Despite what my family and myself have gone through over the last several weeks, I have been able to deeply immerse myself into the beautiful and fictional love story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen. In a way their world acted as a reprieve from my own.

By now you may have already heard of or have seen the movie ‘Twilight’. What you may not know, however, is that the movie is based on the first novel of the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer.

Simply put, the Twilight Saga – consisting of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn – is simply breathtaking!

This was one saga that I could honestly not put down. From the very first page of Twilight to the last of Breaking Dawn, not a single moment has passed in which I have not thought about this ethereal story. Even now, with a hint of a faint smirk at the corner of my lips, I fondly reminisce about the characters, their lives and how the ‘Lion fell in love with the Lamb’.

If you have yet to read the books or watch the first movie, here is the blurb for Book One of the Twilight Saga – Twilight:

When 17 year old Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father she expects that her new life will be as dull as the town. But in spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella. Bella is convinced that Edward Cullen in particular hates her, but she feels a strange attraction to him, although his hostility makes her feel almost physically ill. He seems determined to push her away until, that is, he saves her life from an out of control car. Bella will soon discover that there is a very good reason for Edward’s coldness. He, and his family, are vampires and he knows how dangerous it is for others to get too close.

For some time I have been toying with the idea of listening to books instead of reading them. Thus, out of pure curiosity, I downloaded the audio books for the Twilight Saga. As fantastic as the audio books are, and they are good, I found that I personally prefer to read the books rather than to have them read to me. However, I did discover that the easiest way to get someone to read a book that I have enjoyed is to let them listen to the audio books. Since I have been utterly consumed by the Twilight Saga, it was only natural for me to try and persuade others to give it a chance. With the use of the audio books, and my persistent insistence, I have successfully lulled more than five people into the fantastical world of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga.

Interestingly, not only did Stephenie Meyer create a heroine like timeless love story but she also managed to introduce me to the band known as Muse – whose music I have dubbed as hauntingly beautiful, just like Bella and Edwards eternal love story. Apparently the group known as Muse partially acted as her writing ‘muse’. Now, whenever I listen to their music, I can picture and relive scenes from the Twilight Saga. I am amazed at the symbiotic relationship between the Twilight Saga’s story and music from Muse – as if they were cut from the same cloth.

Strangely enough, before reading the Twilight Saga I read The Host, another novel by Stephenie Meyer, which is essentially a new take on the concept of ‘the body snatchers’. As a matter of fact, it was The Host which convinced me to purchase the Twilight Saga (mind you, the movie also helped in that regard). The Host, in itself, is an excellent read. It is actually one of the only books to actually allow me to feel true emotion for the characters. Stephenie Meyer is by no means a ‘one hit wonder/one genre rut-er’ (*cough* Christopher Paolini *cough*).

If you are looking for a new work of fiction to enjoy, I sincerely hope you immerse yourself into the Twilight Saga!

(P.S.: My Zune card is now a part of Hans’ Milieu, just below my Xbox 360 Gamer tag)