necessarily, but so I could have some fun with this and hopefully entertain you for a few minutes.

Some of the titles are realistic, some of them humorous, some of them are cynical or ironic.

Lord of the Rings

Alternate titles

• The Quest to Mount Doom
• To Boldly Go Where No Hobbit Has Gone Before
• The Strength of Hobbits
• A Hobbit, the Ring, and the Dark Lord

Hunger Games

Alternate titles

• Gale or Peeta?
• Live or Die
• The Last Person Standing
• Shadows of Rebellion
• Survival of the Fittest

Catching Fire

Alternate titles

• Peeta or Gale?
• The Power to Overcome
• No Rest for the Victors
• Conspiracy

Mockingjay

Alternate titles

• To Revolt or Not to Revolt
• The Shroud of Sorrow
• Death to Tyranny

A Wrinkle in Time

Alternate titles

• In Search of Father
• Three Kids and IT
• Concerning Tesseracts
• Euclid was Wrong

Fahrenheit 451

Alternate titles

• It’s Getting Hot
• Death to Writing
• The Pen Is Not Mightier than the Sword

Eragon

Alternate titles

• Whose Story Is This?
• Dragonrider of Clichés
• The Farm Boy’s Destiny
• The Path of the Chosen

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Alternate titles

• Adventures at Sea
• In Search of the Lost Lords
• The Laborious Redemption of a Brat

The Princess Bride

Alternate titles

• The Revenge of Inigo Montoya
• Twu Wuv Always Conquers
• An Experiment in Witticism

The Silmarillion

Alternate titles

• The Tome of Middle-earth
• The Glory of the Elves
• Love a Language, Love an Elf
• The Book of Jewels

The Time Machine

Alternate titles

• Time Hath No Control Over Me
• To the Future and Back Again
• A Daring Experiment

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Alternate titles

• The Journey of a Lifetime
• Trapped with a Madman
• Beneath the Waves
• We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

A Song of Fire and Ice

Alternate titles

• To the Death
• Plots, Plans, and Ploys
• Who Shall Live, Who Shall Die?
• Then Comes Battle and War

The Hobbit

Alternate titles

• The Adventures of a Homely Hobbit
• Dwarves, Hobbits, and Wizards, Oh My!
• A Dragon and His Treasure
• The Honest Burglar

The Last Battle

Alternate titles

• Narnia’s Twilight
• The End Is Only the Beginning
• Further Up and Further In

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Alternate titles

• The Adventures of Four English Kids
• The Majestic Cat, the Tyrannical Woman, and the Clothes House
• Aslan, Jardis, and War-drobe
• The Wardrobe: It’s Bigger on the Inside

Which new titles do you like the most? Have you read any books you thought needed a different title? I would love to hear your thoughts.