Twilight

[delboy]

Any one read any of these? Any good? I know SWMBO's kids love them to death and won't have a bad word said about them and as they've been just about the biggest selling books for the last few years I wonder if I ought to read one to see what the new standard is like?

Stephanie Meyers Wikipedia entry should give us all hope:

Meyer had never written even a short story before Twilight...Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in June 2003. In a matter of three months she had...a complete novel, though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilight and was writing for her own enjoyment. Her sister's response to the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Meyer to send the manuscript to literary agencies. Of the 15 letters she wrote, five went unanswered, nine brought rejections, and the last was a positive response from Jodi Reamer of Writers House. Eight publishers competed for the rights to publish Twilight in a 2003 auction. By November, Meyer had signed a $750,000 three-book deal.

All that said, maybe I ought to read a Harry Potter, too, for the same reasons.

Derek

[digitaldeath]

I read one HP book, I wasn't that impressed. Overwritten and a little laboured in places too. Still, she obviously had the right break. jealousy not a factor yet.
There was a rumour that she didn't actually write them herself, that probably was bad blood.

[Rev. Austin]

Dancing Fred over on the Library forum said he read Twilight and thought they were actually pretty good...I'm a little averse (adverse?) to vampires, though, sparkly or otherwise.  But then again I like True Blood.  But otherwise I'm not keen on vampires.  But True Blood's pretty cool. 

[Pharosian]

I read all four of the books in the Twilight series and enjoyed them very much. I liked them for a number of reasons. I won't say they were flawless, but I was surprised at the vehement dislike the books received on another forum I used to participate in. The people dissing them were mostly in their teens and early twenties, which doubly surprised me. They seemed to object to Bella, the main character, complaining that she didn't take charge enough or something. I actually found it refreshing not to read a book where the lead female character charges headlong into trouble and makes wisecracks all the while. There's a place for the gritty female who knows her weapons and spits in the eye of evil, but I think authors have decided that's what sells, so they don't explore other types of characters. By the end of the series, Bella has come into her own, and isn't the same girl she was in the beginning--and she's still not like any of the other females populating urban fantasy these days.

But as much as I liked Twilight, I loved The Host. I don't know how much of that was due to listening to it in audiobook form, but I would literally sit in the car for an hour or more (after reaching my destination) listening to it, whereas I'm content to get out and wait until the next time I need to drive for most of the books I listen to.

[Rev. Austin]

What's The Host about Pharo?

[Pharosian]

In The Host, an alien species has come from space and succeeded in taking over all the humans except for a few stragglers here and there. This species has a long history of visiting planets, taking over the primary life form, and "making the world better." They're all very peaceful and polite, but they can't survive outside of a host. So they take over the bodies of the resident species and in the process, the person's mind and original personality are nearly always... absorbed? destroyed? lost? Anyway, the shell/body remains, but the parasite's personality takes over.

But in the case of the protagonist, Melanie, the alien was not able to subdue its host's mind. Melanie still retained strong feelings for her brother and lover. The three had managed to evade capture and assimilation until Melanie got caught searching for other members of her family. Melanie manages to get the alien to agree to try to find them... and the adventure begins!

[delboy]

Sounds like it might be worth seeking out! Not too similar, but it reminds me of one of my favourite SF short stories - Passengers by Robert Silverberg, in which the aliens are able to take over the humans for short periods of time, after which the humans remember nothing of that period.

Derek

[Rev. Austin]

Yeah that des actually sound interesting.  I'll have to see if my local library has it!