*puts nerd hat on and heads for the bookshelves*
Important disclaimer: This is not intended to offend any fans of the Twilight "Saga", merely to offer a book recommendation to those who didn't like it. (Also, Twilight is not a saga. A saga is a long Norse poem. To quote Wikipedia, The sagas (from Icelandic saga, plural sögur), are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, about migration to Iceland, and of feuds between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, mainly in Iceland. Since I doubt Ms. Meyer would recognize Old Norse if it walked up and bit her--mind, neither would I--I doubt she wrote Twilight in it.)
For anyone who's fleeing Breaking Dawn or any of the rest of the Twilight series, or who actually read it and wants to scrub their brain out with steel wool (as several people I know have), I have a recommendation. The anti-Twilight. Barbara Hambly's Those Who Hunt the Night. It's been a long time since I read it because it's more than a little creepy, so I'm not that clear on the plot, but it was very good--and, as I said, very not Twilight.
The vampires do not sparkle. There is absolutely no sparkling involved. They are also not nice. I'm not saying they're all evil, but at the very best they're antiheroes--at the worst, they're actual villains. Or insane. Or both. Fluff is not involved. Nor is angst. Fluffy angst is entirely absent. It probably eloped with purple prose, because purple prose is also demonstrably Not There. In fact, the prose is actually rather lovely; Hambly is good with words. Furthermore--and this will delight at least one person who's probably reading this (*waves to Skye*)--it is outright stated that vampires cannot have sex. \o/ (Note: if your vampireverse contains a valid biological explanation, fine; if it doesn't, please consult a work of basic biological reference, such as It's Not the Stork for ages 4 and up.)
It's a fantastic story, with lots of plot and characters who have both flaws and virtues. Just don't read it after dark when you're alone in the house.
For anyone who's fleeing Breaking Dawn or any of the rest of the Twilight series, or who actually read it and wants to scrub their brain out with steel wool (as several people I know have), I have a recommendation. The anti-Twilight. Barbara Hambly's Those Who Hunt the Night. It's been a long time since I read it because it's more than a little creepy, so I'm not that clear on the plot, but it was very good--and, as I said, very not Twilight.
The vampires do not sparkle. There is absolutely no sparkling involved. They are also not nice. I'm not saying they're all evil, but at the very best they're antiheroes--at the worst, they're actual villains. Or insane. Or both. Fluff is not involved. Nor is angst. Fluffy angst is entirely absent. It probably eloped with purple prose, because purple prose is also demonstrably Not There. In fact, the prose is actually rather lovely; Hambly is good with words. Furthermore--and this will delight at least one person who's probably reading this (*waves to Skye*)--it is outright stated that vampires cannot have sex. \o/ (Note: if your vampireverse contains a valid biological explanation, fine; if it doesn't, please consult a work of basic biological reference, such as It's Not the Stork for ages 4 and up.)
It's a fantastic story, with lots of plot and characters who have both flaws and virtues. Just don't read it after dark when you're alone in the house.