Fanginess is the IN thing it seems! I'm talking about Vampires (also spelt Vampyres). I'd watched Bram Stoker's Dracula as a teen and quite enjoyed it. I'm not one for horror, though this was quite bearable.
In the recent past, I've read the entire Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Well, I've read and then re-read and re-read again!! I was so hooked. Its a simple love story between a human and a vampire.
Book 1: Twilight - Written with just the right amount of mush, book 1 hits the right chord with the masses (read: mostly teens). It still stands as my favorite in the four part series.
Book 2: New Moon - interestingly written, though tends to get sickly in places. It still makes for an un-put-downable read. Its not as sweet and innocent as Twilight is, though it does capture the drama in a teens life and gives it that spooky angle too.
Book 3: Eclipse - Ok, now this book stretches way too long. Its put-downable sometimes and I kept at it simply because I'd become such a die hard fan of the Edward-Bella-Jacob trio. Towards the end, I must say, I did quite enjoy it.
Book 4: Breaking Dawn - A much anticipated read, it was the coming together of two people madly in love. Perfect end to a dream story huh? Naaaah, so the unions happen with all the drama and friendships hang on a thread. Till the middle of the book, I was hooked. Then again, the last few pages were a total drag. A hugely built up climax could have been made into the cincher of the 4-part series, but it fizzles out very poorly. It left me very dissappointed. I do feel Stephenie has the left the ground open for future stories in the series, though with her claiming that this was the last book in the Twilight series, it deserved a much better finale.
Midnight sun: Stephenie released a 12 chapter draft version of midnight sun. Its essentially twilight written from Edwards perspective. It was leaked on the web and she was really dissappointed due to copyright infringement and decided to release the draft for free. It too makes for an endearing read. For a twilight fan, its a must read.
One thing is for sure, I looked forward to watching the movies and they did not disappoint. I'm looking forward to watching Breaking Dawn now!
While I was on this vampire obsession, I stumbled upon another series - The House of Night. Its a 7 book series (8th yet to be released in India) and its pretty much got the same theme of troubled teens who get "Marked" to become vampires. The first book was like a hotch-potch of Harry Potter meets Twilight meets teen school drama. Eventually though, the books start to create an element and space of their own. They've been stretched alright; the authors realize that they've hit it big with this series, so now they're minting more money by making more books. And I have diligently trundled through 7 books. I would recommend it to someone who's looking for a light read and does like reading fantasy books. I'm waiting to get my hands on book 8 soon!
For all of you out there who enjoy fantasy books, vampires are the new fantasy :-)
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