I have mixed feelings about this series. There was a lot which I liked - so much that I read the whole series and even bought myself two of them. (Because I couldn't get them from the library fast enough!) The storyline is rather addictive, and Edward is sexy! :D Another male character, Jacob, gets more room in the second book, and he's lovely in his own way.
BUT there are things I dislike. The pacing must be one of them. I hadn't realised why I didn't like the series as much as I could have, but now that you mentioned the pacing, that must be one reason. Also, the books are quite EMO at times. (Although that's what teenage life is... :D).
My biggest disappointment was book 4. Book 1 and 3 are my favourites. But #4... IMHO the plot goes there just where I didn't want it to go! I think the last book makes this series something else that it was in the beginning. I would have liked to see the story end in Eclipse and let the readers imagine the rest! But of course, when I finished Eclipse I just wanted to read more. That's the addiction part, I guess. :)
I rather took to Jacob in the first book - he seemed like a sweetheart - and at least had the advantage of being alive...
I wonder if anyone did like Book 4? The extracts I've read were pretty stomach-churning, though they were chosen as examples of how bad the book was, so I don't suppose it's all like that...
Nice to see you again, by the way! Hope all's well!
it's like the people in the book - either scenes of HUGE EMO DRAMA or total calm - no middle gears at all.
This. It took an awfully long time to get going and, while I can imagine high schoolers being able to eke out their interest on little scraps of interaction (because often that's what adolesence feels like when you fancy somebody), it felt like it could've been so much more interesting. Then you have all the wham, bam stuff later... doesn't balance well.
I've been reading a lot of long fantasy books recently, so I'm fairly used to long word-building and big information dumps... but even they don't jump straight into HUGE ACTION without warning. And in some ways the trivia are more convincing than the scary flailing. It's just that the danger bit is oddly placed in the structure of the book, and not terribly well linked to anything else.
I used not to think structure mattered in writing. Funny how people change...
I confess that I spent lunchtime in Borders leafing through the film companion...
The second book has some interesting bits. It continues to be deeply implausible - of course - but the character of Jacob is quite interesting. Worth a skim.
I liked the way that vampires are attractive, not because it's cool to be a vampire, but because they get more prey that way. Makes a twisted kind of sense.
Actually, for an interesting take on a similar phenomenon, there's the television series True Blood. It's really very well written, and I hope someone here picks it up before everyone in the UK watches it on the Internet. ;)
I think some of the people who've commented on this book don't give her credit for the sense she does sometimes have - she's oblivious and emo, but no worse than I was at seventeen.
I didn't have too much of a problem with Bella's attitude in the first book -- in the later books, she becomes absolutely unbearable at times.
The pacing is somewhat better in the second book, although I don't think Meyer ever really figures out that there's a middle ground between garden variety emo and OMGMORTALPERIL.
I could not agree more with you on the pacing. The climax was very forced, I thought, and often unclear as to what was supposed to be going on. Bella's actions at the end also got to me - what she was doing made no sense, and seemed as though it were contrived to show what a brave and selfless girl she is. Just came across as stupid, unfortunately...
Re: New Moon: The squicky characterization and relationship issues get worse as you go along, so read this at your own risk. You're a better judge of your own taste than I could be, and I think you already know my opinion of it.
Also, regarding vampires in general: It's interesting you point out that beauty-as-predatory-advantage thing. Personally, I agree, I like my vampires pretty and with enough 'humanity' to be interesting. (If I wanted zombies, I'd read about zombies.) So for me, the beauty aspect doesn't bother me, neither does the vampire-trying-to-be-good premise, it's the sparkling. And the somewhat random and silly nature of the gifts- Alice's clairvoyance, Jasper's emotional control, and especially some of the powers of the Volturi. I don't know if you've ever tried to read one of those Harry Potter fanfics where... people are suddenly finding out that they're half-whatever, and they have wings and can control fire and don't need a wand, what have you, but that's what the powers in Twilight remind me of.
EDIT: Oh! And! America has a lot of different types of landscape, really. I also like the setting of Forks, it's one of the more well-done things. New Moon does have a bit more with the Quileute reservation, which is by a sort of rocky beachy area, and there are some nice scenes with Jacob's Quileute friends and family, possibly some storytelling-around-the fire? No, that's Eclipse. There are bits with cliffs and rivers, and long rural roads, though. So that's one selling point.
I do remember your strictures on New Moon... and that does give me pause for thought. If it's a case of being completely ridiculous rather than Merely Misunderstood, I might leave it until I'm feeling particularly resilient!
I don't know if you've ever tried to read one of those Harry Potter fanfics where... people are suddenly finding out that they're half-whatever, and they have wings and can control fire and don't need a wand, what have you, but that's what the powers in Twilight remind me of.
Yikes. In fact, although the "OMG it's just like fanfiction" criticism of all sorts of things is much overused IMHO, there are certain things Twilight has in common with fanfic. Dodgy pacing and really creepy love-interests also spring to mind.
