Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide

The Twilight Saga

by Stephenie Meyer

Fans of the #1 New York Times bestselling Twilight Saga will treasure this definitive official guide!

This must-have hardcover edition -- the only official guide -- is the definitive encyclopedic reference to the Twilight Saga and provides readers with everything they need to further explore the unforgettable world Stephenie Meyer created in Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. With exclusive new material, character profiles, genealogical charts, maps, extensive cross-references, and much more, this comprehensive handbook is essential for every Twilight Saga fan.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Vampires, Paranormal, Romance, Fiction, Werewolves

543 pages, Hardcover

First published April 12, 2011

About the author

Stephenie Meyer is the author of the bestselling Twilight series, The Host, and The Chemist. Twilight was one of 2005's most talked about novels and within weeks of its release the book debuted at #5 on The New York Times bestseller list. Among its many accolades, Twilight was named an "ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults," an Amazon.com "Best Book of the Decade So Far," and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.

Meyer graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English Literature. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three sons.

Reviews

[~Calliope~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars

[Shawna Finnigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW// All triggering topics were just brief mentions but they still need a proper worning: inapropriate age gaps/pedophilia, violence, sexual assault, murder, rape, physical abuse, animal death, suicide attempts, incest, death of a mother, infant death

I’m actually shocked that I enjoyed this guide as much as I did. Sometimes guides for series can be boring and they don’t always add much to the series, but this guide is unlike any other guide that I’ve ever read. It added lots of information to the original series and it had a fun interview with the author.

My favorite part of this guide was that Alice, Victoria, and a lot of other side characters were given pretty extensive backstories. It was really fun to get to learn more about the characters and see what their life was like before their transformation.

I loved the interview at the start of this guide. You get to find out a lot about how the Twilight series came to be. I was suprised, too, to find that Stephenie Meyer and I have a similair writing process. My book that I’ve been working on writing for a while came to me in a dream, like Twilight did for Stephenie, and I had to start writing it down because I needed to know what happened next, just like Stephenie.

There were a few issues with this guide though. First of all, this guide clarifies that all people of color get white washed when they’re turned into vampires. If they weren’t white before the transformation, they turn white after the transformation with a slight hint of an olive color to their skin. This was completely unnecessary to mention and it doesn’t sit right with me. Second, this guide had multiple repititive parts. And lastly, the playlist section and the cars section were extremely boring. The playlist section should’ve been a bonus feature on the DVDs instead of being included in this book. And the cars section… I gurantee you that extreme car fans and Twilight fans do not overlap much (if at all), so that whole section that told tiny mechanical details about every car in the series was unnecessary.

This was honestly a great read despite its few flaws. I read it all the way through, but you can pick and choose which sections you want to read in the guide. Not every section will capture everyone’s interst, but this guide has something that every Twilight fan will appreciate.

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I received a copy of this in the mail, I have to admit that I was very excited! :) I read the Twilight Saga a few years ago... Okay, maybe I totally consumed the four books, because I got so swept away by the characters, world, and story.

The first thing I need to mention about this Guide is how beautiful it is. It's in hardback and the cover matches the other books. I do like the symbolism in each one of the Saga's installments, and this one is very fitting. The last few pieces of the puzzle. ;)

As soon as I opened the book, the first thing I had to do was go through every single page until I got to the end. All I wanted to do was look at the pretty pictures, skim the contents, and smile at some of the very interesting explanations/additions which were made here. Then, I went back and actually started reading. The very long interview between Shannon Hale and Stephenie Meyer is filled with authorly insights, which I really enjoyed.

There are so many things to read, I know this isn't the type of book where you read it once and file it away. It's the type of reference book you want to look at several times, to refresh your memory, find inspiration, or just re-read certain passages. I love just how much information there is--about the races, covens, tribes, different characters, a timeline, plot points, playlists, and even cars!

The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide is a stunning addition to any Twilight fan's bookshelf. It's visually beautiful, packed full of info, and is very well made. A lot of care went into putting this Guide together, and it shows. It reminds us why we fell in love with the story in the first place, and why these books and characters have become a part of so many people's lives. I loved it, and will continue to love it.

This is a keeper!

[~Tina~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. If this had come out back in 2008...like it was suppose to, I probably would have enjoyed this more since I was still very much a screaming fan girl, but now...this was just okay.
Still, anyone who's a die-hard fan would find This Official Guide useful and entertaining. Lots of pictures and personal profiles and all the intimate little details that made this universe spin crazily out of control.

I still want Midnight Sun.
Just saying...

[Carmen de la Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta guía es muy buena para tener mas información de la saga. Esta guía incluye una extensa entrevista con Stephenie Meyer, características y un poco de historia tanto de los vampiros como de los hombres lobo, así como biografías de cada uno de los personajes (lo malo de esto, es que muchos detalles se repiten y llega a ser tedioso). La secuencia temporal de toda la historia, interpretación de las portadas, los puntos clave de cada uno de los libros y hasta una descripción de cada uno de los vehículos que tienen los Cullen, Bella y Jacob.

Algo muy lindo que contiene es la lista de canciones que inspiraron determinados momentos de los libros, los dibujos hechos por fans, las imágenes de las portadas de los libros alrededor del mundo y los pasajes descartados. Cuando con unas ilustraciones que hay a lo largo de sus más de 500 páginas.

Porque solo le doy 3 estrellas? Creo que aunque es un detalle para los fans de la saga, muchas veces algunas cosas se me hicieron repetitivas y eso era molesto, aparte de que la traducción fue horrible, pero si eres fan de la saga deberías leer esto.

