Meet the new Twilight — the same, more or less, as the old Twilight.
To mark the 10th anniversary of her smash-hit YA novel, author Stephenie Meyer has released a new novel, on shelves today. Love and Death: Twilight Reimagined is a total rewrite of the first Twilight novel — with the genders of the two lead characters swapped. Bella Swan, the sullen teen girl at the heart of the original series, has become Beaufort Swan, a sullen teen boy; Edward Cullen, the immortal vampire who stole Bella's heart, is now Edythe Cullen. Writing Love and Death was "really fast and easy," says Meyer. I wonder why!
Love and Death is part of an ongoing trend in which authors find some way to regurgitate their old successes, which spares them the trouble of coming up with something new. Earlier this year, E.L. James scored a hit with Grey, a rewrite of 50 Shades of Grey from Christian Grey's perspective. J.K. Rowling continues to flesh out the minutiae of the Harry Potter universe on her website Pottermore. Even Stephenie Meyer has pulled this trick before, working on Midnight Sun — a rewrite of the first Twilight from Edward Cullen's perspective — before shelving it after the manuscript leaked online.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
With any luck, publishers will come to recognize that they're just one Find+Replace search away from a literary goldmine. Why not To Mock a Killingbird, in which Scott Finch learns valuable life lessons from his mother, Attica? Or The Stupendous Gatsby, in which Nicole Carraway chronicles the doomed affair between her neighbor, Jess Gatsby, and her long-lost love Duke Buchanan? Yes, the future of sub-literary fan-fiction has never been brighter.
-
'A symbol of the faceless corporate desire'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Say farewell to summer at these underrated US lakesThe Week Recommends Have one last blast
-
Truck drivers are questioning the Trump administration's English mandateTalking Points Some have praised the rules, others are concerned they could lead to profiling
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
