By Jennifer Liyanage
After almost 13 years of patiently waiting, fans are very pleased to hear that Stephanie Meyer, author of the number one bestselling Twilight Saga, is preparing to release a new book within the series. Meyer announced the news to her fans through her website earlier this May, where she introduced the fifth book of the series as “Midnight Sun.” The expected release date is August 4.
Although Meyer feels the book release may seem a bit ill-timed with the current pandemic, she thinks fans have waited “longer than long enough” for the continuation of Twilight.
The Twilight Saga is a vampire-themed fantasy romance where Isabella (Bella) Swan falls in love with alluring vampire Edward Cullen. The story features a compelling love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob Black, a shapeshifting werewolf.
Meyer confirmed “Midnight Sun” will be a retelling of the story from Edward’s perspective since the previous Twilight books were written from Bella’s perspective. She also mentioned on her website that the book will go back to the beginning of Edward and Bella’s story.
The first four Twilight books were released between 2005 and 2008, then adapted into a five part film series from 2008 to 2012 starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. With the release of “Midnight Sun” there is no telling whether or not a sixth movie will be added to the series. However, according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the producers of the Twilight movies, Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment, confirmed they would like to create another movie to finish off the saga.
In an English News interview back in 2008, Pattinson revealed that in Meyer’s manuscript for “Midnight Sun,” Edward saw himself as a moron and disgustingly selfish. He also said fans can weigh out Bella and Edward’s perspectives and find a compromise for the characters. This gives Twilight fans the power to see the whole story differently and interpret Bella and Edward’s characters in a new light, which may or may not help sum up the whole plot behind their romance.
Meyer’s Twilight books feature different red and white images on each of the covers to symbolize particular aspects in each book. The first book pictured a bright red, shiny apple to represent temptation, for instance. “Midnight Sun” will have the depiction of a sliced open pomegranate, which leaves an unsettling impression while expressing the two-sided nature of Edward’s personality.
Pomegranates are often symbolic as they have roots in Greek mythology. Hades gave Persephone pomegranate seeds to eat in order to keep her in the Underworld. Many also see the forbidden fruit in the Bible to be pomegranates. This leaves lots of room for speculation about Meyer’s book.
The future release of “Midnight Sun” has Twilight fans on the edge of their seats, thrilled that the story is being continued. Twitter has been flooded daily with new Twilight memes and tweets of overjoyed fans praising Meyer. At last, the Twilight fandom is able to resurrect themselves from the depths of despair after 13 years of anticipation.
The Plaid Press 