Amph Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer (Now discussing: Midnight Sun partially leaked)

I didn't care much for New Moon. The teenage angst was annoying.

 

I think that New Moon's first chapter or three was good. When Edward left, I enjoyed the blank months. Nice way to how much it meant to her. But: I disliked the extent to which she was mooning after Edward, how completely non-functional she was without him. I've seen people act something like that, people who have been married for a long time who suddenly lose their partner. They go through the motions, but they aren't really there for a while.

When I look at her feelings from that direction, I can understand and follow and appreciate it for being an attempt at that. What annoys is that it's essentially an emotionally needy Meyer character acting as an emotionally needy Meyer character. Ugh. It doesn't matter than I understand the goal - aside from the "missing months" I don't really care for Bella's emotional journey without Edward. Further, I'm not that big a fan of Jacob, so, New Moon is my second least favorite in the series.

Eclipse is my least favorite, for the wall to wall love triangle teen angst. Ugh.

 

There is one thing I am wondering since I'm about to start Eclipse. Usually I'm not calling for this type of thing, but I'm really wanting just a ridiculous over-the-top fight. Considering how indestructable vamps and werewolves are I really want at least a scene where they just beat the living hell out of each other. Probably my biggest and only real complaint about Twilight is James dying off-screen, though it does look like the film will change that. Is book three where we see the supernatural creatures knocking the living hell out of each other, or is that not till the last book?

 

Eclipse has a big fight scene at the end.

In Breaking Dawn, things are resolved peacefully.

 

News for Twlight fans - great in the short term (250 more pages right now!), terrible long term (that might be the end of her writing in the series). Meyer posted this on her site:

As some of you may have heard, my partial draft of Midnight Sun was illegally posted on the Internet and has since been virally distributed without my knowledge or permission or the knowledge or permission of my publisher.

I have a good idea of how the leak happened as there were very few copies of Midnight Sun that left my possession and each was unique. Due to little changes I made to the manuscript at different times, I can tell when each left my possession and to whom it was given. The manuscript that was illegally distributed on the Internet was given to trusted individuals for a good purpose. I have no comment beyond that as I believe that there was no malicious intent with the initial distribution.

I did not want my readers to experience Midnight Sun before it was completed, edited and published. I think it is important for everybody to understand that what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being. As the author of the Twilight Saga, I control the copyright and it is up to the owner of the copyright to decide when the books should be made public; this is the same for musicians and filmmakers. Just because someone buys a book or movie or song, or gets a download off the Internet, doesn't mean that they own the right to reproduce and distribute it. Unfortunately, with the Internet, it is easy for people to obtain and share items that do not legally belong to them. No matter how this is done, it is still dishonest. This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control.

So where does this leave Midnight Sun? My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything. 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.

I'd rather my fans not read this version of Midnight Sun. It was only an incomplete draft; the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes. But how do I comment on this violation without driving more people to look for the illegal posting? It has taken me a while to decide how and if I could respond. But to end the confusion, I've decided to make the draft available here (at the end of this post). This way, my readers don't have to feel they have to make a sacrifice to stay honest. I hope this fragment gives you further insight into Edward's head and adds a new dimension to the Twilight story. That's what inspired me to write it in the first place.

I do want to take a moment and thank the wonderful fans who have been so supportive of me over the past three years. I cannot begin to tell you how much each of you means to me. I only hope this note will stop all the confusion and online speculation so that the Twilight universe can once again become the happy escape it used to be. After this incredibly busy year, I am now focusing on spending more time with my family and working on some other writing projects.

The partial draft can be read for free on her official site, http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_partialdraft2.pdf.

 

I am not reading it. As a writer with hopes and dreams of being published, and telling a story to the world, I can only sympathize so, so much with Stephanie Meyer. She seems to be taking this well, but of course, this is her public face. If this happened to me, I'd be ballistic.

On the other hand, I have to wonder if there is something else going here, under the surface. Maybe Meyer didn't want to write (finish) MIDNIGHT SUN after all, and the leak was planned. This is a certainly a good excuse to get out of the TWILIGHT saga, and one for which the fans cannot resent her for not continuing.

Part of me hopes this was intentional, because if it wasn't, this bodes ill for future stories to be told that fall under such large scrutiny.

 

While I think that it's terrible that things were leaked, the story itself is pretty darn good. Meyer's improvement as a writer is remarkable. It really is a shame that she might never finish it.

 

I'm sure it is. Even if she never finishes it, we can at least look to the future in anticipation of some great stories by Meyer (and better writing).

I'm certainly not advocating that no one read the leaked material, but as a writer myself, I think it would be terribly hypocritical if I read this while acknowledging that I would go bat**** insane if the same happened to me.

 

I don't know if I'll read it. On one hand, I'll just want more. On the other, I want more right now

It's a shame that it was leaked, especially by someone she trusted, but I'm sorry she's putting it on hold. Based on the first chapter, it would make a great book.

