Twilight - Fantasy and Science Fiction

1.  Meyer, Stephanie.  Twilight.  New York:  Little, Brown and Company, 2005.

2.  Plot Summary.  Bella Swan has moved in with her father who lives in Forks, Washington.  As she tries to settle in and get used to moving from sunny Arizona to rainy, overcast Forks, she notices the Cullen family at school - an odd group of siblings who seem to stick to themselves.  Bella has a class with Edward, the handsome youngest son of Dr. Carlisle and Esme Cullen, and he has taken special notice of her.  As she gets to know Edward, Bella's obsession with him grows until she can't stay away from him.  She has also begun to figure out how Edward and his brothers and sisters are different; although, she can hardly believe it's true.  Edward does everything he possibly can to repel Bella, knowing it's what he needs to do to keep her safe, but he's obsessed, too, but for a very different reason.  Edward and his family are vampires, and Edward is drawn toward the scent of Bella's blood in a way he has never experienced before.  Even though Edward and his family are "vegetarians" and only drink animal blood, it's not safe for her to be with him, but neither of them can resist the attraction that pulls them together.

3.  Critical Analysis.  I long ago read The Vampire Diaries series and enjoyed it well enough; however, I felt that they had provided enough vampire reading for a lifetime.  Then one friend, and then another, and then another, asked if I'd read Twilight.  After I'd said no repeatedly, just to be told how much I would love it, I decided it was time to give it a try.  Those friends were right, I loved the book, and proceeded to read all four volumes in the course of a few days over a long holiday weekend. 

As the idea of vampires would suggest, Twilight is a fantasy with fantastical beings mingling among the humans without their knowledge.  Vampires and werewolves live undetected with the humans, and other than the fact that they're a little different from everyone else, no one seems to really take note of just how different.  So as with any fantasy tale, the reader must suspend belief in what makes sense to appreciate the story.  But that's not difficult in this series.

So for a reader who will consistently say that fantasy is not my cup of tea, what made this novel noteworthy? 

1.  For a story that involves the supernatural, the characters are completely believable and engaging.  Edward is the mysterious stranger; Bella the naive girl-next-door.  Meyer does a nice job of making their pull toward each other very believable.  The plot is easy to follow, unlike much of "high fantasy" that is filled with weird, unpronouncable people and places with strange characteristics that sometimes make fantasy hard for me to follow (I just don't want to work that hard when I read for pleasure).  She deftly sets up the meeting between Bella and Edward, and does a smooth job of laying out the clues Bella uses to figure out the mystery of Edward.  (And just when the reader thinks that the vampire characters are far-out enough, she plops in the werewolves in the form of Jacob's clan, Bella's Native American neighbors in Book Two New Moon).

I enjoyed the twist on vampires that Meyers incorporates into her stories.  They don't live in coffins during the day; they don't dissolve in sunlight; they aren't all blood-sucking demons.  Come to find out - much to my enjoyment - vampires sparkle in the sunlight which makes it obvious that they are seriously different, so they must avoid it.  To kill a vampire, one does not need silver bullets, crosses, stakes, or garlic - one simply needs to pull it apart and burn the pieces before they have a chance to pull themselves back together.  She incorporates similarly different characteristics for her werewolves.  These differences make this series not just another vampire story, which I found refreshing and fun.

Edward fills the role of a fantasy hero nicely.  He and his family operate within a framework of morality with compassion for their human neighbors and a need to "make up for" their nature.  Although they do not drink blood from humans, they still feel responsible to their human friends to go beyond what is truly necessary to look after them. 

2.  The plot is exciting.  As in classic fantasy, Twilight centers around a quest - Bella's quest to have the relationship that seems to be starcrossed at every turn.  The plot involved flux - the characters are involved in a world that is turned upside down by the deeds of a group of bad vampires that the Cullens must fight in order to protect their community and Bella in particular.  But even with the implausible events, the action is ongoing and creates tension and apprehension. 

3.  The setting "makes sense" - it's not on some unheard-of planet with unexpected properties.  It's Forks, Washington, a real live place where generally the reader can expect the expected.  The setting is described in detail enough to make sense why the Cullens would choose to live there - it's the city in the U.S. with the least number of days of sunshine.  And since it turns out that vampires do not die in sunlight, they simply can't reveal themselves in it, living in a perpetually cloudy, rainy city is perfect.  They can participate in the daily life of the community this way which makes the story much more enjoyable than if the only action could be at night.

Young adults love the story.  Of course, as would be expected, it's a story that will appeal to girls. Many young reviewers shared their feelings about the debut novel on Stephanie Meyer's website (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_reviews.html). "Stephenie Meyer's first novel Twilight is a gripping journey through the united worlds of fantasy and high school. As soon as I started reading Twilight, I couldn't stop. The plot is the thing that led me to the book in the start. Boy meets girl, girl likes boy, boy turns out to be a vampire. The characters are so vivid, so intense, that you feel like if you look up from the pages Isabella or Edward or Alice is going to be staring at you. This suspenseful novel leaves me with one question... Is there going to be a second?"  Kelly, 15  Now that the four books are out, I'm sure Kelly would join me in saying that once you start, chances are you will not want to put the books down until you have finished the series.  Book 3 Eclipse was my favorite of the four, with the final installment being a disappointment, but that's a different blog!  It doesn't deter me for joining my friends to ask, "Have you read Twilight yet?  You should!"

4.  Review Excerpts.


Amazon.com:  "Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making this scenario completely human and believable. . . .The precision and delicacy of Meyer's writing lifts this wonderful novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction."

Publisher's Weekly starred review: "The main draw here is Bella's infatuation with outsider Edward, the sense of danger inherent in their love, and Edward's inner struggle—a perfect metaphor for the sexual tension that accompanies adolescence. These will be familiar to nearly every teen, and will keep readers madly flipping the pages of Meyer's tantalizing debut."


Entertainment Weekly:  "The world's most popular vampire novelist since Anne Rice."