I really wasn't expecting this at all! I'm a big fan of the Twilight books, although it's been quite a while since I read them, and while I remember the new-born vampires in Eclipse, and the general mayhem they caused, I don't especially recall this character Bree Tanner. Maybe I need to re-read Eclipse before the movie is released. It's exciting news nonetheless. I had wondered when we were going to get anything new from Meyer. Disappointingly she's still ruling out a Midnight Sun release right now.
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella will be released at 12:01 a.m. June 5.
The 192-page story, an offshoot of the third novel in Meyer's best-selling teen vampire Twilight saga, has a first printing of 1.5 million. It's the first new Twilight title since Breaking Dawn, Book 4, was published two years ago.The new novella is told in the voice of the teenage Bree, a "newborn vampire" whom we meet on page 569 in Eclipse. Ten pages later, she's dead.
"I started writing this a long time ago," Meyer said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY. "It was when I was editing Eclipse. It was more of just an exercise so I could be clear about what was going on in the story."
The Twilight novels are told from the perspective of Bella, who falls in love with the vampire Edward Cullen.
"There's only so much stuff you can tell when what Bella sees and hears is all you can tell," Meyer says.Bree is part of an army of newborn vampires created by Cullen family nemesis Victoria. Thirsty for revenge after the Cullens kill her vampire lover James, Victoria's plan is to use her army to kill the Cullens and Bella."The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is pretty much contained in the last week of the newborns' existence before the big fight (between the Cullens and the vampire army) in the meadow in Eclipse," Meyer says. "It's the last week before Bree dies."
In the novella, Meyer says, Bree has been a vampire for about three months. No other details are being released.
But some plot points from the novella have made their way into the Eclipse film, starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, which opens June 30. Meyer gave David Slade, the film's director, a draft to read during production. The character of Bree is played by Canadian actress Jodelle Ferland.
Fans have speculated that the next Twilight title would be Midnight Sun, the story of Twilight told in Edward Cullen's voice.
"I think they're all waiting for Midnight Sun," says Meyer, who put Sun on hold indefinitely in 2008 when a draft was posted on the Internet without her permission and went viral. "But I'm not writing about vampires right now."
In addition to the hardcover release of the book (June 5th) and e-book, fans will be able to read the entire novella for free at breetanner.com a dedicated website that will be up June 7th through July 5th.
additional news source: usatoday.com
Great post! This sounds interesting! The cover is haunting.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I seriously do think that there's a backstory to this whole Midnight Sun thing that they're not telling us. And I hate her for ruling it out. Anyway...
ReplyDeleteWhy does she keep saying she's not writing about vampires right now? Hello, Meyer, "Bree has been a vampire for about three months," and that's where you're starting your story! And even though Eclipse was my favorite book of the series, I thought the fight scene was pretty lame. It lacked the action and excitement I was expecting. Meyer really does have a good story when it comes to the saga, but she's not a good enough writer to pull it off. I'll probably wait for a load of reviews of this to come before I get this, if I ever decide to.
She gave the draft to the film people again, and I wouldn't be surprised if she pulled another Midnight Sun on everyone.
What backstory are you hinting at with Midnight Sun? I actually never got to read it when it leaked. I've read a chapter or two, but I just can't seem to read whole books online. Kills my eyes!
ReplyDelete'Why does she say she's not writing about vampires' Haha! I thought the same thing when I first saw this story, but I think this story was done a while ago. I dunno. I wonder what her next venture will be. I also thought that she had an amazing idea with Twilight and an amazing character in Edward, but she was sometimes lacking in the writing department.
There is a picture of the actress who's playing Bree on Meyer's website, with the burnt draft beside her, so I dunno if this one will be leaking..
Also, you won't have to buy it - you can just read it online. ;-)
With backstory I meant something else happened, but they're not really telling us about it. And I can't really read on the computer screen either-- I'd printed out Midnight Sun and it had eaten the last bits of my printer ink, lol.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, got ya. I also think there was definitely more to the 'Midnight Sun' story. I seem to remember I had a theory about this at the time, but I can't recall now...
ReplyDeleteI read the series when it came out and now it has been so long, I need to re-read Eclipse before the movie. I saved the Midnight Sun link, and never read it. I hope books never go out of style.
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