Crepúsculo siempre formara parte importante de mi librero, ya que fue mi primera saga, al igual que con Edward pase mi primer amor literario y eso nunca lo olvidare, crepúsculo siempre estará en mi corazón.

[Ashley Mackler-Paternostro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Twilight, I've visited Forks, I've eaten Mushroom Ravioli in Port Angeles at Bella Italia, drinking icy coke while Bella's Lullaby played over the speaker system. I've trolled Stephenie Meyer's website reading her outtakes and not-so-secretly hoping a Jake/Nessie series is rooting around in Meyer's brilliant brain. So, naturally, this book was was highly anticipated--not just by me, but by fans all over the globe.

I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into a bit more Twilight. But, after having read it, I can honestly say...if you visit SM's website and you know your way around Twilight's Lexicon, you've probably read this book cover to cover before it was even published. There was light shed on some other key elements that in the context of the books were subtle and that makes you think and makes you feel like "oh, I missed that!" or "Wow, Stephenie Meyer is one sneaky girl!" ... but, long story short, it's pretty much a formal rehash.

Worth it if you're a die hard, for sure. I don't regret buying it or reading it, it's essential if your a Twi-hard, but it's not really "new new" if that makes sense.

[Andre · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note: This review contains spoilers and the spoilers are not hidden in any way!

This book was bad; it was so bad I decided not to hide any spoilers because I quite frankly wanted this review to get over with as soon as possible.
One good thing:
The artwork of the characters is usually of decent to good quality but the rest isn't. Actually it's interesting that some of the printed fanart (we will get to that in a minute) is better than what the paid artists could do, really it sometimes looks like a fourth grader did it and the term "illustrated guide" seems to be used very loosely, since much of the art adds nothing respectively many characters are not even there. Actually the poor quality is especially evident in the building that houses the Volturi, because as far as I know that one actually exists, so all the artist had to do was just copy it.
The fan art is the only one of the non-world building things in this book that I think has a legitimate reason to be in this book. It shows how other people imagined the characters too look like and considered that the characters depicted often look very much alike, respectively like Angela just copied from the graphic novel, I think this is positive.

Now this book contains massive material where I wondered who but raving Twihards would even care about that, I wonder whether even the average fan would care on how the cars of the Culllens look like or the authors incredibly clumsy answers to questions her books raised, which in turn raise even more question. There are also notes, massive notes, on how Twilight came to be and a lot of other stuff that I personally think is only there to make the book longer, just like much of the illustrations.

The world building was as contradictory as you would imagine. The "scientific" explanations presented for the vampires are complete crap, they contradict each other, they make no sense. In short, without magic, they just cannot work and it’s the same with the hybrids and the werewolves. And there is actually one of the many examples of sexism in this book. Not only is the one male hybrid the only one to be able to create vampires, why not other hybrids is anyone's guess, no, female Quileute werewolves do not become such massive hunks like the males they only grow slightly and their muscles get more defined, yeah great warriors that would make. There is more sexism, but that will come in the passage on the characters.
Actually history and psychology are ransacked, e.g. at the time Carlisle was transformed there definitely would not have been sewers under London or there is no reason the Romanian Coven and the Volturi would be called Romanians and Italians when both predate the names Romania and Italy. Also the Amazons with their longs limbs and all look nothing like typical native woman of the Amazon area, not that the other vampires often fit, I mean an early 19th century Kairo streetboy is named "Benjamin" are you kidding me? There is much more, the whole issue with the Quileute or the fact that the Irish ones do not fit history as well, there is problems with Alistair's backstory etc. etc. I think I got the point across.

There is just one thing towards world building that I still want to address: The werewolves.
Now in Breaking Dawn there was this issue that the Quileute werewolves were not werewolves but shapeshifters who take on the form of the wolf. The author tried to explain it in that book by saying that there shifting power is inherited and at the start it could have been any other animal form. Also the full moon doesn't control their shifting and they do not pass on their condition via bite. Which makes no difference because of a few points:
1. The basic trait of a werewolf is shapeshifting, whether temporary or permanently, so a werewolf is per definition a shapeshifter.
2. The power of the full moon over the transformation is only considered an essential trait in fiction, in actual folklore it was a very rare and underdeveloped feature and often it could be any other phase as well and on average the moon had nothing to do with transforming into a wolf, in medieval times it was mostly skins/shirts/belts or ointments. Sometimes also herbs or the person was cursed or born with the ability.
3. Folklore werewolves often had some unusual features, like human eyes, abnormal size (I remember a legend claiming the werewolf to be bigger than the biggest horse), missing tails etc. But mostly they were normal looking, even if sometimes a bit bigger than usual, wolves. The man-wolf form is at best very rare and not a typical trait of folklore werewolves. I know some people would probably point to old woodcuts and the like showing "man-wolves", especially from the old maps or pictures of Lycaon. These either depict werewolves in their state of mid-transformation or they show beings called Cynocaphali, or Dog-heads, and they have nothing to do with werewolves.
4. The infectious bite is made up. It does not exist in actual folklore and when it does now it clearly has its origins in the film industry, there were some ways of becoming a werewolf that could be somewhat considered "infectious," like eating its food or drinking the water collected in a werewolf's paw print, but these were rare and nothing like a bite.
So despite the author and many others claiming that the Quileute werewolves are not werewolves, they are, actually more so than the "true" werewolves called the Children of the Moon. I will not go into too much detail here except for two things:
1. These werewolves are so badly designed that they should have died of starvation a long time ago because their rampages (due to their size, speed and strength, as well as total loss of control in wolf form) would have caused them to massacre entire populations and so making whole areas devoid of anything edible.
2. They look so different from the Quileute werewolves that it makes no sense to have Caius in Breaking Dawn confuse the two. The Quileute werewolves are roughly speaking horse-sized wolves while the Children of the Moon seem to look more like the werewolves in the Chinger Snaps trilogy, especially the third film. If you have never seen those films, just think of a gorilla with a wolf's head and you have a good guess how these Children of the Moon have been described in the book.

