"Many of the big books for this year have been moved out of the last few months due to COVID and delayed until later this year or even next year. Even without this title movement, a book from Stephenie Meyer would always be one of the biggest releases of the year," Ms Sherwin-Stark said.
Booktopia's children's and young adult category manager Sarah McDuling said the online retailer had pre-sold nearly 3000 copies of Midnight Sun, "far outstripping" the sales for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel in Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games series released in May.
Midnight Sun is narrated by moody and broody "vegetarian" vampire Edward Cullen, whose love affair with the lip-biting, breathy-sigher Bella Swan provokes an existential crisis for both that dominates the four novels in the Twilight series. The books were transformed into five record-breaking movies, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.
Ms Meyer had originally abandoned writing the prequel after a rough draft of it was leaked online in 2008, saying it was "a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being".
Stephenie Meyer published her debut novel Twilight in 2005.
Twihard Annie McCann is one reader who still has Bella and Edward in her blood. Ms McCann said she was "obsessed and addicted" when she first read the series more than a decade ago and she started a blog Read3rz Re-Vu to provide a forum for Twilight chat. While her taste has moved away from paranormal fiction, Ms McCann said she is keen to delve back into the fantasy and has organised a Midnight Sun bookclub.
"I am really keen to see whether or not Stephenie Meyer has grown as an author, how differently she writes and the different perspective," Ms McCann, 34, said. "It's so nice to look forward to. Given the state of the world, I think tapping into an old fandom is exactly what we need right now."
Oof. Human Kristen Stewart and her vampire crush Robert Pattinson in a scene from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.Credit:AP
But not all Australian booksellers are convinced of Meyer's immortality. Bricks-and-mortar bookstores, including Melbourne's Readings and Sydney's Kinokuniya, haven't placed huge orders or experienced significant pre-orders for Midnight Sun, although that could be down to reduced foot traffic and the absence of launch events due to the pandemic.
"Im not expecting Midnight Sun to reach the same heights as the earlier books in the series, though I did increase my initial order as I heard the internet buzz intensify," said Kinokuniya's English books division manager Allyx Lathrope.
Loading
"Itll certainly be interesting to see if those teens who read Twilight and are now grown-ups will come back to Edward and Bella."
Readings managing director Mark Rubbo said Melbourne's lockdown had made it hard to gauge sales with the bookshop's overall business down by almost half.
"Once it comes out it will get massive publicity and that will generate the interest. It always does with these kinds of books," Mr Rubbo said.
Ms McCann has fond memories of staying up all night to read the last Twilight novel, Breaking Dawn, and longs to recapture a little of the magic again.
"I remember my heart beating a lot...I remember being on the edge of my seat. I hope I can have the same experience as I did before."
Melanie Kembrey is Spectrum Deputy Editor at the Sydney Morning Herald.
Read more from the original source:
Readers ready to bite into first Twilight novel in more than a decade - Sydney Morning Herald
- Real Vampires, Immortality, Gothic, Pagan, Eternal Life ... - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Semi-Immortality - Superpower Wiki - Wikia - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Crown of Immortality - Wikipedia - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Amrita - Wikipedia - January 5th, 2017 [January 5th, 2017]
- 'Rick And Morty' Theory: Did Rick Gift Morty With Immortality ... - moviepilot.com - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Brian Dawkins: One day away from pro football immortality - Inside the Iggles - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Is Brain Augmentation Leading The Way To Immortality? - Wall Street Pit - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Jeff Jacobs: Near NFL Immortality, Tom Brady Shows Human Side - Hartford Courant - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- 3 former Cowboys ready to fight for immortality in Super Bowl LI - Cowboys Wire - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Diet Culture Exists to Fight Off the Fear of Death - The Atlantic - The Atlantic - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- The best evah? Not everybody at parade rated this year's comeback number one - The Boston Globe - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Why Immortality Is Overrated - NPR - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Immortality of written words - University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Baidu-backer Singaporean Finian Tan bets on the next big thing ... - DEALSTREETASIA - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Sleepy Hollow: Ichabod Comes Home and Malcolm Achieves Immortality - TVOvermind - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Immortality | The Institute for Creation Research - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Immortality | Dragon Ball Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Immortality (Celine Dion song) - Wikipedia - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Quotes About Immortality (489 quotes) - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Reality Of Immortality: Oregon State Is Five Games Away From ... - Building the Dam - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- New Yorker seeks pinball immortality - Fox5NY - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- McGraw One Step From Hoop Immortality :: Notre Dame Women's ... - Notre Dame Official Athletic Site - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Blind love and immortality haunt 'The Invention of Morel' | Chicago ... - Chicago Sun-Times - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Aussies should prep for immortality, as life expectancy rises - Techly - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Johnson chasing 8th title, racing immortality - La Crosse Tribune - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Technology, immortality and pensions - The Times (subscription) - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Fighting McGregor Just Another