Still, the scenery does make up for a lot. If there's lots of Forks I might give it a whirl... and lots of Jacob would help, as he seems remarkably sensible in the first book.
The vampires didn't leave much of an impression in the first book, apart from Edward, who was born 108, which is ironic, because he spends all that time pretending to be a teenager...
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-11-20 06:50 pm (UTC)BUT there are things I dislike. The pacing must be one of them. I hadn't realised why I didn't like the series as much as I could have, but now that you mentioned the pacing, that must be one reason. Also, the books are quite EMO at times. (Although that's what teenage life is... :D).
My biggest disappointment was book 4. Book 1 and 3 are my favourites. But #4... IMHO the plot goes there just where I didn't want it to go! I think the last book makes this series something else that it was in the beginning. I would have liked to see the story end in Eclipse and let the readers imagine the rest! But of course, when I finished Eclipse I just wanted to read more. That's the addiction part, I guess. :)
*waves*
Date: 2008-11-20 09:02 pm (UTC)I wonder if anyone did like Book 4? The extracts I've read were pretty stomach-churning, though they were chosen as examples of how bad the book was, so I don't suppose it's all like that...
Nice to see you again, by the way! Hope all's well!
no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 06:51 pm (UTC)This. It took an awfully long time to get going and, while I can imagine high schoolers being able to eke out their interest on little scraps of interaction (because often that's what adolesence feels like when you fancy somebody), it felt like it could've been so much more interesting. Then you have all the wham, bam stuff later... doesn't balance well.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 09:06 pm (UTC)I used not to think structure mattered in writing. Funny how people change...
no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 07:14 pm (UTC)The second book has some interesting bits. It continues to be deeply implausible - of course - but the character of Jacob is quite interesting. Worth a skim.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 09:07 pm (UTC)I might give it a skim then, sometime when I don't want to do brain things...
no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 08:55 pm (UTC)Actually, for an interesting take on a similar phenomenon, there's the television series True Blood. It's really very well written, and I hope someone here picks it up before everyone in the UK watches it on the Internet. ;)
I think some of the people who've commented on this book don't give her credit for the sense she does sometimes have - she's oblivious and emo, but no worse than I was at seventeen.
I didn't have too much of a problem with Bella's attitude in the first book -- in the later books, she becomes absolutely unbearable at times.
The pacing is somewhat better in the second book, although I don't think Meyer ever really figures out that there's a middle ground between garden variety emo and OMGMORTALPERIL.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 09:12 pm (UTC)I didn't have too much of a problem with Bella's attitude in the first book -- in the later books, she becomes absolutely unbearable at times
Yikes. That doesn't augur well at all!
no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 09:44 pm (UTC)*Thinks of the blank pages of DOOM*
no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 10:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-21 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 09:45 pm (UTC)Re: New Moon: The squicky characterization and relationship issues get worse as you go along, so read this at your own risk. You're a better judge of your own taste than I could be, and I think you already know my opinion of it.
Also, regarding vampires in general: It's interesting you point out that beauty-as-predatory-advantage thing. Personally, I agree, I like my vampires pretty and with enough 'humanity' to be interesting. (If I wanted zombies, I'd read about zombies.) So for me, the beauty aspect doesn't bother me, neither does the vampire-trying-to-be-good premise, it's the sparkling. And the somewhat random and silly nature of the gifts- Alice's clairvoyance, Jasper's emotional control, and especially some of the powers of the Volturi. I don't know if you've ever tried to read one of those Harry Potter fanfics where... people are suddenly finding out that they're half-whatever, and they have wings and can control fire and don't need a wand, what have you, but that's what the powers in Twilight remind me of.
EDIT: Oh! And! America has a lot of different types of landscape, really. I also like the setting of Forks, it's one of the more well-done things. New Moon does have a bit more with the Quileute reservation, which is by a sort of rocky beachy area, and there are some nice scenes with Jacob's Quileute friends and family, possibly some storytelling-around-the fire? No, that's Eclipse. There are bits with cliffs and rivers, and long rural roads, though. So that's one selling point.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-21 06:17 pm (UTC)I don't know if you've ever tried to read one of those Harry Potter fanfics where... people are suddenly finding out that they're half-whatever, and they have wings and can control fire and don't need a wand, what have you, but that's what the powers in Twilight remind me of.
Yikes. In fact, although the "OMG it's just like fanfiction" criticism of all sorts of things is much overused IMHO, there are certain things Twilight has in common with fanfic. Dodgy pacing and really creepy love-interests also spring to mind.
Still, the scenery does make up for a lot. If there's lots of Forks I might give it a whirl... and lots of Jacob would help, as he seems remarkably sensible in the first book.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-21 04:30 am (UTC)The vampires are kind of fun, though, aren't they?
no subject
Date: 2008-11-21 06:19 pm (UTC)That said, Alice is pretty cool.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-25 12:58 am (UTC)