Eclipse

Eclipse By Stephenie Meyer.

' Bella? '

Edward's soft voice came from behind me. He pulled me into his arms at once, and kissed me. His kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine - like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us.

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

.... from the back cover.

' Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if I had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice. ' - Fire and Ice by Robert Frost

.... from an inner page.

Book three in the four part saga, ECLIPSE, in my humble opinion, is the best of the novels so far. Much more involved and with more action, the characters come into their own.

I particularly liked two chapters of the novel - both of which brought a tear to my eye. The first was entitled Legends and told the story of the last great Spirit Chief of the Quileutes, Taha Aki who ' eventually tried to kill his body to save the tribe. ' An inspired piece of story telling by the author, it made the character of Jacob become ever more alive.

The second was entitled Newborn - with every book in the saga telling the tale of how one of the vampires came to be a vampire, in Eclipse it's Jasper's story that is told . And what a moving and poignant story it is, in which we come to know this character a little better and get an insight into why he is the way he is.

After being a Little disappointed by New Moon (Book 2) in the series, I was glad that the author seemed to be back on track. Both plot and characters developed nicely and for the first time I could see this saga (and certainly any future film versions of it) being equally enjoyed by young men as well as young women. Somehow Harry Potter(ish) in nature, there is just something about the Twilight saga that is so appealing, it is no wonder that the books have become such a phenomenon.