 

It is a very sad thing that it was leaked. I won't be reading the leaked copy, I find there's just something... what's the right word... disrespectful, I suppose. Midnight Sun has so much potential and Meyer has really grown as a writer -- plus, Edward POV is just fascinating. I can understand if she decides not to continue it, but it would be a very sad day for Twilight fans.

 

The link doesn't work anymore, just to let you know.

The new link: http://stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_partialdraft3.pdf

I've read half of Midnight Sun so far and I find it sad that she won't or might not finish the book.

 

It's great stuff. I love the confrontation between Edward and the family. Carlisle is fantastic in that scene, and I love Alice to bits there. But mostly Carlisle. Midnight Sun really does firmly establish him as the head of the family, the moral center, and their leader.

 

I have to agree with this about Midnight Sun. And I hope someday she finishes it. I wasn't going to read it I was going to wait if that met forever for her to finish it. But after debating with myself for a week I broke down and read it on her site. It's an amazing book so far and if she finishes it, I think I can say out of all the books this one will be my favorite.

But on a side note about Breaking Dawn dislike...I think I figured out what my issues were with it, it's stuff I've never gone throw nor have many other people. Which is why I think the series as a whole has done so well despite the vampire aspect of it, these are things that a lot of us have gone through and experienced in our lives. I understand the engaged and getting married part and related well. But there were moments after that, that it was like I don't relate at all. And that's why I think there is so much hate out there for it. And I think once people who didn't like it realize that, they might actually like it all together.

~PK~

 

Heh. I think that I related to Bella better after she became a vampire, so...

 

*awkward pause where everyone in thread proceeds to leer uncomfortably at Raven*

 

I also relate well to Dexter, from the TV series Dexter.

 

So I finished Eclipse and into Breaking Dawn. Have to say Eclipse was the first Meyer book I didn't really like. Beside the endless angst (puke) the entire novel felt like a ton of filler. Outside of Victoria finally dying I'm not really seeing much of what needed to be said in the novel.

Plus I was a tad freaked out at how obsessive the Bella/Edward relationship is. Comes off as not a healthy relationship at all.

 

Now that I can relate to, but that's just the outcast in me speaking.

 

I think with Eclipse, she was trying to put out there what it's like when a relationship ends and then re-emerges. And to get the point across of how hard it is for Bella to let go. Which if Edward really paid attention, he would of known that with as hard as it is for Bella to tell Jacob goodbye and have him out of her life. That she would, until her life was put in danger, he could avoid turning her.

And I think that was mostly the point of Eclipse preparing us the readers and Bella for saying goodbye, which she is no good at.

~PK~

 

Twilight and New Moon are books wherein Bella wants to become a vampire. That is her primary goal in life. It's not until Eclipse that she realizes how much she'll lose. And even in Breaking Dawn, where she is in theory committed to becoming a vampire, she puts it off. Essentially, once Bella realizes what she'll lose, she starts putting off the date of her transformation. Not consciously saying "I don't want to be a vampire" but definitely having colder feet about than she'd like to admit.

Had it not been for the birth of Nessie, she'd likely have headed off to collage as a human. And then perhaps stayed human a little longer, just a little longer... her impending death as a human essentially gives her an out, allowing the choice to be made without guilt. Since she'd be saying goodbye anyways, off she goes.

Not that she has much choice in the matter at that point.

 

In case anyone didn't see it, there's a poll in Census & Games for your favourite Twilight book.

 

I hope Stephanie writes a book about Nessie and Jacob later in life. Because I really want to see how Edward reacts to that.

~PK~

 

If she waits another six or seven years, the story can continue in real time!


I'd vaguely like to see the supernatural world expand a bit. Bella has a throwaway line at one point, where she says something along the lines of "if Angela becomes a witch, she can come too" and plot bunnies spawned. Seriously! Angela was probably my favorite minor character in the series, and I'd love to see more of her. For example, Angela goes to university, meets a teacher who recognizes that she's got potential to be a witch, starts getting trained.

I'd love to see a short story from Charlie's perspective, about what he think of Bella's new lifestyle. And for that matter, I'd like to see what exactly Renee gets told, how she gets told, and who tells it. Eclipse hinted that Renee suspected what Edward was. I'd love a short story from the perspective of Renee, where Renee got fed up with waiting for Bella to call and say she was better (or at least e-mail!) and made a trip to Forks to find out answers.

 

Please act on those bunnies

I finally got and finished Breaking Dawn. It was a bit odd seeing vampire Bella and Jacob's perspective (though I laughed at his chapter titles) and I'll admit that I'm not fond of the Nessie/Jacob, but as a whole I liked the book better than New Moon and Eclipse.

 

I just recently finished Breaking Dawn and it wasn't as bad as the reviews. I liked Bella as a vampire more maybe cause it is more like me. I didn't care for Jacob/Nessie connection. It just seemed like cop out to have Jacob more around. I think the biggest disappointment for me was the end of the book. It was build up towards the end having the reader thinking something was going to happen. I expected a bittersweet ending but instead nothing happened. It would have been better if there was a real conflict that manifested instead of a false suspense.