Monday 15 March 2010

,

Author Appreciation Week: Stephenie Meyer

author appreciation week

Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer


When I first became a reader, I was only a fantasy reader for such a long time. Most of my reading consisted of adult or cross-over high fantasy, such as books by David Eddings, Raymond E Feist, and Robin Hobb. Other than the Harry Potter novels and the occasional - but very rare - romance, that was all I read.

Then in 2008, I took a Writing for Children class, where we had to analyse various young adult novels and write an essay answering the question "What is young adult fiction?" It was such an interesting class, but most of the books I read were mainly ok. Nothing really grabbed me - until we had to read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. When our tutor spoke to us about it, I was actually pretty warey - a book with vampires? That has got to me a horror. Obviously, I was wrong, and you know what? I fell in love.

I know there are a fair amount of people who don't like the Twilight series, and that's fine. But after spending years reading books about quests, magic, good vs evil, gods, knights, sorcerers, royalty, etc, the Twilight saga wasn't anything like I had come across before in fantasy. There was romance, there was danger, there were real life places and ordinary humans - but also the wonderful paranormal. It was just incredible. Obviously, I went on from Twilight to New Moon, to Eclipse, reading them over and over, because I couldn't get enough of this beautiful paranormal romance. After a while however, I started looking for other novels. Amazon gave me some recommendations because of liking Twilight, and I discovered other YA urban fantasy novels and adult ones too. From other YA urban fantasies came an interest in other YA, which eventually lead to the creation of Once Upon a Bookcase.

There are so many amazing books, adult and YA, fantasy and non, that I would never have even considered if it wasn't for Stephenie Meyer and her Twiligh saga. As I've said before, there are a fair amount of people who aren't fans, but surely each and every one of those people have to at least respect Stephenie Meyer if she is broadening the horizons of readers, or getting people to start reading in the first place. This series will always be one of my favourites, and I have so much to be thankful for because of this series. I think that earns Meyer my appreciation, and she has it in bucket loads.

16 comments:

  1. Nice post! I think you make a great point with that there are definitely people that don't really like Stephenie Meyer's books, but I'm sure that she's made many people who don't usually read actually read. And she did poineer the whole YA paranormal genre, so I have to give her props on behalf of all the hot werewolves and vampires out there. ;D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you! There are quite a lot of hot vamps and weres out there, and whether they were written before or after Twilight, I've only found them because of Twilight, so I'm a happy girl! I'm a big fan :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great pick! Stephanie's a great writer and deserves a spot in Author Appreciation Week :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the Twilight series :o) I was already a fan of UF but I hadn't read much YA before Twilight so it opened up a whole new style of books for me too & I've read so many amazing YA books since then that I'd never have picked up before

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful post! It's so true, no matter what people say, she was the catalyst for the huge phenomenon that is YA literature. No matter if you liked her books or not you can't deny the impact she has had. For me, she's definitely one that changed the entire way I looked at books. Love this!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post!

    I think too often people forget the books that made us into readers. And while those books might not be popular or accepted from "esteemed readers" they got us reading and got us to where we are today. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great post, Jo! I really enjoyed the Twilight saga when I read it. I do believe that many readers have experienced something similar to what you describes, I even think that some reluctant readers have picked up more books after having a taste of the said saga.

    That being said when I think about the saga now I have read many other better books including Stephenie Meyer's The Host. If you haven't read it I won't hesitate to recommend it. Meyer sure knows how to keep her readers glued to the pages.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great post! It's nice to knwo that people still respect SM for all she's done for YA. I probably wouldn't love it as much as I do now if not for the re-introduction into it that Twilight gave me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great post, I do respect Stephenie Meyer regardless of the fact that I didn't enjoy Twilight. I read the first and I couldn't get into the second.
    For me twilight it's really just a romance (not my kind of romance) and I couldn't really see the fantasy theme. Meg Cabot is definitely the one who got me started on YA

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you all for your comments! You all pretty much say the same thing, whether you liked Twilight or not. It's just great what she has done for so many people when it comes to reading :) And yes, Ladybug, I have read The Host, and I loved it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm so glad to hear that you loved it as well. How did you feel Meyer's writing was in The Host compared to in the Twilight saga?

    ReplyDelete
  12. To be honest with you, I don't really "notice" the writing unless it really beautiful and poetic, or really bad. I'm a pretty visual reader, so it's more like I'm watching a movie when I read than actually reading words off a page; the book disappears, the room disappears, the sofa I'm sitting on, the TV with it's noise, and my family around me all disappear, and I "watch" the story. It can be bad sometimes, my Mum'll have to shake me to get my attention, because I won't even hear her shouting at me.
    So I only notice when it's beautiful or bad because it jars me out of "watching" sometimes and I see the pages. Neither happens when I read the Twilight Saga or The Host, so I don't notice anything different writing wise. Sorry this has been long winded just to say "no different" - I felt I should explain! Lol.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Stephenie Meyer is very talented. She was the one who really got me reading, I knew I liked to read, but after Twilight I just couldn't stop :) Btw, I thought I was the only one who did not really "notice" the writing that much, glad to see I'm not alone. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you! Oh, I know exactly what you mean, but it was an adult author who did it for me. Haha, and I thought I was the only one who didn't notice the writing, haha! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I do believe this is one of the first time I've noticed the writing in such a way. Perhaps I was a bit colored by the writings of others, I'm not sure. Because like yourself and Maria that is not something I pay all that much attention to.

    Jo, you sound just like my sister! She just cannot hear a thing if she reads or watches something interesting :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ahh, righty. Well, what did you notice about Meyer's writing with The Host compared to Twilight?
    Haha, I'm completely gone when I'm absorbed in a book :)

    ReplyDelete