The Vampire Diaries (novel series)

The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire, romance and horror series of novels created and written by L. J. Smith. The Vampire Diaries is now a hit television series on The CW The story centers on Elena Gilbert, a young, beautiful high school girl who finds herself eventually torn between two Italian brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, who are centuries old vampires. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth volume, Dark Reunion, which was released the following year in 1992. The first four novels in the original series: The Awakening, The Struggle, The Fury and Dark Reunion all feature Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert as the main narrators and protagonists of the series. The first three novels in the original series are from both Stefan and Elena's point of view, but the last book in the original series, Dark Reunion, is from Bonnie McCullough's viewpoint. Smith announced a new spin off trilogy in 2007 entitled The Vampire Diaries: The Return, which featured Damon Salvatore as the narrator of the trilogy. The first installment of The Return trilogy, Nightfall, was released on February 10, 2009. Shadow Souls, the second book of The Return trilogy, was released on March 16, 2010. The third and final book of The Return trilogy, Midnight, was released on March 15, 2011. The trilogy after The Return trilogy, The Hunters, is written by a ghostwriter. The trilogy goes back to featuring Stefan and Elena as the main narrators and protagonists. 
Smith signed a "work for hire" contract when she began writing the original Vampire Diaries novel trilogy, which means Alloy owns the copyrights to the series. Many speculations have been made as to why Smith was fired, but no official statement has been made by either the author or publisher. Several rumors state that Smith had intended Elena to choose Damon over Stefan and the publishers disagreed; this has not been confirmed, however.
Smith had originally intended to call the books in The Hunters trilogy Phantom, Evensong and Eternity, but she retained the name Eternity and will be writing a book unrelated to the series called Eternity: A Vampire Love Story. The title of the third and last book in The Hunters trilogy is Destiny Rising. The new trilogy of The Hunters will focus mainly on Stefan and Elena, their life in college with their friends and all of the events surrounding them. Phantom was released on October 25, 2011. Moonsong was released on March 13, 2012. Destiny Rising, the third and final book of The Hunters trilogy and the final book of The Vampire Diaries, was released on October 23, 2012. It was confirmed by the publishers, HarperTeen, that Destiny Rising was the last and final book of the entire Vampire Diaries trilogy. Like The Hunters trilogy, the Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries series, which is a book series based on the CW television show told from Stefan's point of view, is also written by a ghostwriter. In 2013, a new trilogy was released. The first book, The Salvation: Unseen, was released on May 2, 2013. The second book, The Salvation: Unspoken, was released on November 7, 2013. The third and final book of the trilogy was released some time in 2014. The Salvation trilogy was written by ghostwriter, Aubrey Clark.
==Plot==
Elena Gilbert is a popular high school golden girl who is used to getting what she wants. When she meets handsome, haunted Stefan Salvatore, he struggles to resist her for fear that his dark secret is too much for her to handle. He's torn by guilt over his past, and mindful of the threat that his vengeful brother, Damon, poses to anyone Stefan gets close to. Soon Elena finds herself torn between two brothers, and in terrible danger.
==Novels==
===Original Books===
* The Awakening (1991)
* The Struggle (1991)
* The Fury (1991)
* Dark Reunion (1992)
===The Return===
* The Return: Nightfall (2009)
* The Return: Shadow Souls (2010)
* The Return: Midnight (2011)
===The Hunters===
* The Hunters: Phantom (2011, written by a ghostwriter)
* The Hunters: Moonsong (2012, written by a ghostwriter)
* The Hunters: Destiny Rising (2012, written by a ghostwriter)
===The Salvation===
* The Salvation: Unseen (2013, written by a ghostwriter Aubrey Clark)
* The Salvation: Unspoken (2013, written by a ghostwriter Aubrey Clark)
* The Salvation: Unmasked (2014, written by a ghostwriter Aubrey Clark)
==L.J. Smith's Fan Fiction==
=== An Untold Tales (novel series) ===
* Matt and Elena - First Date (2010)
* Matt and Elena - Tenth Date: On Wickery Pond (2010)
* Blood Will Tell (2010)
* Elena's Christmas (2010)
* The Trees (2010)
* Dinner Disaster (2010)
* Damon and Bonnie - After Hours (2011)
* Damon and Elena - Tumbleweeds (2011)
===Evensong (Continuation from The Return: Midnight)===
* Evensong: Paradise Lost (2014)
* Evensong: The War of Roses (2014)
* Evensong: Into the Wood (2014)
==TV Series Based==
===Stefan's Diaries===
* Stefan's Diaries: Origins (2010)
* Stefan's Diaries: Bloodlust (2011)
* Stefan's Diaries: The Craving (2011)
* Stefan's Diaries: The Ripper (2011)
* Stefan's Diaries: The Asylum (2012)
* Stefan's Diaries: The Compelled (2012)
===Love You to Death===
* Love You to Death: Season 1 (2010)
* Love You to Death: Season 2 (2011)
* Love You to Death: Season 3 (2012)
* Love You to Death: Season 4 (2013)
* Love You to Death: Season 5 (2014)
===The Originals===
* The Originals: The Rise (2015)
* The Originals: The Loss (2015)
* The Originals: The Resurrection (2015)
==Book Characters==
===Main Characters===
===Vampire Characters===
===Human Characters===
===Werewolf Characters===
===Witch Characters===
===Kitsune Characters===
===Angel Characters===
==Plot Summary==
===Original Books===
===The Return===
===The Hunters===
===The Salvation===
===Evensong===
==Timeline==
In Dark Reunion, Elena's year is said to be the "year of '92", which is confirmed by Bonnie's diary. However, in The Return series, technology has advanced by many years. Thus, if the "1992" date is ignored, it could be inferred that the first three books took place in 2013, the nearest possible date (it was a Friday 13th in December).
Based on this:
*The Awakening - Beginning of September, 2013
*The Struggle - Includes October, 2013
*The Fury - Ends December, 2013
*Dark Reunion - June, 2014
*The Return: Nightfall - Beginning of June, 2014
*The Return: Shadow Souls - August, 2014
*The Return: Midnight - August, 2014
*The Hunters: Phantom - August, 2014
*The Hunters: Moonsong - September, 2014
*The Hunters: Destiny Rising - In late 2014
==Tree of The Vampire Diaries==
==Trivia==
*Some characters appears only in novels.
==The Vampire Diaries==
* Episode Guide
* Novel Characters
* Characters
* Cast
==See also==
Category:The Vampire Diaries (books)