Easy Step to Immortality for Mayweather - The Sweet Science - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Faces of Russia: Mila Arutyunyan on Immortality - Argophilia Travel News - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- Frank Mason becomes a part of KU basketball immortality - Wichita Eagle (blog) - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Living Immortality, Russian Economy in 2017, How Big Is Russia's Inequality Gap, and the Kremlin's Risky Plans - Institute of Modern Russia - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- The mortal side of biological immortality - Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Immortality | Harry Potter Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Georges St-Pierre Takes Aim at Immortality in Title Shot Against Michael Bisping - Bleacher Report - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Middletown's Bertoni is 4 wins away from 4 titles, state-wrestling immortality - Frederick News Post (subscription) - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Lecture 18 - The Badness of Death, Part III; Immortality ... - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Decoding death: Craig Venter's quest to uncover secret to immortality in our DNA - Genetic Literacy Project - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Atlassian aims for corporate immortality in the cloud - The Australian Financial Review - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- How two trades pushed Patrik Elias into Devils immortality | New ... - New York Post - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- The baseball immortality of Beaver County's James Madison Toy - Tribune-Review - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Why the Grand National is the holy grail and sporting immortality the prize - Telegraph.co.uk - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Diane Paulus sees immortality in 'Finding Neverland' - Orlando Sentinel - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- AI experts: Prepare for a sad immortality - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- The Ayatollah and his immortality - Tehran Times - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Public broadcasting's immortality defies reason - The Washington Post - Washington Post - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Golden State Is One Win Away From Immortality, And The Cavs Can't Do Anything About It - UPROXX - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- Golden State Is One NBA Finals Victory From Immortality - The Federalist - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- Nick Tavares: Reds' Scooter Gennett the latest to achieve baseball immortality - SouthCoastToday.com - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Stanley Cup immortality - Yahoo Sports - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]
- LIVE FOREVER? Julian Assange claims immortality is near by 'DIGITISING BRAINS' - Express.co.uk - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- immortality at a price - TheRecord.com - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- Achieving immortality through good cinema - The Navhind Times - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- 'Immortality mushroom' discovered in mountains of western Turkey's anakkale - Daily Sabah - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- FILMING IMMORTALITY: Independent filmmaker Tanya Fermin brings unreal life to Wilmington's film industry - encore Online - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- Scientist Say Lack Of Funding Is Biggest Obstacle To Immortality - EconoTimes - June 21st, 2017 [June 21st, 2017]
- Hang in There: The 25-Year Wait for Immortality - June 21st, 2017 [June 21st, 2017]
- Lions v All Blacks: Furlong ready to take next step in bid for immortality - Belfast Telegraph - June 23rd, 2017 [June 23rd, 2017]
- Keanu Reeves Addresses Those Immortality Rumors (Video) - TheWrap - June 24th, 2017 [June 24th, 2017]
- Complete Immortality - TV Tropes - June 24th, 2017 [June 24th, 2017]
- Can The Harry Potter Fandom Survive A New Canon? - BuzzFeed News - June 30th, 2017 [June 30th, 2017]
- Why the super-rich are ploughing billions into the booming 'immortality industry' - Evening Standard - June 30th, 2017 [June 30th, 2017]
- Lions reaction: Sean O'Brien wants 'immortality' as Ferris says momentum could prove key to beating All Blacks - Belfast Telegraph - July 1st, 2017 [July 1st, 2017]
- Living to 125 and beyond: Scientists dispute there's a limit to - KMOV.com - KMOV.com - July 2nd, 2017 [July 2nd, 2017]
- Graham Simmons Takes Lions Hype To Barely Palatable Level During Sean O'Brien Interview - Balls.ie - July 3rd, 2017 [July 3rd, 2017]
- Achieving immortality through literature - The Navhind Times - July 3rd, 2017 [July 3rd, 2017]
- Immortality crowned best at Italian film festival - Tehran Times - Tehran Times - July 3rd, 2017 [July 3rd, 2017]
- Fancy a vitamin infusion? - EsquireMe - July 4th, 2017 [July 4th, 2017]
- British and Irish Lions 2017: Warren Gatland tells Lions to seize immortality after naming unchanged side for third ... - City A.M. - July 5th, 2017 [July 5th, 2017]
- Billionaires dream of immortality. The rest of us worry about healthcare - The Guardian - July 5th, 2017 [July 5th, 2017]
- Newgrange: Ireland's amazing feat of Stone Age engineering - CNN International - July 6th, 2017 [July 6th, 2017]
- Ronan O'Gara suggests how Sean O'Brien should have responded to immortality question - SportsJOE.ie - July 7th, 2017 [July 7th, 2017]
- The immortality of man - The Hindu - July 7th, 2017 [July 7th, 2017]
- Lions have what it takes to claim immortality against All Blacks - Irish Times - July 7th, 2017 [July 7th, 2017]
- 'Biggest game ever' for Lions as immortality beckons - Irish Times - July 8th, 2017 [July 8th, 2017]
- Reliving Edhi's journey to immortality | Pakistan | thenews.com.pk - The News International - July 8th, 2017 [July 8th, 2017]
- Conditional immortality - Sunbury Daily Item - July 8th, 2017 [July 8th, 2017]
- Maradona, the mafia and immortality: three decades on from Napoli's Holy Grail - The42 - July 10th, 2017 [July 10th, 2017]
- DARK NIGHTS: METAL #1 First Look - The Hints, Symbols, & 'Ocean of Possibilities' - Newsarama - July 11th, 2017 [July 11th, 2017]
- DARK NIGHTS: METAL 101: The Immortal Man & The Four Tribes - Newsarama - July 11th, 2017 [July 11th, 2017]
- Immortality Inducer - TV Tropes - July 12th, 2017 [July 12th, 2017]
- Letter to the Editor: Conditional immortality? - Sunbury Daily Item - July 14th, 2017 [July 14th, 2017]