Midnight Sun (Meyer novel)#Future
{{short description| Companion novel to Twilight by Stephenie Meyer}}
{{pp-semi|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox book|
| name = Midnight Sun
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = File:Midnight Sun - Stephanie Meyer novel cover artwork.jpg
| caption = Official book cover
| author = Stephenie Meyer
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| series = Twilight Saga
| subject = Vampires
| genre = Young adult, Fantasy, Romance novel
| publisher = Little, Brown and Company
| pub_date = 4 August 2020
| media_type =
| isbn = 9780316707046
| oclc =
| preceded_by = Breaking Dawn
| followed_by =
}}
Midnight Sun is a 2020 companion novel to the 2005 book Twilight by author Stephenie Meyer. The work retells the events of Twilight from the perspective of Edward Cullen instead of that of the series' usual narrating character Bella Swan.[http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html StephenieMeyer.com | Twilight series | Other Projects]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081005143123/http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html Archived] from the original on October 5, 2008. Meyer stated that Twilight was to be the only book from the series that she planned to rewrite from Edward's perspective.{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/video/festivals?bcpid=1378342280&bclid=1683773559&bctid=1688297816|title=Entertainment Weekly interview with Stephenie Meyer: Part 2|magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=July 26, 2008|archive-date=December 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231000331/https://ew.com/ew/video/festivals?bcpid=1378342280&bclid=1683773559&bctid=1688297816|url-status=dead}} To give them a better feel of Edward's character, Meyer allowed Catherine Hardwicke, the director of the film adaptation of Twilight, and Robert Pattinson, the actor playing Edward, to read some completed chapters of the novel while they shot the film.{{Cite news |last=Larry Carroll |date=April 15, 2008 |title='Twilight' Set Visit Confirms Edward And Bella's Chemistry, Offers A 'Midnight Sun' Preview |website=MTV |url=http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1585516/20080414/story.jhtml |access-date=August 17, 2008 |archive-date=March 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306223458/http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1585516/20080414/story.jhtml |url-status=dead }}{{Cite news|date=2020-05-06|title=New Twilight book: 'Fans grew up with criticism of the originals'|language=en-gb|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-52551384|access-date=2020-08-04|archive-date=September 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929061105/https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-52551384|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=León|first=Concepción de|date=2020-08-03|title=Stephenie Meyer Is Telling Edward's Story, Even if It Makes Her Anxious|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/books/midnight-sun-stephenie-meyer-twilight.html|access-date=2020-08-04|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129174414/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/books/midnight-sun-stephenie-meyer-twilight.html|url-status=live}} It was released on August 4, 2020.{{Cite news|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=May 4, 2020|title=Stephenie Meyer announces new Twilight book Midnight Sun|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/04/stephenie-meyer-twilight-sequel-midnight-sun|access-date=May 4, 2020|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=December 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210110804/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/04/stephenie-meyer-twilight-sequel-midnight-sun|url-status=live}}
Pre-release history
On August 28, 2008, Meyer halted the writing of Midnight Sun in response to the leak of twelve chapters of the unfinished manuscript on the Internet. She stated, "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." She made the twelve-chaptered draft available on her website in fairness to her readers, since the novel was compromised before its intended publication date.[http://stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_partial_draft4.pdf StephenieMeyer.com | Twilight series | Midnight Sun partial draft]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090106023119/http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_partial_draft4.pdf Archived] from the original on January 6, 2009. Meyer also stated that she does not believe the manuscript was leaked with any malicious intent, and declined to give the names of the individuals she felt were at fault.
In a November 2008 interview, Meyer said that, "It's really complicated, because everyone now is in the driver's seat, where they can make judgment calls...I do not feel alone with the manuscript. And I cannot write when I don't feel alone."{{Cite magazine |last=Karen Valby |date=November 5, 2008 |title=Stephenie Meyer Talks 'Twilight' |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20238527_3,00.html |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=November 6, 2008 |archive-date=May 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522190015/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20238527_3,00.html |url-status=dead }} She said that her goal was to go for around two years without hearing about Midnight Sun, and she thought that she would begin working on the novel again once she was sure that "everyone's forgotten about it".
In 2015, following the release of Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, the first Twilight novel gender-bent, Meyer felt comfortable to pick up writing again, but as she said to a comic-con panel in 2015: "What do you think was the top story on Yahoo the next morning? Grey." She was referring to Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian which, as the subtitle says, is a retelling of the first Fifty Shades of Grey book through the eyes of Christian Grey. "It was a literal flip the table moment for me", Meyer reportedly said. The book remained on hold.{{Cite web|title=Stephenie Meyer has no plans to release 'Midnight Sun' after EL James' 'Grey'|url=https://ew.com/article/2015/10/09/stephenie-meyer-midnight-sun-grey/|website=EW.com|language=EN|access-date=2020-05-04|archive-date=October 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010175907/https://ew.com/article/2015/10/09/stephenie-meyer-midnight-sun-grey/|url-status=live}} However, in May 2020, Meyer announced that the book would be released on August 4, 2020.
