The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire fiction series of novels created by American author L. J. Smith. The story centers on Stefan Salvatore, a vampire, and his life.
Publishing history
The series was originally published in 1991–1992 and it revolves around Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert as the two main protagonists. The first three novels in the original series (The Awakening, The Struggle, and The Fury) all feature Stefan and Elena as the narrators of the series, while the last book in the original series, Dark Reunion, is from Bonnie McCullough's viewpoint.
After taking a long hiatus from writing, Smith published the first installment of "The Return" trilogy, Nightfall, 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, was written by a ghostwriter. In fact, Smith signed a "work for hire" contract back when she had written the original Vampire Diaries novel trilogy, which means Alloy owns the copyrights to the series. Smith had originally intended to call the books in "The Hunters" trilogy Phantom, Evensong and Eternity, but the third book was called Destiny Rising by the ghostwriter. Phantom was released on October 25, 2011, Moonsong on March 13, 2012, and Destiny Rising on October 23, 2012.
The Salvation trilogy was written by ghostwriter Aubrey Clark. The first installment, Unseen, was released on May 2, 2013, the second book, Unspoken, on November 7, 2013, and the third and final book, Unmasked, on May 8, 2014. The first two books of The Salvation trilogy were first released on Amazon.com as a paperback and ebook while Unmasked was available for pre-order purchase in five formats as of March 11, 2014 at Amazon.com.
On January 15, 2014, Smith announced that she would be continuing to write her version of The Vampire Diaries before she was fired by Alloy. Smith would continue to write her books on Amazon Kindle as fan fiction and are not part of the official series. The Evensong arc would pick up where The Return: Midnight had left off and it takes place in an alternate world from the official series that follows Midnight. The three titles in the Evensong trilogy include Paradise Lost, The War of Roses and Into the Wood. While the first two titles were released in 2014, Into the Wood has not yet been released as of June 2021. However, L. J. Smith has revealed that the novel will be released via Kindle Worlds.
Novels
The Vampires
The Awakening: Volume I (1991) The Awakening () is the first novel in the Vampire Diaries series and introduces the main cast of characters Elena, Stefan, Matt, Bonnie, Caroline and Meredith. The plot of the novel revolves around the romance between Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert and the group's attempts to understand the brutal attacks that have taken place in Fell's Church. Stefan Salvatore believes that he was committing the atrocities, though it is later revealed that it was his brother Damon Salvatore. This book also introduces the background of the Salvatore brothers which introduces the characters Katherine and Klaus.
The Struggle: Volume II (1991) The Struggle () picks up where The Awakening left off while introducing new characters like Alaric Saltzman. After the murder of their past history teacher Elena attempts to clear Stefan's innocence after he is accused of committing the crime and Damon looks into Alaric Saltzman's role in all of this. It is later revealed that the town knows about vampires and hired Alaric to try to kill Stefan and Damon; however, Alaric later joins Damon and Stefan and ends up dating Meredith Sulez. A powerful being has returned to Fells Church and everything is out of control despite Stefan's belief in Damon as the perpetrator no one knows its identity. Controlling the wind, the evil power chases Elena off Wickery Bridge to her death.
The Fury: Volume III (1991) The Fury () reveals that the Salvatore's former lover Katherine von Swartzchild was the evil force in Fell's Church and that she ran Elena off the bridge where Elena turned into a vampire. The Fury introduces Katherine as a villain with the plot revolving around a newly turned Elena trying to cope with the stresses of becoming a vampire. Stefan and Damon work together to try to stop Katherine, who has been possessing animals and killing people all around Fell's Church. Discovering Katherine's secret lair beneath the graveyard, Stefan, Damon and Elena fight her resulting in both Elena and Katherine's deaths.