•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Oh, joy. Stephenie Meyer, author of the now world-famous and bestselling “Twilight” saga, has penned another book about vampires.

In “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner,” published in June, readers are introduced to the darker side of the vampire world; those who — unlike the Cullens who are the “good” vampires — don’t refrain from hunting down humans and drinking their blood.

The ones who feel no remorse and use their power to kill and destroy without regret.

The heroine in Meyer’s new book is Bree Tanner, who has already been introduced in the third installment of the “Twilight” series, “Eclipse,” as the surrendering and last surviving newborn of the vampire army that had been created for the sole purpose of destroying the Cullen family and Bella Swan.

Bree, one among the 20-something newborn vampires, is the outsider in the group. The only one she feels comfortable and sometimes even shares a laugh with is fellow vampire Diego.

Together, they discover that their leader, Riley, and their mysterious creator — who is only referred to as “she” and “her” and whom they have never met — had their own reasons for bringing them to life.

As they slowly try to discover the truth, not knowing who they can trust aside from each other, Bree and Diego sense the danger looming over them is greater than they could have ever imagined, and that the end of their stories have already been written by someone else.

It seems their fates have already been sealed.

Now, it is not necessarily a bad idea to write a story about a character who has already been introduced in another book.

But readers who have never heard of the Cullens and Bella Swan will be lost as the story unfolds and eventually will end up confused and unsatisfied.

There are just too many loose ends, too many unanswered questions.

To understand this book in its entirety, it requires the knowledge of the previous novels of the “Twilight” saga — at least, the first three of them.

On the other hand, fans who long for more details and information about their favorite vampire clan might also end up disappointed.

Edward Cullen is only referred to as “the redhead” and “the mind-reader,” Bella as “the pet human,” and they only appear in the last pages of the book as they fight the newborn army.

Even then, their lines and actions are a mere repetition of “Eclipse” and don’t contain anything new. The only difference is that these characters are seen through Bree’s eyes.

The werewolves who helped the Cullens battle the newborns are also mentioned, but only indirectly as a “strange, savage howling.”

“Twilight” fans will know that these creatures are Jacob Black and his pack, but other readers are completely left in the dark. For them, this particular riddle remains unsolved.

If the character of Bree had the strength to stand on its own, Meyer’s book might be a more pleasant read and the earlier mentioned flaws could perhaps be overlooked.

But her story fails to impress as it lacks detail and color.

 Sure, the readers might feel sympathy for Bree and her tragic fate: being the pawn in a deadly game, finding and losing a friend and potential love interest in the course of only two days and, of course, her inevitable end.

But where did Bree come from? What was her human life like before she was turned into a vampire? The author touches briefly on these questions, but apparently didn’t think they were important enough to answer in-depth.

A longer glimpse into Bree’s former life would certainly have helped her readers connect to her on a deeper level.

At times, it seems that Meyer rushes through the story, not giving her characters enough time to develop, to reveal their secrets, wishes and hopes.

And why would she when it was already obvious from the beginning to both herself and most of her readers that none of them would survive in the end?

Meyer wrote in the introduction: “I wonder how you will feel about Bree. She’s such a small, seemingly trivial character in ‘Eclipse.’ ”

Well, it would have probably been better if she had remained just that.


'The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella’  by Stephenie Meyer is published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 178 pages.