Midnight Sun extinguished by Internet Vampire Queen

By Davey Winder
Sunday, 31 August 2008 16:19

Networking

It was to be the final installment of the internationally bestselling Twilight Saga series of vampire books, so beloved by teenage girls the world over. But author Stephanie Meyer has thrown a hissy fit and put the project "on hold indefinitely" after a partial draft of the book was leaked onto the Internet...

According to the author herself the partial draft of Midnight Sun was illegally posted on the Internet and has since been virally distributed without her permission.

If Stephanie Meyer were not a bestselling author, and if this were not the final book in an already hugely successful cult series, one might be forgiven for thinking the 'leak' was nothing more than a publicity stunt.

But the first three books have sold more than 5 million copies in America and spent a total of 143 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The fourth book was published last month and is expected to do just as well.

However, given those facts, and the statement by Meyer that "what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being" it seems unlikely that publicity seeking is to blame.

Indeed, I am not sure what merit there would be in pulling the final book. Publicity yes, but for what? Sure, there is a film version of the first book, Twilight, due for release real soon now in the US.

It could be argued that the controversy over scrapping the final installment might drive people to the cinema who might not have heard of Meyer or her vampire stories before.

But if Meyer is true to her word and really does "feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun" then I am unsure how many will want to go and see a story which, ultimately, has no ending.

Does anyone know who posted the leaked manuscript, and what do the multitude of teenage Twilight fans think of it all? Find out on page 2...

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