The Vampire Diaries (novel series)

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 March 2017.

The Vampire Diaries

1. The Awakening: Volume I (1991) ISBN 978-1-4449-0071-2
2. The Struggle: Volume II (1991) ISBN 978-0-06-199076-2
3. The Fury: Volume III (1991) ISBN 978-0-06-199077-9
4. Dark Reunion: Volume IV (1992) ISBN 978-0-06202058-1 (The Reunion in the UK and Australia version)

The Return trilogy

1. The Return: Nightfall (2009)ISBN 9780061720802
2. The Return: Shadow Souls (2010) ISBN 978-0-06-172083-3
3. The Return: Midnight (2011) ISBN 978-0-06-172085-7

The Hunters trilogy

1. The Hunters: Phantom (2011) (Written by a ghostwriter)
2. The Hunters: Moonsong (2012) (Written by a ghostwriter)
3. The Hunters: Destiny Rising (2012) (Written by a ghostwriter)

The Salvation trilogy

1. The Salvation: Unseen (2013) (Written by Aubrey Clark)
2. The Salvation: Unspoken (2013) (Written by Aubrey Clark)
3. The Salvation: Unmasked (2014) (Written by Aubrey Clark)

Omnibuses

Short stories

Published on Lisa Jane Smith's official website.

Cuts from The Return: Shadow Souls

Published on Lisa Jane Smith's official website.

Television adaptation

On February 6, 2009, Variety announced that The CW Television Network greenlit the pilot for a television series entitled The Vampire Diaries with Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec set as the writers and executive producers. On May 19, 2009, the pilot was officially ordered to series for the 2009-2010 season.

Stefan's Diaries

The Stefan's Diaries are six novels based on the TV series, attributed to Lisa Jane Smith but actually ghostwritten. They tell Stefan and Damon's past since Katherine's arrival. As they were written during the series broadcast, some things differ, such as the story of the original Vampires.