The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide

[bac]

The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide

This title will be released on April 12, 2011.

Here is a link to Stephenie Meyer's website with a little more information.


What are you looking forward to in the guide? What do you think will be in it?

[corona]

Since I requested this topic, I might as well post first.

“The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide” will be published on April 12, 2011, and can currently be pre-ordered (I already have). The book promises to include exclusive new material and character bios, among many other things. Potential new material may include something like greater detail concerning the human life of Alice.

I am categorizing my initial comments as Expectations (It has to be in there), Wish Lists (I hope it’s in there), and Faint Hopes (I’m not counting on it, but I would like to see it). I hope no one else feels they have to follow this format, it's just a way to organize my thoughts and comments.

* Expectations. I’m sure everything will be great, but the one expectation I have that I can’t see NOT being included is the list of every named vampire in the series that includes at least a very brief bio along with the description of any special talent they might have, including the power and limits of the talent. For example, we have a general understanding of the talents of vampires like Victoria, Siobhan, and Heidi, but more specifics are needed. Also, just how good are the Volturi fighters, like Felix and Demetri?

Also, we need some more details concerning the vampirization process. What is going on, and what are the limitations of “healing” that can occur? How does the venom preserve Bella’s heart in a human state so that it is the very last organ to be vampirized, even though it is directly injected with venom at the very beginning?

* Wish Lists. I would love to see more background information, especially concerning stuff we miss out on due to the POV being used. Maybe they could use character interviews to pull some of this out. Cheesy, but you can get right to the point. There’s lots of stuff I would like to hear from Edward, but probably his reply to most of what I would ask is “I can’t talk about that”, or “I can’t go there”. Maybe Alice could fill us in a little on what she was thinking when she returned and saw Bella again in New Moon. Or maybe Esme could fess up as to whether or not she had taken down any of the newborns in Twilight. All of the additional biography stuff will be great, but I am hoping some of the intriguing questions raised in the books will be answered. Maybe Edward can tell us if he was lying to Victoria about James’s feelings towards her?

* Faint Hopes. I’ll bet you there isn’t anything in the book post-BD. Which would be too bad, but I would be very pleasantly surprised if there was. It would be nice to know if Kate and Garrett are still together, exactly when Gianna bit the dust, how much longer the Cullens plan to stay in Forks, what plans Bella has to resolve the “Renee” situation, etc.

And finally, maybe, the guide will provide a resolution to the most important, burning, earth-shattering question in the entire Twilight universe. Is Bella 18 or 19? Alice wants to know as well, she has a bet going on with Bella, but only SM can provide the definitive answer. I emailed Edward about that, but he said “I can’t go there”.

[VolturiGirl]

What i hope for is some charactor bio's, especially for the Volturi. I would like to know who started it all. Who came into power first? How did the Volturi overthrow Vladimir and Stefan? I also would like to have more information on the venom. We know what it does but I would like to know how. Why is the heart the last organ to shut down? Regarding Nessie: if she got bit by a vampire, will she change or would the fact be that she is 1/2 vampire make it moot? Can Nessie get pregnant or will she be unable to once she stops aging?

Some personal info I hope is in the book is: did Charlie and Sue become a couple? Why is it that Leah is the first female wherewolf? What about Renee and Bella's relationship?

[corona]

~VolturiGirl , Those are some great questions, I forgot about the history between the Volturi and the Romanians, I’m sure that will be in there. Also, we’re likely to get some dates concerning the transformations of the characters, including people like Jane and Alec, Felix and Demtri. And then there’s Caius; I have my own theories about him, it would be nice to have some confirmation in the book.

Stuff like Charlie and Sue, though…I just don’t know. SM has stated she doesn’t like boxing herself in, so any information post-BD in the guide kind of locks things in. I’m very curious to see what is there. For example, are the bio’s going to have info on “where are they now”? If Garrett is placed in Denali, then we pretty much know he is still with Kate. I suspect there may be tidbits that like that thrown in, but I honestly don’t think SM is going to offer much more. I base this on the fact that SM avoided the ultimate resolution with Renee. I didn’t have a problem with that at all; I don’t blame her a bit. But what happens if you say that Charlie and Sue eventually got married? Whoops, they didn’t invite Renee to the wedding? Oh yes, they must have, and now you have to spell out the interaction between Bella and Renee at the wedding, or come up with some kind of dodge for Bella. So you end up kind of between a rock and a hard place. You can’t start giving out details concerning some things and then completely omit details on the biggest questions.

