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The Twilight Saga needs no introductions. Whether you loved it or hated it while the books and movies were coming out, or whether you caught wind of the so-called “Twilight Renaissance” that’s been happening for the past few years over the Internet, we are all pretty familiar with the sparkly skins of killers, questionable character background choices—looking at you Jasper—and even more questionable ripping off of actual Native American legends and myths.
There’s much to say about the literary saga that sprung from the pen—and allegedly dreams—of author Stephanie Meyer, and probably even more to observe about the fandom that grew around it and the responses to it that are still going strong to this day, almost 20 years after the first Twilight novel was published.
But first, it’s probably better to get all our vampires in a row, so here’s a reading guide to the complete Twilight Saga and the works it contains—in case you want to catch up on the craze that was sweeping everyone and their mother up in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
The main Twilight novels
The pillars of the Twilight Saga are, of course, the four main novels detailing the story of how lonely and awkward teenager Isabella “Bella” Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington and meets impossibly beautiful and brooding vampire Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. A part of me hates that I still remember his full name without having to look it up but we shall move on and not dwell on it.The first one is the titular Twilight, published in 2005. It covers the beginning of Edward and Bella’s relationship, her discovery that he and his whole family are vampires, and the Cullens squaring off against James, the first in a long line of vampires who want to eat Bella for breakfast. It also sets up most of the long-running story threads of the entire saga, especially Bella wanting to be turned into a vampire, and introduces Jacob Black, Bella’s childhood friend and a member of the nearby Native Quileute tribe.
