Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

[QuickTidal]

Okay, so this is total randomness, but I enjoy my share of YA fantasy (Harry Potter, The Gideon Trilogy, His Dark Materials, and most recently The Hound Of Rowan), and I was just curious about this book (and the subsequent series).

I know that girls are bananas about this series, as it seems to have a great deal of romance in it, and when Stephanie Meyer came to the Indigo Flagship Toronto store, there was an insane crowd there (mostly girls). That being said, I was wondering if as a guy, I am missing anything by not reading this? That may seem a silly question, because anybody can read any book right? Well, I'm likely not going to be sitting on the subway reading a copy of Shopaholic at any time......so you get my point.

The deal here is that I hear this is a really cool series.....not just about vampires (as can be overdone), but also about relationships and growing up....which is always a good thing to have in a YA title....and I heard the writing is on par with the better names in YA fiction, so much so as to have one reading till the wee hours.

Anyways...long story short....should a guy who likes his fantasy war books (Malazan books of the fallen, ASOIAF, Farseer trilogy ect....), but also really enjoys his YA fantasy (as mentioned above) read this series?

Anyones opinion is welcome.....even those that choose to make fun of me...

 

[Rob B]

Stephenie Meyer

FWIW, my wife read Twilight and really enjoyed it.

 

[QuickTidal]

Cool, thanks for the thread linkage.

 

[Rob B]

You'll probably also have some luck browsing our Horror forum as the books fall into (among other categories) Vampire fiction.

 

[kmgrey]

Stephenie Meyer

FWIW, my wife read Twilight and really enjoyed it.

Same here. My wife is head over heels in love with the series. I read the first chapter in the car while waiting for my wife to pick up some carryout and the writing seemed decent enough. Since I practically forced her to read Harry Potter (which she ended up loving), I might give Stephanie Meyer's books a try some time.

QuickTidal, there is a movie coming out in December, so that might be an easier way see if it might be up your alley.

 

[Mistress Maerad]

It is an amazing series. I absolutely adore it. Seriously, top 10 material.

There are some guys who read it. One of the guys in my English Class says they're his favorite books. And yes, he's normal.

 

[QuickTidal]

Thanks for the prompt replies. I have been on the fence about reading it, and it seems as if it's the type of series I'd like. It seems rather silly not to read it because it has a certain amount of romance in it.....so maybe I'll order the first book.....

 

[thrinidir]

my girlfriend read it recently, since all her (girl)friends raved about the book...and she described it without fancy words - a plotless book full of romance and sex innuendo - vampire sex innuendo. she liked it quite a bit though

 

[Davis Ashura]

Well, Tidal, you're right that it does seem to stir up passion. There was a previous thread on this author here:

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14929&page=39&highlight=stephanie+meyer

In two months, there were over 570 posts. 570 posts! Son of a mother that's a lot. Hobbit cut the thread because it strayed into text messaging type posts. The grouch. I kinda liked peeking in and reading what constitutes conversation these days amongst the young.
From the descriptions, it almost sounds like a YA/fantasy version of Nicholas Sparks.
I think for an old square male like me, it just wouldn't do for me what it seems to do for all those young girls out there.

 

[Bridie]

haha well from what ive heard down at Alison Croggon's subforum (where they have weekly rants on how fantasic Ed Cullen, a character in these book, is) the book is fantastic! just wonderful! especially all the romance and mushy human/vampire looove! So if thats what you like to read....

ah oh dear... i remember that thread... A proud moment for sffworld

 

[Hobbit]

Hobbit cut the thread because it strayed into text messaging type posts. The grouch.

Yup, that's me. Jus' doin' ma job....

I kinda liked peeking in and reading what constitutes conversation these days amongst the young.

Ah. If its enlightenment you want, go visit Alison's forum.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Actually, yesterday I received a copy of The Host, Stephanie's first book written for adults, due out later this year.

Being an oldie, it initially reads like a more romantic update of Heinlein's Puppet Masters (aliens invading human bodies) with a bit of I Will Fear No Evil thrown in. (Two souls inhabiting the same body.... lots of internal dialogue). And romance.

Mark / Hobbit

 

[QuickTidal]

haha well from what ive heard down at Alison Croggon's subforum (where they have weekly rants on how fantasic Ed Cullen, a character in these book, is) the book is fantastic! just wonderful! especially all the romance and mushy human/vampire looove! So if thats what you like to read....

ah oh dear... i remember that thread... A proud moment for sffworld

I don't mind mushy, and love stuff. I was a Buffy fan, and that tended to get mushy on occasion (albeit not too often), and one of my favourite films is Love Actually, which is all about love.....so who knows.

Any road, I was at the bookstore today and so I picked Twilight up.....