[Suzan]

Those are some high expectations and great questions! I'd love to know more about the Volturi and the Romainian vampires as well. That part always felt a bit unresolved to me. Like there was so much more to the story that just didn't make it in the book or it was such a long story that it could be a book on its own.
I agree on the post BD limitations. She left a lot of things open to go back to someday and I don't think she would just give that away. Talking about it makes me really hopefull that she will write another book though. (It's a long shot, I know. At least not in the near future. But a girl can dream, right?)

I, for one, am really excited about Alice's backstory. I was really disappointed when there was only like five sentences about her past in NM. Also, maybe some of the outtakes that are on SM's site will be in the guide. SM has said that some were not that well writen, but maybe with a little editing they could be great for the guide. Most people probably already read them, but it would be nice to see them in the final finished/edited version (or even some new ones).

[VolturiGirl]

I am curious about Emmett's back story. He, to me, is the only Cullen that we really don't know ANYTHING about. We learn about Carlisle, Esme, Alice, and Edward in the first book. We learn more about Rosalie and Jasper in Eclipse, but all we know about Emmett was that he was being attacked by a bear.

[corona]

This thread has kind of died a little, but will probably pick up hot and heavy in a few months.

I have a question for the moderators. We have a lot of discussions on issues of dispute here at the forum. Lots of fun involved, but there is certainly the potential that the Official Illustrated Guide will actually settle some of those disputes once and for all.

For example, we have the imprinting threads, and we discuss things like what the true nature of imprinting actually is. What would happen if the OIG gives the definitive answer on that? Would it be allowed to mention that on those threads (or any other thread), or would that be considered a spoiler? This is going to be a little odd, because the OIG will be more like a very organized and extensive interview with SM where she fills in some of the gaps for us (no problem there), while at the same time it is going to be a new published work (uh oh, spoiler territory).

[StellaBlueBella]

corona wrote
* Wish Lists. I would love to see more background information, especially concerning stuff we miss out on due to the POV being used ....... Maybe Edward can tell us if he was lying to Victoria about James’s feelings towards her?

It is so funny that I just saw this... I have been wondering about Victoria and James all week! I have been keeping my fingers crossed that there will be some sort of explanation in the OIG but I am not holding my breath.

I wonder how many long it will be, as in text length not counting illustrations.

[corona]

corona wrote
* Wish Lists. I would love to see more background information, especially concerning stuff we miss out on due to the POV being used ....... Maybe Edward can tell us if he was lying to Victoria about James’s feelings towards her?

It is so funny that I just saw this... I have been wondering about Victoria and James all week! I have been keeping my fingers crossed that there will be some sort of explanation in the OIG but I am not holding my breath.

I wonder how many long it will be, as in text length not counting illustrations.

Yes, the James and Victoria question, was Edward really lying? What if the OIG gives us the true answer, and then that question pops up on another thread? Is it allowable to answer that, based on what we now know, or do we have to wait a while before dishing that out?

Suzan makes a good point about the outtakes. There are already some on her website, and SM has said that after NM she really didn't have any more. Are the outtakes in the OIG just going to be reprints of what she has already written and made available?

I'm really hoping to get a little bit more on the whole Laurent / Victoria / Irina thing. When did Laurent and Victoria reestablish contact? Did Laurent really bond with Irina? What was the timeline for their background story in NM? Was it just coincidence that Laurent happened to stumble across the meadow, or was something else going on?

[December]

This thread has kind of died a little, but will probably pick up hot and heavy in a few months.

I have a question for the moderators. We have a lot of discussions on issues of dispute here at the forum. Lots of fun involved, but there is certainly the potential that the Official Illustrated Guide will actually settle some of those disputes once and for all.

For example, we have the imprinting threads, and we discuss things like what the true nature of imprinting actually is. What would happen if the OIG gives the definitive answer on that? Would it be allowed to mention that on those threads (or any other thread), or would that be considered a spoiler? This is going to be a little odd, because the OIG will be more like a very organized and extensive interview with SM where she fills in some of the gaps for us (no problem there), while at the same time it is going to be a new published work (uh oh, spoiler territory).

Sorry we didn't notice this earlier! I'm reposting this in our Communing with the Pack forum, so everyone can read it. (In general, that's a great place to post any questions for the mods, because we'll be sure to see it!).

It's an excellent question, which we'll need to discuss and make a decision about. Check back in the Communing thread; we'll let you know as soon as we've got a definite policy.

Head over to The Last Piece of the Puzzle to continue this conversation.