3 November 2009
A few months back I admitted that I had read the book Twilight. Predominantly viewed as a vampire romance novel intended for young adults (especially teenage girls), the book surprised me with its approach to vampire lore and how humans fit into that reality. My enjoyment of Twilight led me to read New Moon and then I found myself wanting to read Eclipse and, finally, Breaking Dawn. Through each one I was surprised with new ways the author created to draw the reader in. With the second movie of the series being released this month I thought it might be a good idea to share some thoughts on the overall storyline.
In Twilight we met Bella the human, and Edward the vampire. We also met Charlie, Bella's human father, and Edward's entire vampire family or "coven": Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Alice (Alice has a particular "gift" of being able to see the future). We met a vampire family, founded by Carlisle, that preferred not to live on human blood and therefore hunted big game instead. One of Edward's oddities, we discovered, was that he liked the taste of Mountain Lion blood above all else except that of humans. We also found out that, as the vampires would say, Bella smelled delicious. To add a touch more mystery to the storyline, the author also gave Edward the ability to hear other people's thoughts (except Bella's which would later be very important). Jasper has the power to calm people's moods if they get panicky or angry. As the story wound on we saw the romance grow between Bella and Edward and Bella's involvement in Edward's vampire family grow until one day they're out in a field playing baseball when along comes another coven - and they have no compunction at all about feeding on humans. As it turns out, Bella smells just as good to them as she does to Edward's family and James, the leader of that other coven, makes it his new hobby to hunt Bella until he can feed on her. I won't give away the whole ending but let's just say that at the end James doesn't quite get his way, Bella stays human and Edward discovers he CAN drink Bella's blood without losing control of himself and killing her. Almost as a trivial drop in the bucket, early on in the book, we also met Jacob and his father Billy, both Native Americans from the nearby reservation. As it turns out, their tribe has some old legends and stories about "the cold ones" as they refer to the vampires, and the "spirit of the wolf" that resides in the tribe to fend off those cold ones when they come to feed.
Then along comes New Moon. In the beginning of the book we find Bella dreading her 18th birthday - mostly because she knows that the Cullen (Edward's) family will spoil her with gifts. Since she already feels like Edward has given her the greatest gift in the world - himself - anything else makes her feel guilty. But we find a tolerant Bella at the Cullen house along with the entire vampire Cullen family, preparing to open gifts. As she opens the first card she gets a paper cut and the delicious scent of her blood fills the room. Jasper - the youngest and "wildest" among them - is overcome with desire and starts toward Bella, apparently intent on taking a bite. Edward, in an attempt to defend Bella pushes her aside and then pushes Jasper away.. HARD. His push of Bella was harder than he meant it to be and she ended up bouncing off a piece of furniture, deeply cut on her arm by some broken glass. Only Edward and Carlisle - a doctor who works around human blood all day and therefore has his desires well under control - can stand to be around her without losing control and feeding on her. To remove her from such dangers in the future, Edward decides to take himself out of her life. Her friend, Jacob (the Native American mentioned above) steps in to fill the void and they become best friends. He wants it to be more; she can't let it because she still loves Edward. In fact, she finds that when she partakes of particularly dangerous activities she hears his voice. Desiring to hear it more often, she begins taking risks she knows are foolish. Alice sees Bella taking one of those risks and wrongly assumes that Bella is committing, or attempting to commit, suicide. When Edward finds out he decides he doesn't want to live without Bella in the world so he goes to an ancient Italian city to seek the assistance of an even more ancient vampire coven to destroy him. As the story winds on we see Alice and Bella going to save Edward from himself and then having to face the entire Voltouri clan. We find out that Bella is immune to many vampire powers - but only those that affect the mind. After all, Alice can still "see" her future, and Jasper can still affect her mood. By the end of the book, the Cullens are back in the little town of Forks; Edward and Bella are together again, and Bella is grounded for near forever since she disappeared for three days and her father, Charlie, was understandably pissed. Jacob, who still thinks there is romantic potential for he and Bella... well, we discover that his tribe CAN actually transform into HUGE wolves to fight vampires as need be. So, as we look forward to the third book there is plenty of potential conflict: Jacob versus Edward for Bella's heart; wolves versus vampires for the safety and security of the reservation. Could there be more?
