Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy/romance novels by author Stephenie Meyer. It follows the adventures of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenager who moves to Forks, Washington, and finds her life turned upside-down when she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen.
The series is told primarily from Bella's point of view, with the epilogue of Eclipse and a portion of Breaking Dawn being told from the viewpoint of character Jacob Black. Midnight Sun, if published, will be a retelling of the first book, Twilight, from Edward Cullen's point of view.
The series is currently one of the most popular written for young female adults, having sold over 17 million copies worldwide[1][2][3] in 37 countries,[4] and over 8.5 million copies in the U.S. alone.[5] The books have been translated into over 20 different languages around the world.[6]
Plot
Twilight
Main article: Twilight (novel)
Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington, to allow her mother, Renée, to travel with her new husband, Phil, a baseball player. After moving to Forks, Bella finds herself involuntarily drawn to a mysterious, handsome boy, Edward Cullen, who turns out to be a vampire who drinks animal blood as opposed to human blood. They fall passionately in love, and must fight off a clan of three vampires who are drawn to drink Bella's blood. Bella escapes to Phoenix, Arizona, where she is tricked into confronting James, a sadistic vampire who wishes to kill her. She is mortally wounded, but Edward rescues her, and they return to Forks.
New Moon
Main article: New Moon (novel)
Edward and his family leave Forks because of his belief that he is constantly endangering Bella's life. Bella falls into a deep depression, until she develops a strong friendship with werewolf Jacob Black. Jacob and the other wolves in his tribe must protect her from Victoria, an evil vampire who intends to avenge the death of James, her mate, by killing Bella. A misunderstanding occurs, and Edward is led to believe that Bella is dead. Edward decides to commit suicide in Volterra, Italy, but he is stopped by Bella and Alice. They meet with the Volturi and are let go on the condition that Bella be turned into a vampire in the near future. Bella and Edward are reunited, and the Cullens return to Forks.
Eclipse
Main article: Eclipse (novel)
The vampire Victoria has amassed an army of "newborn" vampires to battle the Cullen family and kill Bella. Meanwhile, Bella is forced to choose between her relationship with Edward and her friendship with Jacob. Edward's family of vampires and Jacob's pack of werewolves join forces to successfully destroy Victoria and her army of vampires. In the end, Bella chooses Edward's love over Jacob's. Jacob is devastated to hear of Bella's choice and of her decision to become a vampire.
Breaking Dawn
Main article: Breaking Dawn
Bella and Edward get married, but their honeymoon is cut short by Bella's realization that she has become pregnant. Bella's pregnancy progresses at an extremely fast rate and makes her very weak. She nearly dies while giving birth to her and Edward's half-vampire-half-human daughter, Renesmee, but Edward injects Bella with his venom to save her life by turning her into a vampire. A vampire from another coven sees Renesmee and mistakes her for an "immortal child", the existence of which violates vampire rules, and informs the Volturi. The Cullens gather vampire witnesses who can verify that the child is not one of the immortal children. The Cullens and their witnesses convince the Volturi that Renesmee is not a danger to vampires or their secret, and they are left in peace.
Main characters
See also: List of Twilight characters
Bella Swan—The protagonist of the series, Bella is a perpetually clumsy "danger magnet". She is often portrayed as having low self-esteem and not being able to grasp Edward's love for her. Bella has dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. An important trait of hers is her immunity to supernatural abilities that involve the mind, such as Edward's mind reading. After her transformation into a vampire in the saga's fourth installment, Bella acquires the ability to immunize both herself and others from "mental harm" caused by opposing vampires' abilities.
Edward Cullen—Edward is a vampire who lives with a coven of like-minded vampires known as the Cullen family, who feeds on animals instead of humans. At first, Edward feels a mutual hatred toward Jacob Black due to his love toward Bella. In Breaking Dawn, he comes to see Jacob as a brother and a friend. Like some vampires, Edward has a supernatural ability; his gift is mind reading, allowing him to read the thoughts of anyone within a few miles of himself. Bella is immune to his power as a human, but learns how to lower this "shield" after she becomes a vampire.
Jacob Black—A minor character in the first novel, Jacob is introduced as a member of the Quileute tribe. He resurfaces in New Moon with a much larger role, becoming a werewolf and Bella's best friend as she struggles through her depression over losing Edward. Although he is in love with Bella, she initially sees him as just her best friend. In Eclipse Bella realizes that she loves Jacob as well, though this love is overpowered by her love for Edward Cullen. In Breaking Dawn, Jacob finds his soul-mate in Bella and Edward's daughter Renesmee, thus ridding him of his heartache for Bella.
[edit] Setting
The story is set primarily in the town of Forks, Washington, where Bella Swan and her father, Charlie Swan, live. Other cities in Washington briefly appear in the series or are mentioned, such as Port Angeles, Olympia, Seattle and La Push. Some events in Twilight take place in Phoenix, Arizona, where Bella was raised. Volterra, Italy, is featured in New Moon, when Edward travels there to commit suicide and Bella rushes to save him. Jacksonville, Florida, is mentioned in Eclipse when Edward and Bella visit her mother, who has moved there with her husband. Seattle, Washington, is featured in Breaking Dawn when Jacob tries to escape his love for Bella, and when Bella tries to locate a man named J. Jenks. A fictional "Isle Esme" is mentioned in Breaking Dawn, where Bella and Edward spend their honeymoon.
[edit] Future books
Stephenie Meyer originally planned to write a companion book to Twilight called Midnight Sun. Midnight Sun would be the story of Twilight told from the point of view of Edward Cullen. She stated that Twilight was the only book that she planned to rewrite from Edward's point of view.[7] However, a copy of the first twelve chapters of Midnight Sun was illegally posted on the internet in its raw format. Stephenie Meyer has since put these twelve chapters of the book on her website so that her fans wouldn't feel guilty about reading it, but has put the project on hold indefinitely due to her upset at the situation. She stated, "If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn't dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely."[8] Though she has no current plans to do so, Meyer has also stated that if she were to continue writing in the same universe she would write from the perspective of either Leah Clearwater or Renesmee Cullen.[9]
The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide is due to come out in 2009.[10]
Film adaptation
Twilight (2008 film)
A screenplay for Twilight was written by Melissa Rosenberg and has been adapted into a film by Summit Entertainment. The film is being directed by Catherine Hardwicke, with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in the leading roles of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen, respectively. The movie is set to be released on November 21, 2008.[11][12]
Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion, written by Mark Cotta Vaz, was released October 28.[13]
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