Now we come to the last passage: the characters.
It was difficult to know where to begin so let's say it like this: In comparison to the vampires the werewolves seem like nice folks. In comparison, keep that in mind.
The whole imprinting issue is even creepier than I already think it was, sure it's not pedophilia but for the imprinted werewolf it is enslavement in every way, the werewolf has no free will anymore. And in case of the imprintee, it's free will thrown out of the window as well since she is just supposed to accept. And if the werewolf in question imprints on a child (the imprintee is always of the opposite sex by the way) not only is he enslaved to be whatever person "she needs" but it is also undeniably child grooming and child wedding, since she is supposed to be his mate and all he needs to do is wait until she is old enough to have sex with her.
There is barely any story about the werewolf characters, not even Jacob gets much. Sam and Leah get something but their stories only further illustrate what a horrible person Emily (her own entry is no better) and how these books celebrate co-dependency on a level that is definitely unhealthy even for romance novel standards. Let's say it like this: Emily in my mind deserves to have Sam shackled to her for the rest of her life, because I can assure you, having someone that absolutely cannot stay away from you (it causes him pain actually) and does whatever you want will first get boring and then it will be pure torture to have him around you. But the fact that Emily even asked Leah to be a bridesmaid, thereby rubbing it all in her face completely negates all of Emily's points for her early efforts to get rid of Sam.
Btw. the book does not explain at all how Emily got her scars, actually the way it is described here it was actually an accident because Sam had his hands up when he faced because he tried to get Emily away from him because he was starting to shift (you really can't blame him in the whole triangle, he is just a slave) but the way it was described here Emily should only have some stab wounds in her face due to the claws, her face should not be slashed. So that story contradicts the Twilight books.
But like I said on average there is next to nothing on the individual werewolf characters, actually we still do not know who Embry's father is. And this "unknown" is something that is often there, since the book literally says so that Embry's father is unknown and we have the same with many of the vampires. It would be ok if this book would be written in the way of a journal like e.g. Gangrel: Savage and Macabre does, but it is not. It is clearly written from the author's "God perspective" and so this "unknown" means she basically did not care or wasn't able to come up with anything.
And so we get to the vampires. I tell you, massive inconsistencies in the stories, e.g. Aro is told to be transformed in his early 40s at first and on the same page as being transformed in his mid-twenties. There is of course the suspicious feature that most of the "evil" (more in a second) Volturi have an olive cast to their skin and most of the "good" vampires are totally pale. I could probably go on and on about the many racism, colorism, sexism and possibly homophobia in this book, but I better not or otherwise I will hit the character limit and it's already hard enough not to say more about this.
The stories sometimes contradict each other and the other books, e.g. in the Bree Tanner book all Newborn vampires could talk without problems, but here it is said that this is a rare feature. Furthermore often we get to know no more than what we already knew, especially with the Cullens, and some stuff no one cares to know. Birth and Transformation dates are vague. The stories are clumsily written and I don't know whether the author did that on purpose or not, but the way these characters are written makes it look as though all of them are the scariest people there. Actually it makes the guys that are supposed to be bad and not to be related, e.g. Alistair and the Volturi, the good guys and all the guys allegedly being the good guys scary as hell. Alistair had an extremely traumatic backstory so no wonder he became paranoid, and for all the claiming of Aro wanting power and allegedly being against his mate and all, there is a damn good reason at least for him to want her safe but also the Volturi don't really do anything evil. Actually we never got any more motivation for Aro than "wants power" and the other two Volturi masters aren't any better. They basically just sit around in their home, sometimes pick up special vampires and enforce their law of secrecy, which actually makes a lot of sense. The way average vampires are described here makes violence the only thing they understand and as such Aro's power and dominance keeps them in line, forces them to behave themselves and brings order and prevents chaos.
On the other hand our beloved Cullens are one scary bunch. Rosalie is actually the most likeable because she is tortured by her past and this is where Carlisle is especially scary: When he found her, beaten and raped, he wanted her for Edward and nothing else (this is one of the countless examples where I wondered whether the author realized what she wrote there), and by transforming her into a vampire he basically condemned her to live in a state of permanent post-traumatic stress disorder caused by rape. Yeah that is great. The others aren't any better, especially Jasper comes along as a killing machine, doing everything he is told. He murders people left and right, he never seemed to question his earlier lifestyle and the fact that this book speaks so casually about how he killed Newborn vampires makes me wonder whether the author sanitized this world so much in her mind that she no longer knows what she is talking about. "Dealing with the newborns" means killing them, "slipping" in the diet means killing people, constantly. And that is also something Carlisle never did, he never put any restrictions on his "children" it is a wonder that they didn't kill more people. Especially Alice who seems to have no free will and you would think her backstory makes for a more interesting character, like so many, but it didn't. Actually speaking of backstory, my final point:
When we are given a backstory and especially transformation story about a woman and/or teenager, it is nearly exclusively one that involves violence (murder, rape, torture) as if the author cannot have these two groups just be chosen and turned, something she has no problem with the men as it seems. Also for these "tragic" backstory several of them have the abused victims be loyal to their sires despite having no reason to (e.g. like Benjamin to Amun [the most idiotic vampire there is, trust me his level of stupidity is incredible]). Actually you could collect these stories and name them "Stockholm syndrome the novel."
Ok, this is really it now, there are tons more to say about this book, but I won't, I will just say this:
Don't read it; this is a book that will only make you dumber.

