On Saturday I finished Jennifer Ashley's "The Queen's Handmaiden", yet another fictionalized account of Queen Elizabeth I, as told through the eyes of her personal seamstress, Eloise, niece of her governess, Kat Ashley. It was good; the only difference between this one and most of the many others I've read is that Ashley (the author, not the governess) imagines that Elizabeth was in on the many plots to overthrow her sister, Mary, from the throne, and Eloise was a spy who smuggled communications in and out of Elizabeth's household. It doesn't seem likely to me that Elizabeth condoned the conspirators or was in cahoots with them, but then again, I wasn't there, so we'll never know for sure.
Okay, onto the good stuff. And I mean the really good stuff. "Twilight" and "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer. I've been wanting to read these books for a while now, ever since practically everyone I know has read them and gushed. I was a little wary; while I enjoy 99% of the books I read, I rarely gush. For these, I will gush. I totally understand everyone's obsession with them and have joined the ranks of the obsessed most willingly. My friend Shelly lent me "Twilight" (a thousand thank yous!!) and I started reading it Saturday after I finished "The Queen's Handmaiden". I literally could not put it down. It was midnight, and I kept saying just one more chapter and I'll go to bed, just one more chapter. I couldn't even keep my eyes open any longer, but I kept reading. I finally fell asleep and finished it Sunday morning, then raced to Barnes & Noble to buy the second and third one. I spent most of Sunday reading "New Moon", then finished it and dove into "Eclipse". It was very difficult to put it down this morning and come to work.
But enough about me! Let me tell you about Meyer's incredible characters, stories, imagination, insight, etc. She has imagined what every young woman wants (at least, I always have, ever since reading Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" lo those many years ago): to meet an incredibly gorgeous vampire, fall in love, and beg him to make you immortal, too. Alas, Lestat never came for me like I'd hoped. But young Bella meets Edward, and they fall in love. He is a vampire, and she wants to be one as well, only he won't do it. He doesn't want to make her lose her soul. In the sequel, "New Moon", Edward leaves, thinking it will be best for Bella to forget about him and move on with her life (like she could ever forget!). She does grow closer to her old friend, Jacob, who, as it turns out, is a werewolf (this girl can sure pick 'em). Turns out the ancient enemy of the werewolf is...the vampire! Of course. Talk about your jealous boyfriends. In the end Edward comes back, and he and Bella vow never to part again. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, if you haven't read it. And if you haven't...do so! Now! Quickly! :-)
Meyer's characters are amazingly well written and so real. I'm curious to see how the Hollywood version will come out, since last I heard there was a movie in the works. She adds her own special touches to traditional vampire lore (shining like diamonds in the sun rather than burning to a crisp...I like that much better, sun goddess that I am) and really makes you care about what happens to them. Fortunately I don't have too long of a wait before book 4 lands in August, but it will be long enough. I haven't been this excited about a series since Harry Potter, and that's saying something!
A few hours later: well, I checked out the movie on the Internet Movie Database website, and it looks like it will be pretty good. They got the guy who played Cedric in Harry Potter to play Edward, which I think is pretty good casting. I read that Stephenie Meyer wanted Henry Cavill to play Edward, but by the time they got to filming, he looked too old. All I can say is Meyer is a brilliant woman with a good eye for men! Cavill is on Showtime's "The Tudors" series, which I don't love--it's too inaccurate, historically, but I do love the casting. I thought Cavill was in his late twenties until I found out a few weeks ago on the Tudors website that he's only 24! Yikes! He does look much older, though, so I can understand why they chose not to cast him for this role. It calls for a younger looking guy. They better hurry up and make the next two before the leads all get too old and you have the same controversy swirling around these movies as you do with Harry Potter (which I think is silly, but whatever!).
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