Eclipse

Eclipse is the third book in the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. It continues the story of 18-year-old Bella Swan and her vampire love, Edward Cullen. Eclipse is the sequel to New Moon.

Marketing campaigns
The first chapter of Eclipse was released in a special edition of New Moon. Meyer released the first chapter on her website and has also posted a "quote of the day" from the novel on each day leading up to its release.

Cover
The book jacket features a torn red ribbon. Although it was supposed to be disclosed to the public in May of 2007, at the Eclipse Prom, Barnes & Noble and Stephenie Meyer's official website premiered the newly released cover in March 2007, along with a preview summary of the book's plot.

Early book release and critique
On July 25th, an incident similar to the early release of the seventh Harry Potter book happened with shipments of Eclipse. Barnes and Noble booksellers accidentally shipped advance copies of Eclipse to some of those customers who had pre-ordered. Barnes and Noble said that it was a computer error, as their entire online store is computerized.

To prevent any spoilers from popping up online, many fansite forums for the Twilight series had been shut down, such as the Twilight Lexicon. It was also suggested that Stephenie Meyer lock her MySpace comments so as to avoid spoilers being posted. In an open letter to fansite, The Twilight Lexicon, Stephenie Meyer pleaded with these "lucky readers" to please keep the ending to themselves until the rest of the Twilight fans have had the chance to read and enjoy Eclipse as well.

Plot summary
The story begins with a note from Jake to Bella. It explains that he misses her, but that this changes nothing between them. Charlie still wants nothing to do with Edward, attempting to show with every word and gesture that the vampire is unwelcome in the house. Seattle is revealed to be plagued by a string of unsolved murders. Charlie "un-grounds" Bella, but on the condition that she spend more time with her friends, especially Jacob, and not just Edward. Edward and Bella continue filling out their college applications, while Bella explains to Edward her desire to see Jacob again. Edward refuses, explaining that werewolves are "unstable" and that those who associate with them often get hurt.

Meanwhile, Alice has a vision that Victoria, the vampire that is hunting Bella, is back in town. Edward, keeping this knowledge from Bella, talks Charlie into letting them take a weekend trip to Florida to see Bella's mother. When they return, Jacob confronts Edward as to why he is keeping Victoria's return a secret from Bella, also discussing the treaty's bounds as the Cullens crossed the territorial line while chasing Victoria into werewolf territory. Edward explains to Bella that he took her away from Forks to keep her safe. Jacob and Bella reconcile, much to Edward's disapproval.

Edward insists that the only reason he doesn't want Bella seeing Jacob is because werewolves can be dangerous. Bella insists that Jacob and the rest of the pack are safe and that Jacob would never harm her. Edward finally agrees and willingly takes her, on occasion, to the border (the area where the pact between the Quileutes and the Cullens was made, and where both can travel freely), where Jacob picks her up and takes her to his house. During one of these visits, Jacob clarifies his emotions toward Bella; he reveals that he loves her and forcefully kisses her, much to her displeasure. She reacts by punching him as hard as she can, succeeding only in breaking her hand (as werewolves are almost as durable as vampires).

Edward angrily threatens Jacob when Bella is brought back home. Jacob clarifies what occurred, and they grudgingly agree to work together and deal with Victoria. Later that night after Jacob leaves, Bella agrees to marry Edward on one condition: that he sleep with her before turning her into a vampire. Edward initially refuses, explaining to Bella that he could very well kill her. He eventually says, upon realizing how much it means to Bella, that he is willing to try in the future as long as they are married first. Bella expresses the worry of what other people will think if she gets married so early, as she remembers the problems that marrying fresh out of high school caused her mother. She realizes that spending the rest of eternity with Edward is more important to her than anything else, however, and when Edward formally proposes to her, she accepts. She is still reluctant to the marriage and engagement as a whole; in an attempt to keep the engagement secret, she stubbornly refuses to wear the engagement ring, which belonged to Edward's mother.

Bella discovers that a vampire has taken things from her room for the purpose of using her scent to locate her. Meanwhile, the Cullens realize that there is a coven of newborn vampires committing the murders in Seattle. Bella soon makes the connection between both incidents, and realizes that the new vampires are being led by Victoria. Alice foresees a battle between Victoria's coven and the joined forces of the werewolves and the Cullens.

