Twilight And The Urban Fantasy Phenomenon

The huge success of the Twilight books, written by Stephanie Meyer, and the subsequent feature film adaptation starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, has brought the Urban fantasy genre to the forefront of genre publishing. SF and fantasy purists may disapprove, but we must all appreciate the fact that Twilight, and things like Buffy before it, have been good for genre publishing as a whole. Why? Because series such as Twilight, Harry Potter and similar franchises are bringing more readers to the genres that spawned them. While these books may not be the best written or best plotted things on the market, they are opening up the minds of young readers to the realms of fantastic fiction in all its forms. Look at it this way: The Twilight books are finite, and once young readers have finished reading the series, they will look for similar titles to read until the next Twilight book comes along. These could be the dark fairy-tales of Neil Gaiman, the vampire hunter books of Laurel K Hamiltion, the varied urban fantasy of Kelley Armstrong, or the excellent vampire novels of S. Roit (aka Sherry Roit), such as the impeccable Paris Immortal. Many bookshops now contain a dedicated Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance section, and while SF and fantasy purists such as myself may have our issues with their contents, these books are bringing a new audience into an industry that desperately needs new readers. Some argue that this is not the case, with Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy readers sticking to similar titles once their favourite series comes to an end, but many of these people will move on to other titles as they mature and their tastes change. The paranormal and fantasy genres have always gained from the addition of popular movie tie-ins and movies themselves, and rather than being empty, vapid pieces of trash fiction, they are the doorway to a universe of wonder for new readers to discover. The same goes for movie and TV tie-in merchandise and tie-in novels from franchises such as Star Wars, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Buffy and so on- they help strengthen the publishing industry by offering brand familiarity to people who may not usually read. Twilight has brought a number of young teenaged readers new icons in Edward and Bella, but there are so many other characters and stories for them to discover. See Twilight as a stepping stone to greater things, and welcome the new fans that stick around into the genres of fantasy, science fiction and horror with open arms.