Eclipse (Stephenie Meyer)

Reading a multiple book series in sequence is always an interesting experience, it really highlights the depths and complexities of the mythology created by the writer, while also allowing the plot to flow from one book to the other without the reader having to try and remember the previous book's events. 'Eclipse' is, for me, the best novel in the 'Twilight' saga. While 'Twilight' and 'New Moon' go in for a great deal of teen angst and tortured romance, perhaps a bit too much for an adult reader, 'Eclipse' leans more towards action, suspense and a more thorough analysis of vampire and werewolf history. And it's all the better for it. On this re-read, I was genuinely absorbed, and some of the prose was actually quite technically proficient to boot.

In 'Eclipse', the dangers facing Bella grow ever more dire. Evil and cunning vampiress Victoria, who still bears a blood grudge against Bella for the loss of her mate James in book 1, sets about creating an army of newborn vampires (it transpires that newborns are stronger than established vampires, in a brute force sense at least) to take on the Cullen coven and allow Victoria to claim her revenge. Meanwhile, tensions heighten between the Quileute werewolf pack and the Cullens, until the threat of the newborns leads to an uneasy truce. All of this is complicated by the rivalry of Edward and Jacob, who both love Bella intensely and uncompromisingly, but know they must work together to keep her safe.

The main plot of the novel, as described above, is incredibly tense, well paced and with just enough information withheld to keep suspense at a premium. The final battle, when it takes place, is absolutely terrific, with some real heart stopping moments. The visit of the Volturi is maginificently creepy, and the ending, where Edward and Bella begin to plan their nuptials, sets us up nicely for the beginning of 'Breaking Dawn' and Jacob's heartbreak and self-imposed exile. There is notably less cheesy romance from Meyer in this one, with only a laboured extended reference to Heathcliff, Cathy and Edgar to describe the relationship between Edward, Bella and Jacob detracting from the enjoyability of the book. There are a couple of really magical passages in this one. Rosalie's description of how she became a vampire and why she believes Bella ultimately giving up her mortality is the wrong choice is the first of these magical moments. Meyer's character development is excellent here, allowing a previously unsympathetic character to gain our sympathy. The second spine tingling moment is Jasper's account of the vampire wars of the 1860s, which ironically seem to have run parallel to the American Civil War. As his expertise in handling armies of newborns is so integral to the Cullens' success in this book, his discussion of this time is truly fascinating. Another notable section that piqued my interest was the growth of the werewolf pack to include Seth and Leah Clearwater and the expansion of our knowledge of werewolf lore that this allows us into. Jacob gets the epilogue, allowing us a different narrator for the first time, and this, too is interesting.

I'd venture to say that this is the book where Meyer realises how best to optimise her formula: enough romance to keep the focus on Bella and Edward's relationship, but enough action to keep the reader busy. This is a very good piece of teen fiction and well worth your time...even more so than the other books in this series. Although my forthcoming re-read of 'Breaking Dawn' may change my opinion (as I ironically remember the most recent book the least well), my current view is that 'Eclipse' is a notch or two above 'New Moon' and 'Twilight'.