I'll get around to reading it in about a week or so (after the next ones up in my to-read pile), and after that allow me to weigh in with the thoughts of an adult male on the subject of this series...

 

[sic's mom]

Well I am a 42 year old mom and I will say I have read all three books along with my 16 year old daughter. Now she and all her friends absolutely love these books. I will admit that I liked the first two, but by the end of the third I just wanted to smack Bella. She is the whiny teen that I just can't stand. Yes the love story between her and Edward is the central story, but it is about vamps and weres too. If you are a teen you might like it, but in my opinion I don't see too many adult males wanting to read these books. Could be wrong, but my 14 year old son won't touch them. But try them anyway, you may just like them. The vampire family is pretty cool.

 

[QuickTidal]

Well I am a 42 year old mom and I will say I have read all three books along with my 16 year old daughter. Now she and all her friends absolutely love these books. I will admit that I liked the first two, but by the end of the third I just wanted to smack Bella. She is the whiny teen that I just can't stand. Yes the love story between her and Edward is the central story, but it is about vamps and weres too. If you are a teen you might like it, but in my opinion I don't see too many adult males wanting to read these books. Could be wrong, but my 14 year old son won't touch them. But try them anyway, you may just like them. The vampire family is pretty cool.

To be quite honest, I find that the reason it seems a lot of boys won't touch them is due to the fact that they hear it's about "love" and they don't want to read that.....meanwhile, I was raised by my sister and my mom, and I have no problem with love stories. I'm completely straight mind you and I guess I want to bash down this wall that I seem to see that says "You can't read this....you're a guy."

I've never been the typical guy anyways. I'm the quiet, brooding, booknerd......I got beat up in High school by the "typical" guys.....(at least early on in high school anyways).....by the time I reached grade 12, people no longer messed with me.

Also, I am coming at this with another reason. I am reading all the YA fiction I can grab because I am a writer and I am trying to get a clear broad sense of what is out there....so it's also me being curious what other writers are writing about.

 

[QuickTidal]

Okay, I said I'd chime in with my thoughts once I'd read it, and so here ya go:

So, after having just finished it, I (an adult male) have the following to say about this first book in this series:

It's good. It's better than good actually, it's excellent and quite riveting. Let me qualify that sentence though. It's quite riveting for about 350 of the 500 pages. It's a tad too long for the story the author is telling us, and what fills this area of unneeded storytelling is the REALLY overtly mushy love stuff. the middle section of the book has about 2 or 3 straight chapters of our protagonists Bella and Edward being SO lovey-dovey that I very nearly had to stop reading. I persevered though and got through the candy-coated love and then thetre are great chapters about the whole Cullen family and how old they are and where they were made. It is past that point we also get far more about these other members of Edwards family and they develop on their own as characters that are just as interesting. Alice Cullen especially is a great character, and guys would side with Emmett alot in his way of thinking about things. She then throws us into the final act of this 3 act book (the first being Bella's move to Forks, WA and her first few weeks of life there, the second part meeting and falling for Edward) which is quite interesting, and though I won't spoil it here, this last section of the book is the best part and I kept reading till the end.

Women likely won't notice the middle bit being boring/lovey-dovey or the book being too long (at least the women I've spoken with who read it don't seem to see it that way), and to be quite honest I am going to be reading "The Lords Of The North" by Bernard Cornwell next to have a bit of early England/Viking war before I move on to the next book in the Twilight series "New Moon".....but make no mistake, I will read it. This series has promise for me in one very specific way......It's a vampire novel for people who have had their fill of vampire novels. It's like no other vampire novel I've read, and I've read quite a few. Again, not to spoil much, but the mechanics of how vampires live and what they can and can't do is dealt with completely FRESHLY in this series.

 

[LionessAzhure]

the thing is...as much as the first book is really fun to read and quite enjoyable- the second and third seemed really repetitive to me, with no real plot movement. I'll read the fourth when it comes out because I want to see an ending (i cant say too much without giving stuff away) but when I first read the series I was surprised to find out the books had such a big following and that they were so popular...they're good/alright but not great...well that was my feeling about them...

 

[cullen crusader]

Same here. My wife is head over heels in love with the series. I read the first chapter in the car while waiting for my wife to pick up some carryout and the writing seemed decent enough. Since I practically forced her to read Harry Potter (which she ended up loving), I might give Stephanie Meyer's books a try some time.

QuickTidal, there is a movie coming out in December, so that might be an easier way see if it might be up your alley.

probably not because theres always a chance that the movie will not do the book justice (although i certainly hope it does) and that can put a person off of an excellent book

 

[Starson]

I'm a 37 year old male with a wife and two kids. A student (male), after hearing me talk about other books, gave me Twilight to read. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by not reading it, and since I can read about any book in an evening, I gave it a shot.

