Twilight Saga

Twilight is a series/saga of fantasy/romance/horror novels by 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 to a vampire named Edward Cullen.

The series is told primarily from Bella's point of view, with the epilogue of Eclipse being told from the viewpoint of Jacob Black. Midnight Sun, a future companion book to the series, will be told from Edward's point of view.

Twilight
Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to allow her mother to "travel" with her new husband. After moving to Forks, Bella finds herself drawn to a mysterious boy, Edward Cullen, who turns out to be a 'vegetarian' vampire, (a vampire that drinks animal blood, opposed to human blood). They both fall in love, and must fight off a rival clan of vampires who want to drink Bella's blood. Bella escapes to Phoenix, Arizona where she is then tricked into going to the vampire's hideout. Bella is severely hurt there, but Edward and his family save her and after Bella is healed she returns to Forks with Edward.

Midnight Sun
On Stephenie Meyer's website, she has confirmed that there will be a companion book to Twilight called Midnight Sun. Midnight Sun is the story of Twilight told from the point of view of Edward Cullen. The first chapter of Midnight Sun can be found on Meyer's website.

New Moon
Edward and his family leave Forks, Washington, because he is afraid that he is putting Bella in danger by having so many vampires constantly surrounding her. Bella falls into depression after he leaves and develops a strong friendship with werewolf Jacob Black. A misunderstanding occurs, and Edward thinks Bella is dead. Edward then goes to commit suicide in Volterra, Italy. Bella then saves Edward from killing himself, and they are reunited once again.

Eclipse
Bella is being stalked by a vampire named Victoria and Victoria has amassed an 'army' of vampires. Meanwhile, Bella is forced to choose between her relationship with Edward and her friendship with Jacob, knowing that once her decision is made, she can never go back. Edward's coven of vampires and Jacob's clan of werewolves combine to try to fight off Victoria's army of vampires. Before the fight, Edward proposes to Bella, and she accepts. They then go to fight, and are able to kill all the vampires, including Victoria. During the fight, Jacob gets major wounds, but they heal. In the end, Bella chooses Edward's love over Jacob's, and Jacob is devastated to hear of Bella's choice and the wedding.

Breaking Dawn
Little is currently known about the plot of the upcoming book. It is expected for release on August 10, 2008.

Main Characters
Isabella Marie "Bella" Swan - The main protagonist of the series, Bella is perpetually clumsy and "attracts trouble like a magnet". Her life turns upside down when she falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen. Eventually, her feelings for werewolf Jacob Black grow beyond friendship, and she is forced to make a choice between her two loves. One important trait of Bella's is her immunity to any supernatural abilities that involve the mind, such as Edward's mind reading. Bella describes this as a 'glitch' in her brain.

Edward Cullen - Edward is a reformed vampire who lives on animal blood instead of human blood. He lives with a clan of like-minded vampires known as the Cullen family. He loves Bella, and feels great mutual dislike/revulsion towards Jacob Black due to both the love Jacob feels for Bella and the natural animosity between vampires and werewolves. Like some vampires, Edward has a supernatural ability; his gift is mind reading. He can read the thoughts of anyone he comes near for up to a few miles away; however, he can only read what the person is thinking at that moment. Bella is currently the only known individual who is immune to his power.

Jacob Black - A minor character in the first novel, Jacob resurfaces in New Moon with a much larger role. He is a member of the Quileute tribe, and a werewolf. Although he is sexually attracted to Bella, she initially sees him as just her best friend.

Mary Alice Cullen- One of Edward's sisters. She is described as "pixie-like". Her special ability is seeing the future as soon as someone makes the decision to head down that path. This ability is very useful, and gives the family forewarning to any dangers, and with Bella around, it comes in very good use. Her soul-mate is Jasper Hale.

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 appeared in the series or were mentioned. Some events in Twilight take place in Phoenix, Arizona, where Bella was raised. Florida is briefly seen in Eclipse, when Bella's mother decides to move there with her husband, Phil. Volterra, Italy, is featured in New Moon when Edward decides to commit suicide there, and Bella goes to save him.

Future Books
The fourth book in the series, Breaking Dawn, is scheduled to come out in Fall of 2008. Another possible addition to the series is Midnight Sun, which retells the events of Twilight from Edward's point of view. The book is not yet completed and (if published) is expected to come out in 2008 or 2009. The first chapter of Midnight Sun has been posted on Meyer's website.

Symbolism
One type of symbolism could be Bella and Edward's relationship. As a vampire, Edward has super strength, hearing, smell, and is a predator that has adapted to become the perfect "hunting" machine of humans. Whereas Bella is comparatively even more fragile than a normal human, and is also the 'prey' of all vampires, as she is human. Therein lies irony, as Bella, the 'prey', has fallen in love with Edward, the 'predator'. "The lion fell in love with the lamb" can be construed as a central theme of the series.

Lastly, there is the stark comparison between werewolves and vampires in the Twilight saga. Vampires are ice cold, as they do not have any blood (of their own) circulating in their bodies to give them warmth. On the other hand, werewolves have extremely high temperatures (about 109 degrees) so they can withstand extreme cold. While vampire do not eat anything and drink only blood, werewolves have extreme food urges. This is one of the contrasts that underscore the differing natures of werewolves and vampires in the series.

Film adaptation
The first of the three books (Twilight) was first optioned by MTV Films, Paramount Pictures, and Maverick Films to potentially become a film, although this deal lapsed in April of 2007. The book is currently being optioned by Summit Entertainment. The assigned director of the film is Catherine Hardwicke and the writer is Melissa Rosenberg. The film is currently categorized as in-production.

Stephenie Meyer's "dream cast" for the possible movie is on her official Twilight website. However, Meyer has stated that she does not have any influence on the movie, so her personal cast list will probably differ from the actual cast.

On November 16, 2007, Summit Entertainment, along with Stephenie Meyer announced that Kristen Stewart has been cast in the role of Isabella Swan. Another cast member was announced on December 11, 2007. It was said that Robert Pattinson (who portrayed Cedric Diggory in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) will be portraying Edward Cullen. Summit entertainment had an open casting call for the role of Jacob Black on January 19, but no news has been heard thus far.