[Sian · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5. I skim read this so I could read about Alice and Rosalie. That’s the only reason.

[sofide · Rating 5 out of 5]

"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Stephanie Meyer was a Mormon. Second, there was a part of her-and I now knew how potent that part actually was-that took pride in being pretty fucking racist and writing funky stuff about minors. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably scarred for life because of her books".

I hate that I like this saga.

[Alison (AlisonCanRead) · Rating 5 out of 5]

*The Goodreads rating should probably be a 4, but out of principle I give everything Twilight related 5 stars. Silly, but that's the way it is.

I am evenly split between happiness and disappointment. There were so many wonderful bits of information in the Guide, things I never thought to wonder about and answers to numerous niggling questions. However, so many things were left out - things that I'm sure Stephanie knows and are really essential pieces of information for any Twilight lover.

On the bright side, the paucity of information means there's lots left to the imagination. Readers and writers of Twilight fan-fiction will not lack for story options. I also wonder if the major holes in various characters' biographies (specifically Alice and Jasper, as well as Renesmee and Jacob) were done in purpose to leave room for future books. I already know that she won't answer certain questions about Nessie and Jacob in case she explores it later, but there was so much left out of Alice and Jasper's early lives that perhaps Stephenie envisions another story (I doubt it though).

I'll go over the good and bad points. I am making an effort not to put any spoilers in my review (e.g. the substance of Alice's story), but I'll be referring to what is and is not in the Guide. If you're as picky about spoilers as I am, you might want to be careful. Also, given the level of my emotional investment in Twilight, my criticisms will likely not be as diplomatic as I normally try to make them.

The Good

1. Vampires Generally: I learned almost everything I wanted to know about the physical qualities of vampires. I already knew much of the information, but there was just enough new to keep me happy.

2. Alice's Human Life: Brava, Stephenie! You told me everything I wanted to know and so much more. Alice's human life was fascinating from beginning to end, although not in a good way. In some ways, it's better that Alice doesn't remember any of it. One of the highlights of the Guide.

3. Edward's Life: Not entirely complete, but I loved learning more about Edward's relationship with his parents, particularly his father. I already knew that his father was an attorney and they were fairly wealthy, but I loved filling in the gaps in Edward's story. It was also fabulous to learn what degrees Edward has received over the years. I was happy to get a little more information about Edward's years as a traditional vampire: specific dates and one tidbit I'd always wondered about.

4. Other Vampire Biographies: While I was largely disappointed with the new information, or lack thereof, in the Cullen's stories, I was beyond impressed with the biographies of the Volturi, the Denalis, the Romanians, the Egyptians, the Amazons, and the Nomads. There was tons of information here, all new. We get detailed biographies of each major character's human and vampire life. The Guide was worth buying for these stories alone. They were the highlight of the entire book.

-The Volturi: From the books and the Twilight Lexicon, we already knew a little background about the Volturi, but the Guide tells us so much more. Detailed histories of Aro, Marcus, and Caius which give us insight not only to specific events of their lives, but also to their personalities and motivations. I was so happy to learn about Alec and Jane's histories. Chelsea's biography was much more interesting than I expected it to be. The way the Volturi's motivations for ruling and claiming themselves as keeper of the law was skewed; I think Stephenie would root for a vampire coux.

-The Romanians and Egyptians: I'm combining these categories, because they are both ancient covens. I loved learning about how millennia of ambition and warfare built these covens and tore them apart. Amun's story was particularly interesting, especially how he has interacted or hidden from the Volturi over the years.

-The Denali's: There wasn't a huge amount of new information here, but the sisters' stories were fleshed out. I was very happy to get a better idea of when the Cullens' first met the Denali's.

-James and Victoria: Fabulous. Especially Victoria's stories. I don't like either character any better after knowing their backgrounds (if anything, I like James even less), but I definitely understand them better. Victoria's human life and then how her talent for escape worked as a vampire was really interesting.

-Alistair: Perhaps the most fascinating story of all. I really wanted to know more about Alistair and Stephenie did not disappoint. It would be hard to top the betrayal and horror of Alistair's transformation into a vampire. I was also happy to learn how Carlisle and Alistair became acquainted. It could have been fleshed out a little better, but I was still happy.

-Peter and Charlotte: We learn more details about Peter and Charlotte's escape from Jasper and Maria and Peter's return for Jasper. We also get excellent insight into Charlotte's character and feelings for Jasper and Alice. Through Peter and Charlotte's stories, we learn a lot of new information about Jasper. I would have liked a better explanation of why Peter and Jasper got along so well as well as information about Peter and Charlotte's human lives, but the amount of new information made up for what was lacking.

-Joham: Tons of information about Joham. His motivations, his relationship with his children, his selfishness and cruelty. I also enjoyed getting to know a little about his children.

5. The Wolves: I've made it pretty clear that I'm not nearly as interested in the Wolfpack as I am in vampires. Still, I found a lot of the information about the wolves fascinating.

-General Mythology: I loved learning more about "real" werewolves versus the Quileute shape-shifters. There was also good information about the physical attributes of the Wolfpack. I got a better understanding of their appearance and supernatural capabilities both in wolf and human form.

-Billy's Story: I loved learning more about Billy. We learn about his knowledge of vampires and werewolf legends, his thoughts on being a missed wolf generation, and his feelings toward the Cullens.

-Sam, Leah, and Emily: Now this is drama. From the books, we know the basics of how Sam dropped Leah when he imprinted on Emily. Here we learn exactly what happened - Leah's bitterness, Sam's regret, Emily's surprise. We learn just how Emily received her scars. Leah's story definitely makes me sympathize with her more. On a side note, we learn what triggered Harry's heart attack. Very interesting, although I think I like how the New Moon movie portrayed it better.

