Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books

[Lanen]

Hiya folks - er, that would be Hugh and maybe Reba, it's gone awful quiet here...

I was wondering - am I the only one who has read the Twilight series here? It's - ok, I admit, the actual writing is pretty rotten, and the characters are deeply flawed, and there are plot holes you could drive a mac truck through -and I have found them utterly gripping. "Embarrassing" doesn't even begin to cover it - but her writing is so deeply sensual, and she has NAILED the kinds of thoughts/emotions/passions that a 17-year-old girl would have. Brilliant.

Please, comments on my lack of taste notwithstanding - whadda ya think of the books, if you've read them?

Lanen :redface:

[Haldomere Banks]

Hey! I'm still around. Check in almost every day.

However, I have not read these books.

More on vampires later, I hope,

Hjal

[Lanen]

Hi there Hjal - long time no see! :wave:

Er - be aware, the Twilight books are most popular among teenage girls. That's why I'm so embarrassed that I enjoy them... :redface:

[Haldomere Banks]

I liked Fred Saberhagen's vampire stories (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Saberhagen#Dracula_sequence).

As for "juveniles," or whatever they would be called, I read a lot, most with female leads now. I preview most of the books that I choose for my daughters, who just turned 9.

Some are too much for them now, I think. The Dark is Rising series is not quite right for them, despite the kids in the story. Same for His Dark Materials, the Time sequence, and Ember. I liked all of those, but, for now, the girls seem to like their stories about heros in life-threatening situations to feature animals, as in the Warriors series, or fairies.

In the last two years or so, I really liked the Penderwicks, the Spiderwick Chronicles, the Series of Unfortunate Events, Borgel (Daniel Pinkwater, with a young male protagonist), The Boggart (Susan Cooper), and more.

Panshin's Rite of Passage was one of my favorite SF novels in the 70s. I'll probably get that for the twins when they are finishing junior high.

Back OT, I have to admit that my favorite vampire movie, Innocent Blood, will not be on my daughters' viewing or reading list for a long time.

Hjal

[Lanen]

That's the trick, of course. Most vampire books are far too licentious to be read by young girls. Meyer has certainly created a different market for herself!

As for younger readers - do you know the Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander? Based (VERY loosely) on the Mabinogion, or at least on stories/characters therefrom, it's aimed at younger readers but is intelligently written and has some lovely moments. First book is The Black Cauldron. Has a few scary bits, but as I recall from being that age, I LIKED scary bits.

Haven't read the Saberhagen Dracula novels. In fact I've read very few vampire novels, apart from Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (a bit saucy for my taste at that time - many years ago!) and one dip into the grotesque Anne Rice canon, which I did not enjoy at all. Generally don't like vampire novels, though I do appreciate Terry Pratchett's take on them. Who else could get away with calling a novel Carpe Jugulum?! Brilliant man.

[Hugh Kenrick]

It's interesting how she (Meyer) managed to make a genre about eroticism seem erotic without being licentious. But then, she as much as said that she wanted to write a romance novel but it needed a twist...

It's not aimed at me, but they were pretty decent, even if a little tedious by the third book.