From wizards to vampires: Is 'Twilight' the next 'Harry Potter'?

At midnight on August 2, humans will be turned into bloodthirsty vampires, and angry werewolves will be on the prowl – for anyone who is reading “Breaking Dawn,” anyway.

The “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer has millions of readers thirsting for more. On Saturday, that thirst will be quenched when the fourth installment in the saga, “Breaking Dawn,” is released.

Entertainment Weekly called the “Twilight” series “the hottest books since ‘Harry Potter,’” and guessed that Stephenie Meyer “might be the next J.K. Rowling.”
Unlike the “Harry Potter” books, which appealed to a very wide range of fans, the romance-mystery “Twilight” series attracts mainly a female audience. This is mainly because the book is written from Bella Swan’s point of view and her attraction to the immortal vampire Edward Cullen – one of the main characters.

The series centers around 17-year-old Bella, who moves to Forks, Wash., where she meets the mysterious and fascinating Edward. She soon discovers that he is a vampire, dangerous and thirsty for her blood, but it is too late. She is already head over heels in love with him.

“Twilight” and “Harry Potter” are similar in that they both became wildly popular worldwide in a short period of time.

It has been only three years since the first book in the “Twilight” series was released.
The first four “Harry Potter” books were released from 1997 to 2000 consecutively. “Harry Potter” fans eagerly awaited the release of the next book, and all books have been or are in the process of becoming movies.

“Harry Potter” movies one through five are currently out on DVD and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is due in theaters on November 21. “Twilight” fans were also ecstatic when they heard that a movie was in the works, and now are counting down the days until its release on December 12.

However, while “Harry Potter” can be summed up as a fierce battle between good and evil and a young boy’s struggle to win that battle, “Twilight” is more along the lines of “a modern day Romeo and Juliet,” IU sophomore Ashland Theodore said.

“I love the series,” she said. “There’s something appealing about a world where rules are bent and broken, and natural laws are defied.”

The main difference between the two series, Theodore said, is that “Twilight” is first and foremost a romance.

“The sexual tension between Edward and Bella jumps off the page,” she said.
Sophomore Billy Bowman, one of the few and far between male fans of Twilight said, “(Twilight) may get as popular, but the stories and audiences are too different to compare the two.”

So far, the “Harry Potter” books are J.K. Rowling’s only work. Whether she will continue to write is not certain, but Stephenie Meyer has already proven that she is not a one-hit-wonder.

Her first adult fiction novel, “The Host,” was released on May 6 and it has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 10 weeks.

IU Senior Micky Michie, another male “Twilight” fan, said Stephenie Meyers’ writing sets the two fantasy series apart.

“She puts an enormous amount of time in focusing on the characters,” he said. “She was able to make a town run by vampires and werewolves seem as normal and realistic as any other real life story,” he said.

Michelle Grenat, store manager of Bloomington’s Barnes and Noble, said “Twilight” has the possibility of becoming the new ‘Harry Potter,’” but that “Twilight” is geared more toward slightly older teens whereas “Harry Potter” was more of a children’s series, however it has its adult fans as well. The content in “Harry Potter” is not quite as mature as that in “Twilight,” because it does not revolve completely around romance.

Grenat called “Breaking Dawn” the “big book of the summer,” and enthusiastically discussed the release party, which begins at 9 p.m. on Aug. 1 at Barnes and Noble bookstore, located at 2813 E. Third St. It will be the first “Twilight” book party at Barnes and Noble.

The party will feature a costume contest, the first three winners of which will have the oppurtunity to purchase the book first, Grenat said.

“We expect the event to be slightly smaller than the ‘Harry Potter’ parties, all four of which were very successful,” Grenat said.

The Bloomington Borders, located at 2634 E. Third St., will host its own “Night with Bite” release party on Aug. 1, starting at 9:30 p.m.

“I’ve already reserved ‘Breaking Dawn’ at Borders and plan to go to the midnight party on August 1,” Theodore said.