Eclipse brings us a story that starts out with Bella grounded, as described, and a growing murder spree in the nearby city of Seattle. Jacob is still romantically pursuing Bella. Edward is being very careful not to upset Charlie any more than is necessary. The fact is that, at that point, Charlie is upset by Edward's very existance - and he doesn't even know Edward's a vampire. Tension continues to grow between the Native American "werewolves" (not actually, but that's what they call themselves) and the Cullen family / coven of vampires. That tension continues to simmer under everything else that goes on as Bella and Edward continue pursuit of their romance and everyone, from Bella's father Charlie to the elders of Jacob's tribe, tries to figure out what's behind the series of gruesume murders in Seattle. Carlisle and Edward think that they know and they're none too pleased about it. It seems that Victoria, mate of James from the first book, has come back seeking revenge on Edward for having killed James in defense of Bella. But, since Victoria is having to suffer by not having her mate around anymore, she feels that her appropriate revenge is to deny Edward his - and therefore her plan is to kill Bella. Victoria knows she'll need a lot of help defeating a family / coven as big as the Cullens, so she starts creating vampires left, right and sideways. Her newborns are the ones committing so many murders in Seattle. The battle is looming and Jacob, in on what's going on, realizes that the Cullens could use the help of the werewolves in defeating the newborn army and Victoria. A shaky alliance is formed and they fight together. Obviously, since there's a fourth book, Bella survives but that's all I'll share about the battle between Victoria and her newborns and the Cullens with their new allies, the werewolves. Through it all, Bella keeps asking Edward to change her into a vampire so she can help. Underlying all of the other conflict is the one inside Bella who is overwhelmingly worried about growing older each day as Edward never ages a day. The ultimate compromise they reach is that Edward will change Bella into a vampire AFTER they're married.
Breaking Dawn opens with Bella driving a car nicer than any she's ever had before; a gift from Edward - her "before" car. Before what? Their wedding and her conversion into a vampire. As Bella is approaching nineteen years old she's getting a bit antsy about making it happen. Her father Charlie isn't so happy about her being engaged, much less having an actual wedding date. Bella's mother, Renee, seems delighted by the news. Alice, true to form, uses the wedding as an excuse to go all out, converting the Cullen's house into a wedding chapel and then a reception hall. The wedding goes without a hitch and then Edward and Bella are off to their honeymoon. The Isle Esme is near the equator in the Atlantic Ocean and the heat of it makes it necessary for Bella to have Edward's cold body close simply to remain comfortable. They discover that not only can vampires and humans actually physically mate without the human dying, the human can get pregnant. That second part isn't such a welcome discovery to Edward, but Bella finds herself dedicated to having the half-vampire child, fully aware that the birth might kill her - unless Edward changes her into a vampire at precisely the right moment. Only after the baby is successfully born does Edward tell Bella about the "immortal children" that have been banned from existance by the Voltouri. Unfortunately for the Cullen family, the Voltouri learn of the child's existance and they make plans to come punish the Cullens for having created such a being. The Cullens commit to defending the child - especially since it's NOT an "immortal child" as the Voltouri envision it. THIS child is half human, half vampire. It's NOT a child bitten and turned by a vampire. Knowing that the entire Voltouri clan is coming, the Cullens being seeking out help amongst their vampire friends. Jacob and all of the Indian werewolves join in on the Cullen's side, knowing full well that the Voltouri, once learning of the wolves' presence, won't let them live anyway. With lines drawn "in the sand" the Voltouri arrive to find themselves facing a near-equal force of vampires supported fully by nearly 20 werewolves. Worse, one of the vampires on the Cullen's side can neutralize most of the special powers carried by those in the Voltouri. For the first time in centuries the Voltouri find themselves facing a fight that might be close to fair - and it scares them as much as any immortal can be. To find out who wins or loses that particular fight and which vampire(s) makes the biggest difference, I guess you'll just have to read the book.
Now, with that all detailed out, let me make a few comments. When I first picked up Twilight I didn't think I'd enjoy it. I had a preconceived notion that it was entirely a vampire romance novel aimed at teenage girls. I picked up out of desperation; there was nothing else in the house I hadn't already read. What hooked me was how thorough the character development was in that first book and how well the author artfully designed the plot's main points around character flaws. I think that IF you read and enjoy Twilight then you'll likely enjoy the rest of them as well. Breaking Dawn has ended up being my favorite. Which one will be yours?
Happy Trails!
