Waiting for 'Eclipse'

ISBN: 0316160202
Format: Hardcover, 640pp
Publisher: Little, Brown Children's Books
Price: $18.99

We still have a few days before Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer hits bookstore shelves August 7, 2007. But have you checked out Barnes and Noble lately? When I checked in April there were 592 'reviews' posted already and today there are 938.

I use the term reviews loosely because for the most part they are just teenage gushing over how wonderful Stephenie Meyer's books are. Okay... and how wonderful Edward, or for a handful Jacob, is. For the most part it is the girls who are doing the gushing but I have noticed a few guys as well, not to mention the select adults.

Not that there is anything wrong with the gushing. Once I read Eclipse there will be a fair share here. Count yourself warned. Because yes, I am in love with Edward Cullen too!

When the first book, Twilight, came out you didn't hear a lot about it at first, but it quickly developed a following and it just snowballed from there. The fan base is huge. Do a search right now and you will find hundreds of sites dedicated to Bella and her vampire love, Edward Cullen. Over time and with the release of the second novel in this young adult vampire series New Moon the fan base has done nothing but grow.

I've heard few, if any, bad things about these novels. When asked why I liked such an angst filled fluff of a book I could only squeal like the 15-year old girl I am inside 'But I love it!'

So what is it about Stephenie Meyer's novels that make them stand out from the rest of the vampire paranormal? They are simply but well written. The dialogue is natural and while some authors struggle to capture that young adult feel Meyer nails Bella and her classmates perfectly.

And all that teenage angst? It is appealing because we have all been there, or will be there or even at this very moment are there. I can relate because the first love, the one that just happened to rip my heart out and leave me standing in the woods bleeding to death, is the one I wish could have ended differently. When Edward comes back to Bella in New Moon it is like a second chance at your own memories. When you are young and dreaming of love for the first time this is the relationship that you fantasized about; slightly dangerous, completely romantic, maybe even forbidden.

There is also the very real possibility that Twilight will be made into a movie soon. Deals are being discussed and options being bought right at this very moment. Whether or not a movie actually makes it to the big screen is another thing. But I for one would stand in line to see it opening night.

Not to mention Edward Cullen is the most gorgeous vampire in paranormal fiction that any one's imagination has been able to come up with in awhile. Will you be reading Eclipse? I can already tell you this is one novel people will be talking about.