The Bad

1. The Cullens' Stories: The lack of new information about the Cullens' in their bios was the biggest disappointment for me in the Guide. There were little tidbits I didn't know, but on the whole, their bios were just paraphrased from the books. I already know the biographical information in the books. What I want to know is what wasn't in the books. If the information didn't come from the books, it likely came from Stephenie's website or from the Lexicon interviews. I keep reading the same pages over and over in the hope that the letters on the page will magically rearrange themselves into new sentences. A huge, huge disappointment.

2. Alice's Vampire Life: As I said, I loved the story about Alice's human life. But there was virtually nothing about her life as a vampire prior to joining the Cullens. It's not like she found Jasper and the Cullens within the first couple of weeks of her new life. It took thirty years! A lot of things surely happened during that time period. What were they?

3. Esme's Story: What did she name her baby? Why, oh why wasn't this included? Such a simple piece of information that so many people want to know (or at least I do). Otherwise her story was fine. Nothing I didn't know from the Lexicon interviews, but interesting nonetheless.

4. Jasper's Story: I wanted to learn more about his human life. What was his family like? Was he in school prior to joining the army? Absolutely nothing about his vampire life that we don't know from Eclipse. His relationship with Maria was not adequately fleshed out. Nor do we learn much about his early years with Alice and the Cullens. Also, there is nothing about the scope of his power to manipulate emotions. Three of the things I most wanted to know.

5. Carlisle's Story: Not enough information. It was a rehash of what we already know from the books - practically word for word of what Edward and Carlisle told Bella in Twilight and New Moon. There were some interesting tidbits spread throughout the Guide, but not nearly enough. I wanted to know more about his human life and more about his early relationships with Edward (both before and after he turned him), Esme, and Rosalie. We didn't get a firm idea of when he started practicing medicine or just how hard it was training to handle blood. No idea where Carlisle learned to fight so well.

6. Edward's Story: I was largely satisfied with Edward's story. There was enough new information to make up for what was lacking. Or almost enough. I really wanted more information about how Edward, his mother, and Carlisle became close in the hospital. I wanted more information about Edward's first few years with Carlisle and Esme and whether he was initially resentful that Carlisle turned him. Also, I would have loved an outtake of Edward's prodigal son moment.

7. Rosalie and Emmett's Stories: There was virtually nothing new about Rosalie. I might as well have just re-read Eclipse. I wanted to know more details about how and when she kills Royce and his cronies. I was especially disappointed that I didn't get a better feeling of Rosalie's relationship with Carlisle. Emmett's bio did have new, interesting information, but not enough. What did he do as a human? Where did he work? It's interesting to know that he slipped often in his early years, but I want to know specific details.

8. J. Jenks' Story: We don't really get any new information about Jenks. I wanted to know specifically how Jasper terrified him so much. I would also love to know whether Bella can convince Jasper to let her handle that relationship post-Breaking Dawn.

9. Maria's Story: Sadly lacking. Unlike the other vampires, we learned nothing about Maria's human life. There was some new information in her bio, but not nearly enough. I wanted to know more about her relationship with Jasper. Also, I was disappointed that we didn't learn more about Maria's visit to the Cullens in Calgary and why they had to leave immediately.

10. Wolves Sleeping Around: We don't find out who Embry's father is. Come on, Steph!

11. Interview: The Guide starts out with an interview between Stephenie and Shannon Hale. The interview is really interesting. It's more of a conversation than a traditional interview between two authors/friends. It covers everything from the origins of Twilight, to Stephenie's reaction to the books' success, to Stephenie's writing process. My main problem with this interview is that it was 65 pages long! While it was interesting, it didn't tell me anything groundbreaking. Plus, Shannon Hale inserted a lot of herself into the questions. I am not a big Shannon Hale fan, so I really didn't care about what she had to say. Those 65 pages could have been used for more back-stories, more outtakes, more things important to the Saga. (You could also argue that the extensive cross-references, playlists, fan art, and international covers were wasted space, but I can understand their relevance to the Guide)

12. Sloppy: I was extremely irritated with the mistakes in the timeline for Jasper, Peter, and Charlotte's lives. The Guide states that Peter's age ranges from 1860-1920. Two pages later, it says Peter was 3 years old when he ran away with Charlotte. If you follow Charlotte's bio which says she was turned in 1938, they left in 1939. However, the timeline later in the book says that Jasper left Maria in 1938. Hmmm...problem here. Even more mixed up, it specifically states in Eclipse, that Peter came back for him five years after he and Charlotte fled. Clearly someone dropped the ball here. I blame the Twilight Lexicon for this (who helped with the Guide). Their timeline wrongly states that Jasper left Maria in the last 1800s. From Eclipse and Midnight Sun, this is obviously incorrect. The screwed up dates carried over to the Guide. (To be fair, the Lexicon is no more to blame than Stephenie and her editors for this large error).
A smaller error appears in Angela Weber and Ben Cheney's biographies. In Angela's, it states that they both plan to attend University of Washington. In Ben's, they are suddenly going to Washington State University. Two different schools.

[Holly Noelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oi.

I ordered this book back in 2008. I figured we would get numerous details about what happened before and after 'Twilight' and the other details the characters didn't know.

All in all, I was excited for the guide.

Then the dates got pushed back. 2009, 2010, and finally we got it in 2011. Waiting years for a book should, in theory, mean it's filled to the brim with information.

I am throughly disappointed. Honestly, if I didn't pay half-price from pre-ordering it, I would send it back.

