The Twilight Series

Kevin Coolidge

This morning I woke up tired and naked on the kitchen floor with mud underneath my nails. Last night had to be another full moon. Being a werewolf may seem grand, but it’s just who I am. It’s not like Hollywood. Silver won’t kill me, and who can afford silver bullets anyway? Wolfs bane only makes me itch. I don’t run with a pack. I’m solitary by nature, and I don’t hang with vampires. Those are just the imagination of sexually repressed humans, but with a life span ranging into the centuries, I do have time to work on my stock portfolio and catch up on my reading.

I decided to delve into the young adult series, Twilight, by Stephanie Myer. She is the author of the books Twilight, along with the sequels New Moon, and Eclipse. The fourth book in the series, Breaking Dawn, will be released Aug 2, 2008. The Twilight saga follows the adventures of Isabella Swan (nicknamed Bella), a teenager who moves to Forks, Washington and finds her life turned upside down when she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen.

The series has gained a cult following among young adult readers. Fans have been offically dubbed “Twilighters”. Many dress up like the characters. They write their own fan fiction about them, post their tales on the Internet. When Stephanie Meyer appears at a bookstore, 3,000 people go to meet her. There are Twilight-themed rock bands. The small town of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State is a real town, and has thus received am unusual amount of attention, and now celebrates “Stephenie Meyer Day” on September 13, the date of character Bella Swan’s birthday, in honor of the author.

So, just why has this series become so immensley popular? As Shakespeare knew, love burns hotter when love is forbidden, and this pair of lovers is extremley star-crossed. Bella falls in love with beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a difficult time controlling the blood lust in him, because well he’s a vampire. At any moment, his passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the mortal danger. Bella would rather risk death than be apart from Edward, and so she risks her life to be near him, and thus the novel smolders with an erotic tension from their dangerous, yet chaste relationship. Throw in a rival clan of vampires who want to drain Bella dry, and you have a book that will suck you in.

I did find the series something I could sink my teeth into, though there’s a little too much romance and overuse of adjectives for my taste. This book will have a strong appeal for the young adult, especially the female reader. Though, I feel that the writing and storytelling is strong enough to escape the genre. I personally enjoyed the sequels better and found the introduction of the love triangle with werewolf, Jacob Black and his pack of werewolves bent on protecting Bella from a vindictive vampire to be more suspenseful. The writing can be a bit melodramatic, but few readers will care. There’s a nice mix of romance, suspense with a paranormal twist that will leave you hungry for more.

So, where does a real life werewolf find love? There are few of us. I live among humanity, but our territory is so geographically vast that I seldom catch scent or scat of my kind. As we tend to be rather solitary, it makes dating pretty difficult. I mean. It’s not like I can just meet a nice bitch at the bar, or place a personal ad. Hmm, why not?

“LONE WOLF SEEKS PLAYMATE”
Single, professional, alpha male seeking a soulful, sultry female for continuing bloodline. I am long and lean with a dark, shiny coat and all my canines. I like to run through the woods, pay homage to Luna, and Wolf’s Bane and silver make me itch. You are sexy, playful and willing to learn a few new tricks…

Werewolves? Vampires? Or Both? Drop me an email at frommyshelf@epix.net. Seeking past columns? Pickup the trail at www.frommyshelf.blogspot.com Hobo wants his readers to know that he’s innocent. He’s wanted by the Pennsylvania Game Commission for a crime he didn’t commit. He was framed by a three-legged polecat. He will see justice served, hopefully with a side of caviar.