Twelve years after the last book in the Twilight series, it’s time to once again decide whether you’re on Team Edward or Team Jacob.
Author Stephenie Meyer recently announced that the long-awaited novel Midnight Sun is set for an official release on August 4th, 2020. Interestingly, this isn’t a direct continuation or even a prequel to the existing story, but rather a retelling of the first Twilight from the point of view of Edward Cullen.
The intention of the book is to show us how Edward reacted to Bella coming into his life. This will specifically explore his feelings on meeting his ‘singer’ (a human whose blood is more tempting than anyone else’s). We’ll see Edward discussing Bella with his fellow vampires, more detail into the lives of the Olympic Coven, their perspective on regular humans and the specifics of Edward’s trip to Alaska after his first meeting with Bella.
Meyer put out a statement on her website last week announcing the official release, saying the following:
“I hope this announcement doesn’t seem ill-timed; I really considered delaying the release until the world was back to normal. However, 1) who knows when that will be? And 2) you guys have waited long enough. Much longer than long enough, actually. I don’t know how everyone else is coping, but right now books are my main solace and happiest escape. Personally, I would be nothing but delighted if one of my favorite authors announced something new for me to read. (No pressure, Laini Taylor.) So, I hope this announcement gave you some pleasure and something fun to look forward to.”
She’s not kidding when she says that fans have waited long enough for this. Midnight Sun has been almost complete since at least 2008 (Robert Pattinson was reportedly provided chapters to let him understand his character a little better). The original plan was to release it soon after Breaking Dawn, but things hit a snag when twelve chapters of the unfinished manuscript were leaked online.
At the time, Meyer said:
“If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn’t dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely.”
Further headaches for her came in 2015. She’d just picked up the novel again when she saw the unveiling of a Fifty Shades of Grey spinoff told from Christian Grey’s perspective. She described this as a “flip the table moment,” especially as Fifty Shades was originally Twilight fan-fiction.
But with a killer virus ravaging the globe, it seems the time is finally right for a new Twilight novel. And you know what? I can’t blame Twi-hards for wanting a bit of escapism right now.