I could have written this. Most of the information was recycled, stale, and uninformative. My first thought was that this is the Twilight Lexicon database copy and pasted. Did Stephenie Meyer contribute to this? Or was this just her publishing house? We already knew most of the details strictly from reading the book. I was excited for Stephenie Meyer's interview and have since learned it was one she gave back in 2008. They couldn't even update this by giving a more recent interview with the author? Furthermore, she sounded bitter and defensive when she gave it, most likely stemming from all the criticizing she took after Breaking Dawn. An interview now probably would have sounded different.

The details about the Cullens, wolves, Volturi, and the humans are vague at best. I understand Carlisle may not know his birthday, but we should. We learned details about other (irrelevant) characters that they themselves didn't know, but not about the main characters? The book alludes that Embry's father is one of three men, but we still are not told exactly who that is?

I feel owned. None of my questions were answered through all of this. This book screams greed to me. They wanted to get every last dime out of the fans that they could. I enjoyed the series and genuinely liked the books, but this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

The only redeeming factor for the book lies within the pictures. The artwork is absolutely stunning and I'm pleased to see it's prevalent throughout. I also enjoyed learning some of the backstories about the characters that matter - such as Charlie and Renee. The international covers and fan art were also nice surprises.

My final thought: borrow it from a friend.

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously, this is aimed at the fans of the series. Having said this, people who want to know more about the writing process might find it interesting too (just get it at the library in that case - don’t buy it).

The interview at the beginning of the book with Stephenie Meyer and fellow author Shannon Hale sheds a lot of light on the life and experience of these two writers. Naturally the focus is on Meyer, how it all started, how she came up with the idea for the series, her writing routine (using music), etc. All of this is fascinating, even if you don’t particularly care about Twilight :O)

The next section offers a biography for most members of the cast and again this is well done. I found many details I hadn’t known, and Aro, Esmee, Emmett and Alice’s human lives were especially enlightening. This also shows to what extent Meyer had built her characters’ lives outside of what we see in the books.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

The interview in this book was what made it for me. I feel like it made me love Stephanie and her stories even more than before. Getting into the head of my favourite authors is an absolute privilege and honour.

She has definitely inspired me to get back to my own writing and not feel so much pressure. I can write a story that I want to read without feeling the need to write a book with a whole lot of lessons and morals. It can just be real to me and I can enjoy it.

[Claire Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book only once before but it's always nice to read more about the characters and covens and humans and even cars/motorbikes in Twilight Saga and more behind the history of everything to do with the book series and it's really interesting

[Sabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big Chunky book about all things Twilight with glossy pages!




Less on the photos side though. For that, take the companion instead.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

the twilight saga: the official illustrated guide is an impressively (and at times bafflingly) comprehensive look into this world.

The interview at the start between Meyer and Hale is insightful to Meyer's process and perspective when it comes to writing, and the fact that they're friends makes the questions and answers pleasantly conversational. That said, there's a point where they are discussing how there are no new stories and we get this quote:

I was trying to describe this recently, about how you have this universe of possibilities. And every time you pick one thing for your story—like Bella is brunette—all her blond and redheaded possibilities disappear. And then, when you pick the kind of car somebody drives, there are a million other vehicles, makes, and models that suddenly die. And as you narrow it down, you're just taking pieces of it and destroying whole worlds that could have been.

Of all the things to single out as fascinating road-not-taken possibilities, you go with Bella's hair and the car she drives?

With a book like this, the main draw is the lore. I wish some sections were more expansive, or at least objective, rather than drawing conclusions we already have from the series. Vampire history, for example, finishes by declaring the Volturi's motives for their laws: they're power-hungry autocrats that collect uniquely-gifted vampires like Pokémon for vampire world domination.

Whether that's true or not isn't the point. A guide like this is an opportunity to expand on a universe that's maintained the perspective of a cul-de-sac's worth of people. The Volturi are evil — to the Cullens — but they must have their supporters? The Twilight Saga is burdened by its limited scope, but this guide didn't need to be, and what we get feels like excerpts from its freely accessible wiki online than insight into the larger, undisclosed information that has informed the storytelling.

The character profiles themselves are a mixed bag. As I've mentioned already, the world is actually very small. This isn't exactly a reflection on the series being told almost exclusively through Bella's perspective, as it is Bella and the series priorities. There's a lot of repetitious passages, and then there's the "Famous quotes" at the end of each that are head-scratchingly bland.

This saga doesn't really have a lot of quotable dialogue. It has some overwrought prose and declarations from Bella and Edward that in the right mood can strike a chord, but nothing worthy of dedicating its own section. For example, here are some of the quotes: "I've never been to veterinarian school" (Carlisle) "We'd never allow anything to happen to you, sweetheart." (Esme) "Hell, yes!" (Emmett) "Edward, you have to do it." (Alice). When you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel like this, maybe don't.

Most of the additional profiles are as passable as they are forgettable, but then there's Kebi. She's basically dead inside, which isn't hard to believe when Meyer reveals she was turned into a vampire and made the mate of her slave master in life. The text even clarifies that immortality does nothing to lesson the power imbalance either, so we can truly appreciate the full horror of being with your oppressor for eternity. Why write this?

Lastly, the rampant heteronormativity of this series holds strong, even as new, disposable characters are given placeholder profiles begging for a crumb of tokenistic inclusivity. One positive of this is Meyer specifies that the existential nightmare that is imprinting is reserved for opposite sex partners.

I wouldn't presume to call Meyer homophobic, but if there was a line, she's defying gravity and all laws of physics to be toeing it right now.

Oh, and vampire venom literally whitens the skin. Even if you have dark skin, you become white. Just leaving that there.