Release
= Critical reception =
Elle Hunt at The Guardian wrote that the book was "chronically overwritten" and under-edited. She lamented the lack of new lore and how the strict adherence to scenes in the original Twilight made the book boring.{{cite news |last=Hunt |first=Elle |title=Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer review – dusk falls on Twilight saga |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/07/midnight-sun-stephenie-meyer-review-twilight |access-date=26 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=7 August 2020 |archive-date=December 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203023705/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/07/midnight-sun-stephenie-meyer-review-twilight |url-status=live }} At The Independent, Annie Lord also noted the large overlap with Twilight, and called the writing "laughably bad", but noted that fans would enjoy gaining new insights into Edward's relationship with his sister.{{cite news |last=Lord |first=Annie |title=Midnight Sun review: Time's up for Twilight's twisted romance |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/midnight-sun-review-twilight-saga-stephenie-meyer-bella-edward-a9658561.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/midnight-sun-review-twilight-saga-stephenie-meyer-bella-edward-a9658561.html |archive-date=May 14, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Independent |date=6 August 2020 |language=en}} Kirkus Reviews posited that the "glacial pace" of the book allowed for a focus on characterization, and predicted that fans would forgive, or even enjoy, its "excesses and indulgences".{{cite news |title=Midnight Sun |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephenie-meyer/midnight-sun-meyer/ |work=Kirkus Reviews |date=4 August 2020 |language=en |access-date=August 26, 2020 |archive-date=September 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928194021/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephenie-meyer/midnight-sun-meyer/ |url-status=live }} At The Washington Post, Karin Tanabe criticized the lack of diversity in the characters, describing the Quileute characters as "stereotypical B-list characters". She also noted that the sexual tension between the two main characters was hindered by having to adhere to the original storyline.{{cite news |last=Tanabe |first=Karin |title='Midnight Sun' gives 'Twilight' fans a new story to sink their teeth into — sort of |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/midnight-sun-gives-twilight-fans-a-new-story-to-sink-their-teeth-into--sort-of/2020/08/08/2dca2642-d9a2-11ea-9c3b-dfc394c03988_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |date=9 August 2020 |access-date=August 10, 2020 |archive-date=December 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228233458/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/midnight-sun-gives-twilight-fans-a-new-story-to-sink-their-teeth-into--sort-of/2020/08/08/2dca2642-d9a2-11ea-9c3b-dfc394c03988_story.html |url-status=live }}
= Sales =
Midnight Sun sold one million copies in its first week of publication.{{Cite web|last=Perez|first=Lexy|date=August 13, 2020|title='Twilight' Companion Novel 'Midnight Sun' Sells 1M Copies in First Week of Publication|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/twilight-companion-novel-midnight-sun-sells-1m-copies-first-week-publication-1307389|access-date=2020-08-17|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en|archive-date=February 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202194755/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/twilight-companion-novel-midnight-sun-sells-1m-copies-first-week-publication-1307389|url-status=live}}
= Future =
At Books-A-Million's virtual live event in August 2020, Meyer announced that she has plans for two more Twilight books.{{Cite web|last=Cain|first=Sian|date=August 13, 2020|title='Twilight' Companion Novel 'Midnight Sun' Sells 1M Copies in First Week of Publication|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/13/as-midnight-sun-hits-no-1-stephenie-meyer-plans-two-more-twilight-books|access-date=2021-05-12|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=December 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203023703/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/13/as-midnight-sun-hits-no-1-stephenie-meyer-plans-two-more-twilight-books|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Cadden|first=Mary|date=August 12, 2020|title=Stephenie Meyer says more books coming in 'Twilight' saga as 'Midnight Sun' sells 1M copies|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2020/08/12/stephenie-meyer-twilight-midnight-sun-sells-million-copies-first-week/3343213001/|access-date=2021-05-12|website=USA Today|language=en|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126141440/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2020/08/12/stephenie-meyer-twilight-midnight-sun-sells-million-copies-first-week/3343213001/|url-status=live}} In 2024, an animated adaptation of Midnight Sun was announced by Netflix.{{Cite news |last=Otterson |first=Joe |date=September 4, 2024 |title='Twilight' Animated Series 'Midnight Sun' Lands at Netflix |url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/twilight-animated-series-midnight-sun-netflix-1236129959/ |access-date=September 5, 2024 |work=Variety}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Twilight (series)}}
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Category:American fantasy novels