I've been in a bit of shock the last few weeks hearing and seeing various publications refer to author Stephenie Meyer as the new J.K. Rowling. Sure, there are a few similarities but as I see it, not enough to warrant the comparison - and that's not a bad thing either. I couldn't get into the Potter series but I entered Meyer's books on the ground floor and was hooked immediately.


I'm one of these people that has never been afraid to read from the teen section at the book store, mostly because over the years I've come to find that many of the fantasy stories I've enjoyed have come from there. I was looking for some new reading material last year when I noticed "Twilight" on the shelf. The cover caught my attention and taking a quick read of the inside cover, I decided it would be worth a shot - considering my love affair with vampire stories. I was sucked in from the first few pages and ran out before finishing to find the second book ("New Moon") in the series. By the time that was done, I only had a few short weeks to wait before book three, "Eclipse", came on the scene. I don't track best sellers so I had no idea just how big this entire Meyer thing was until the movie was announced.

In a recent TIME article, reporter Lev Grossman had this to say:

That's the power of the Twilight books: they're squeaky, geeky clean on the surface, but right below it, they are absolutely, deliciously filthy.

And that right there is the only explanation needed for Meyer's work. It's like Anne Rice for "geeky clean" teens, taking on some of Rice's themes from a different angle and using very, very different characters.

I like Meyer's stories and her method of storytelling so yes, I'm a pretty big fan. I'm curious to read her up coming sci-fi novel, "The Host", which is due on shelves in early May, mostly to see whether her style transcends the vampire genre and if she can be as successful without Edward. In the meantime, I'm holding my breath the fourth installment of the so called "Twilight Series" which is due later this year and of course, then there's the movie...

Photo from Flickr care of *Valaris*.