[catherine ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I skimmed the interviews about the writing process because I didn't think the writing was good. I also completely skipped the plot points for each book because I literally JUST read the series, so there was no point to rereading it. AND I skimmed the biographies for all the vampires — I hadn't realized there were SO MANY and I really only cared about the big names.

With that being said, this was still pretty interesting to read, though here are my major takeaways:
- "Jacob was an afterthought." Well, that says a lot.
- Tattoos disappear during vampirization, which is kind of upsetting. Alice would look amazing with them.
- Vampire skin is harder than granite. I just...I cannot imagine how uncomfortable a kiss would be.
- Vampires cannot digest food. This is the saddest version of immortality there is.

I still enjoyed the little illustrations, but I was kind of craving more of them, and they were very bright and colorful — cute, though I was kind of expecting something more elegant, high contrast, and dark like the covers.

And with this, I have finally finished my Twilight literary journey!

[Tracee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still a little bitter about pre-ordering this book back in 2008 (or was it 2007?) and waiting years for it. I'm over my initial excitement for the series. Had this been published right after Breaking Dawn was released, it would have been so much more timely. The fact that they waited to add movie information completely turned me off. For me, this series is not about the movies; it is about the books. (Because, quite frankly, the movies suck.) I think it was a huge blunder on their part because many of their readers have moved on. If they want to appeal to the teenagers who are more into the movies, then wait and come out with a movie guide for all four instead of separating those out by movie. Don't make the READERS wait years after your final book for a "guide" to the series. So incredibly stupid. Sorry, that's just my opinion.

[Mairéad (is roaming the Undying Lands) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I always needed that extra fantasy world. I had to have another world I could be in at the same time.”

3.5 stars.

There is certainly an irony in all this. While I do have an immense meh factor about the overall series, I really liked the guide. But then again, it might be just the fact that it lets me dream and imagine of my own guide book to my own series (plural form, of course). And I do have to admit the drawings are gorgeous, and there were interesting timbits that Meyer unveils in this.

If anything, guide books are most likely a guilty pleasure of mine... dont judge me too harshly, please

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me personally it was a little too much character lore of side characters I truly did not even care about. I mean even the lore for the main characters I was like 'I know this why did I read this'. There's even a section of the book where every chapter from every book is broken down with bullet points of what happened? Like sparknotes without the interesting analysis?

I mean I guess that is the point of the book, but like who is this for really?

I did like the interviews in here, and the excerpts that were cute from the book. also the writing playlist and the collection of fan art are kinda cool.

[Belle]

don’t even ask me why I read this, but it was kind of fun 😅

[lex ∞༺♥༻✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i don’t know why i read this

[Julianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed for THC Reviews
The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide is a companion book to the Twilight Saga novels. Much like The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, this book was published a few years after Breaking Dawn, the final installment of the series – too far after my reading of those books for me to remember much – so I decided to save it for when I reread the series. Since I just completed that reread a couple of months ago, it was the perfect time to pick up the Illustrated Guide. I found it to be a very informative book that gives readers all sorts of insights and background that you don’t get merely from reading the novels and which can help to enhance the reading experience. A book like this could potentially be dry, but I found it be quite readable and I very much enjoyed learning all of the facts it had to impart.

The book begins with a 65-page transcript of an interview Ms. Meyer did with her good friend and fellow author, Shannon Hale. I thought that it might largely be stuff that I already knew, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find new information in it. That may or may not be true depending on how closely you follow the author. I know quite a bit about her, but since I’m not an obsessive “stalker,” I can’t speak to exactly how much of the interview covered new ground. I just know that I personally enjoyed reading it and found myself relating very well to Ms. Meyer, one author to another, and to how certain parts of our writing journeys and writing experiences mirror one another. That wasn’t necessarily surprising given how much I enjoy her work, but it was a welcome discovery anyway.

The bulk of the book is an encyclopedic reference to every character in the Twilight universe, broken down first by species: Vampires, Werewolves, and Humans. Then they’re further categorized by coven, pack, or friends and family relationships. This part was quite fascinating, because Ms. Meyer offers impressively detailed backstories on virtually all of the characters. Generally speaking, the more important they are to the story, the more detail we get. There were so many characters whose stories weren’t told in the main Twilight Saga novels. This is in part because they weren’t pertinent to the plot, but also because most of it is told in Bella’s first-person POV, meaning she wouldn’t have been privy to it unless someone recounted it to her, which in many cases, would have slowed the pace. So getting to sit down and learn all about these characters was a sweet treat. I particularly loved finally getting to learn Alice’s complete backstory, as well as learning about Sam and Emily’s love story. But I also enjoyed finding out more about the main Volturi members, the wolf pack members (the family trees tracing each of their lineages back to the original three werewolves was awesome), and some of the other coven members. Benjamin was always a stand-out to me, so his story was nice, too. Really all of them were interesting. At the beginning of each section, we also get background on each of the different species, things like physical attributes, special abilities, laws, myths, inheritance, lifestyles and lots more.

The final 100+ pages are a mixture of ingredients. We get a complete time line of events that affect the Twilight world starting in 1400-1200 B.C. and moving forward up through all the events in the books. Then there’s a full summary (kind of a cliff notes version) of all four novels of the series. After that, there’s a section with all the specs on the cars that play a part in the series. I can’t say I’m much of a car geek, but I did enjoy drooling over the pictures.:-) The author also offers up the full playlist of songs she listened to while writing the series and which specific moments in the novels that the music inspired. Then the book finishes up with a fan art gallery, a gallery of international book covers, a few deleted scenes, and finally a FAQ section, which much like the rest of the book, had some things in it that I hadn’t known before.