I quite enjoyed it. I have no problems with love sotries, as long as they are well written. I deal with teens on a daily basis, and can empathize with the characters.

So I went out to buy the next two books, read them this weekend, and enjoyed them as well. My only problem is that, if this becomes a much longer series, I'm going to quit, no matter how much I like them. It's getting quite annoying to wait for the much anticipated scene to occur. (not saying what scene I'm talking about to prevent spoilers, but those of you who've read it know what I'm talking about). I don't want this to drag out, because then I really will feel I'm reading a Harlequin Romance.

 

[LionessAzhure]

i completly agree Starson- thats what made the last two books not as enjoyable for me...its just waiting for that scene, which she had made a decision about by the end of book 1! But i believe (as much as is possible) that the fourth book will have that scene!!

Apparently this series in particular will not go beyond four books (well thats what is said at the moment, but that can always be liable to change). However i do know that Meyer is re-writing the books from Edward's point of view so in that sense there will be more but as different set i believe...

well thats the goss i know about the twilight series

 

[thrinidir]

Liked it *shrugs*...

Stephenie Meyer - Twilight​

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer is currently one of the most popular books around here. All of a sudden, every girl who used to rave about Harry Potter (and, in some instances even about the pervy HP fan fiction) and is now a bit older started hyping Twilight. They even call it their 'brand of heroin'. Before now, whenever I talked with my girlfriends, they showered me with disbelief...

--- "You haven't read it yet? OMG!".

Not to mention the usual...

---"That Edward guy, he's so hot! <3."

So what was I to do but go and buy the damned thing? If nothing else, I got it cheap and it has a really nice cover.

The first thing I noticed when I started reading was that Twilight is not a fantasy book by any means - or at least, not in any conventional way. The plot is as simple, predictable and straightforward as with any of the stories that have a high-school girl which moves to a new town for a central protagonist. Isabella (Bella) has to deal deal with a major change - she moves from a big city (Phoenix, Arizona) to a small rural town (Forks) in the middle of nowhere to live with her father. She has no friends upon arrival and she feels miserable about it - we are all familiar with this narrative setting. However, the book had an exceptionally beautiful prose from the start on, so I kept reading despite the prosaic themes (and without a hint of any 'epic' elements, that I got used to expect when picking up a book labeled as fantasy). That said, Meyer's prose is probably the best feature of Twilight - no matter how implausible, predictable or just plain silly things are, the author still knows how to make them interesting to read about. It is a big and important bonus to the book.

If I haven't made it clear enough before - Twilight is a book intended for girls (I'd say teenage girls, but Twilight is well-liked by older and presumably more mature women as well), especially for those who prefer an engaging and a beautifully told story above the quality of its contents. I wouldn't recommend this book for guys and those individuals who don't appreciate romance for what it is and what it can offer. Why?

Twilight is almost completely without any discernible plot or action scenes, even the fangirls admit that. What little plot there is it revolves around a typical high-school romance, and the sole fantastical element I could find were the vampires (that's what determines this novel as urban fantasy, right?). Our protagonist is a seventeen-year-old Isabella Swan and she has to deal with the common problems of a teenager, the most prominent are (1)how to fit in and (2)being in love (awakened sexuality and every nuances that come with it). The real catch comes with the latter - Bella is in love with a vampire, the gorgeous Edward, and their problem is how to handle their relationship so not awaken Edward's desire for blood. Otherwise, everything evolves mostly around Bella's feelings and, of course, how incredibly sexy Edward is.

Believe it or not, Meyer manages to pull the lackluster story through with flying colors. The plot itself is virtually unexisting and it hurts to think about it, but the ever-popular love theme and a sublime writing style are obviously the things that do the trick here. Nevertheless, this doesn't change the fact that the whole thing is still nothing more than an entertaining goodnight story that bursts with romantic sentiments - but it somehow manages to avoid being completely cheesy and it keeps you turning the pages. Twilight does not do deep revelations or hidden meanings, but it offers a great example of what can be done with abundance of style and a good idea of what to offer to your audience (a dazzling beauty & the beast vampire relationship).

I have to admit that I enjoyed the book, but I don't think I'll read the sequels. They only reiterate what has been done here, or so I've heard, and while it was interesting this time, it would probably annoy the hell out of me the second time around. I've had my share of Edward and Isabella; I'll leave the sequels and re-reading to fans and those who have nothing better to read.

To sum it all up, I'd recommend this book to girls who enjoy a stylish, hip and easy read that teems with (c)overt sexual tension. It's a very involving book and it hits the exactly right spots of its core audience, but otherwise has no literary merit whatsoever.

(3/5)