Jasper tells his story; he describes, in detail, how he became a vampire and how he became a part of the Cullen family. To the Cullens' advantage, he is an expert in dealing with newborn vampires, since he was once part of a large and powerful army of newborns. The Cullens and the Quileutes arrange a meeting in the woods, and Jasper demonstrates to everyone how to fight in "newborn combat" and explains the weaknesses of newborn vampires. Bella asks Edward to stay out of the fight because she cannot bear to lose him.

As everyone else prepares for battle, Edward and Bella camp up in the mountains, where they are joined by Jacob and Seth Clearwater -a younger member of the pack- in wait of the war. Bella and Edward use Bella's scent to set a trap for the newborns to follow, which will lead them to face the Cullens and the werewolves. Bella succumbs to the numbing cold at the top of the mountain, and Jacob, with the intention of taunting Edward, slips into Bella's sleeping bag in order to keep her warm (a werewolve's normal core body temperature is 10 degrees above that of a human). Feigning sleep, she hears a conversation between Edward and Jacob, in which Jacob openly confesses his feelings for Bella to Edward. And Edward admits that Jacob can give Bella some things that he, Edward, can't. The two of them come to an understanding.

In the morning, Edward and Bella begin talking about their engagement; they hear a howl of pain, and Bella realize that it is Jacob, who had been listening in to their conversation. He runs away before Bella can reach him, and so she asks Edward to go after him. When they come back, Edward gives them some space to talk. Jacob threatens to join the fight and get himself killed; when Bella begs him not to, he insists that she ask him to kiss her so he won't kill himself (later on, he reveals that he had tricked her into believing he would). She does so, and she realizes that she is in love with Jacob.

When Edward returns, he admits that he overheard everything and that he's not angry at her for loving- and kissing- Jacob; this makes Bella feel guilty. As the two stay at the camp with Seth, Victoria attacks with her newborns. The werewolves and Cullens make short work of her inexperienced army, but Victoria goes around the battle completely. She soon arrives to confront Bella and Edward, along with one of her newborns named Riley. Edward tries to talk Riley out of fighting for Victoria, and tells Riley that Victoria is only using him; however, at the last second, Victoria bolsters Riley's faith in her, and he refuses to back down. A fight breaks out, and in the end Seth (in his wolf form) kills Riley as Edward destroys Victoria.

The Cullens, as well as the pack, are unharmed during the fight; but it turns out that Jacob was injured when Leah Clearwater (one of the werewolves, and Seth's older sister) tried to take on one of the newborns alone. Jacob stopped the vampire from killing her, but the entire right side of his body was crushed in the process. Carlisle assures Bella that Jacob is healing and that no permanent damage was done. The Volturi arrive to clean up the war, but they are too late. They remind Edward of the agreement they had to change Bella into a vampire, to which Alice replies that the date has been set.

Bella goes to visit Jacob, who is on the mend, a little while later. They both admit that they love each other, but Bella explains that her love for Edward is more intense and she can't live without him. Jacob tells her that if she ever changes her mind, he will always be there for her.

When she returns from La Push, Edward announces that he's decided to break off the deal and they needn't get married- that Bella could have her way- before trying to complete what she wished. However, Bella states that she wants to do things the way he wanted to, and agrees to marry him first. Edward places the ring back on her finger, and Bella suggests that it is time to break the news to Charlie.

The epilogue is from Jacob's perspective. He receives an invitation to Bella and Edward's wedding, and is angry now that it is clear Bella will go through with "killing herself." He also finds a letter from Edward within the invitation; Edward tells Jacob that he doesn't have to come to the wedding if he doesn't want to, and thanks him for all he's done for Bella. The letter only angers Jacob further. Ignoring the questions and pleas of the pack, he changes into his wolf form and runs off, wanting nothing more than to "leave Jacob Black behind." He decides that he is no longer hurt that Bella would choose Edward over him; however, he questions how things would be between them once Bella becomes a vampire.

Series
Eclipse is the third installment in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. The story begins with Twilight, followed by New Moon. Eclipse was released in bookstores on August 7th, 2007. A discounted iTunes audiobook version was released the following day. A fourth novel, titled Breaking Dawn, is set to be released fall of 2008.

Midnight Sun, release date unknown, is another addition to the series. A rough first chapter was released on Mrs. Meyer's website preceding New Moon. It will parallel Twilight from the character Edward Cullen's point of view. Meyer says on her website that Midnight Sun will definitely be published, but there is no release date as of yet.