Overall, The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide was an excellent companion piece to the greater Twilight Saga. In addition to getting a wealth of new information, I also enjoyed seeing the artistic concepts of the main characters, as well as certain places and scenes within the series. The pictures simply added a new dimension to what was already a really great group of books. I definitely highly recommend this book. For die-hard fans of the series, like myself, it’s a must-read.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big twihard. I've tried to move away, but I'm still interested by anything new in the series. Unfortunately, this book was a huge let down. This is really just the 5 books condensed into one, with a little bit of new information and pretty pictures spattered here and there.

For anyone who even considers themselves an above-average Twilight fan, this book is nothing new for you. If you've read the books a few times or read Stephenie's website, then you've read THE MAJORITY of what's in this book. Much of the material comes from her website's FAQ, outtakes and general information sections about each book. Other parts (such as the timeline) come directly from the Twilight Lexicon (a prominent fansite).

Here are a few of my pros and cons:

PROS
* Pictures were lovely. I would have liked to see maybe a sketch, drawing or visualization for each of the minor vampires, werewolves and humans.
* Bios are included for nearly every character you can think of. Bios of Charlie and Renee are interesting. So is the long-awaited backstory of Alice. Victoria and James are great too. You won't be disappointed here.

Cons
* The majority of the illustrations were of swirls on each page. Many pictures were just insignificant nothings such as a picture of a canoe, a tribal mask and the like.
* Character bios didn't reveal anything past Breaking Dawn. Since Stephenie is "supposedly" done with the series (except for possibly additional stories for Alice & Jasper and Jacob and Renesme), I REALLY would have liked to have more information about what happens to the characters post-Breaking Dawn. Perhaps the marriage of Sam and Emily, the future of the Volturi's reign (did they every lose their power?), cool adventures or personal triumphs of the characters, did characters eventually get killed/die, etc. etc.
* Bios at time focused on information we already knew and left out what we didn't know, but wanted to. Example: Alice's vampire life was not touched on.
* FAQ section was incredibly weak. Being a fan, I've read every interview and some of the questions get pretty deep! I felt that she just covered over the very very common questions and left the deeper questions (that hardcore fans ask) out--leaving us to search for them on the internet. You've already answered them; why not include them to make the guide that much more great and all encompassing?

I guess I was expecting this book to contain a lot more stories about each character. Not just a history and synopsis of the story (as is seen in the book), but the actual mini stories with dialogue. I guess I got new content in a way, but just in a different form that I was expecting.

Unfortunately, I can't give this book higher than 3 stars because it really was a let down. The wait as not worth it in this instance and I'm a bit disappointed in how Stephenie has lost interest in the series and has moved on (understandable, but still). I just didn't feel connected to the book or feel that Stephenie was really involved that much with it (in one part she even admits that he brother wrote the section about the Cullen cars). Read it for the occasional tidbits you will come across, but really, the real "guide" to the Twilight world can be found in the five canonical books. This is really just the 5 books condensed into one, with a little bit of new information spattered here and there.

Happy reading!

[Sephireth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd like to give 0 stars but as it's impossible... there's one...
Such books are just pulished to pull the target audience's money out of their pockets. While there are some reaaaaaaaaaally good guides or compendiums (compendia?) for some series like the Black Dagger or Dark Hunters ... this one sooooo isn't worth its money!
In BD I get interviews, too - but not with the author! With the characters! With the DH guide you even get useful stuff like a recipe for cooking a cajun meal!
But this? This is just rediculous because the publishers know fans of the series will buy ANYTHING that says Twilight by Stepheny Meyer.
Well... gladly enough Meyer already lost me with Breaking Deasaster - sorry Dawn - for her flimsy background, illogical explanations (one should research DNA before writing about it!) and a way to fluffy, way to little exciting ending (where was the show-down?!).

By now I'm so constantly annoyed by her that I think I'll never by a book by her again... and after reading so much more YA-books I even ask myself why I fell for this series at all... there are so much more better ones out there. So, I'm glad I didn't actually buy this thing, I just got the opportunity to take an extensive look at it.

[Lindis Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! Although, it's not a story, it's like trying to read an intire textbook. And in fact, that's what it is. It answered alot of questions that I've had and told me some of what I'd already guessed. I loved reading about every charachter in detail. Even though it could get repetitive, since the charachters intertwine so much. For example, you hear the story of Sam, Leah, and Emily three times but from three different perspectives. Thats kinda neat. A must read for all super Twilight fans!

[Nalle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A casi diez años de haber leído Crepúsculo por primera vez me topé con esta guía y mi fan interior me hizo tenerla. Y realmente creo que es muy buena, explica mucho, demasiado tal vez. La gran mayoría me gustó mucho, especialmente las descripciones de personajes que tienen pequeños detalles que no se explotan en los libros.
Definitivamente es una guía que todo aquel que en su momento leyó, disfrutó y amo esta saga, debe leer. Además las ilustraciones son muy bonitas y complementan perfecto las amplias descripciones de la autora.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a huge Twilight fan, this was a lot of fun to finally read. I was able to skip over a few parts, like “Key Plot Points” because, let’s face it, I could have written that out myself if the opportunity presented itself.

I mostly enjoyed this read for the new to me background information on characters like Victoria, Sam, and some of the lesser talked about vampires. All cool info to now have in my unnecessarily vast Twilight space taking up too my room in my head.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great reread. Definitely towards the end though, from Key Plot Points onward, I just skimmed through mostly everything. I liked how ouch thought was out into this especially the expanse of the Twilight universe.

It gives a lot of information, so it’s like information overload. I like how in-depth Stephenie Meyer went with the characters and their backgrounds.

[Linsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was more of a “flip through to read the most interesting parts” for me, than a cover to cover read. I love that Stephenie included fan art, as well as covering backstories on all of the characters!