E.L. James to release a new Christian Grey book, told from his perspective

wenn4061901

True story: last week, I realized that I would probably need to know what I was talking about with the Fifty Shades of Grey sequel, Fifty Shades Darker, so I just ordered the second and third books over the weekend. I read the first one a few years ago and I hated it so much that I swore I wouldn’t finish the trilogy. But anything for the job, right? I will hate-read the books. And then I will hate-read the new book E.L. James has written. She just announced that a new Christian Grey will be released on June 18, which is Christian Grey’s birthday (for the love of God…). It will be the same story (??) told through Christian’s perspective.

And the saga continues. Author E. L. James will be releasing a new “Fifty Shades of Grey” novel written from character Christian Grey’s point of view. The book, titled “Grey,” will be published on June 18 — Grey’s birthday. James has dedicated the book “to those readers who asked… and asked… and asked… and asked for this.”

“Christian is a complex character and readers have always been fascinated by his desires and motivations, and his troubled past,” James said in a press release. “Also, as anyone who has ever been in a relationship knows, there are two sides to every story. It’s been a great pleasure to return to my happy place-writing, being with Christian and Ana in their universe, and working with the fantastic team at Vintage.”

“Grey” will be published in paperback and as an eBook by Vintage Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group — a division of Penguin Random House.

“Fifty Shades of Grey is a love story that has enthralled readers in a way that few books have,” said Vintage Books publisher and James’ editor, Anne Messitte. “When Erika mentioned to me that she wanted to explore Christian’s viewpoint and re-open the story, I was incredibly excited for her and for her readers. This book has all the compelling attributes of its predecessors, and I can’t wait for Fifty Shades fans to experience the work again from a perspective they have long desired.”

[From Variety]

Let me translate Anne Messitte’s statement: “It shocked me that EL’s drivel actually made so much money, so we’ve all schemed for a way to make even more money, because pandering to the desires of stupid people has made us all rich!!” I wonder if Christian Grey’s narration involves a lot of crying over nothing, references to inner goddesses and “down there.” I wonder if Christian is just as ridiculous as Anastasia, basically. He would have to be. In my mind, E.L. James wrote this in a month and the editor “proofread” it after ten tequila shots.

wenn22176699

Photos courtesy of WENN.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

75 Responses to “E.L. James to release a new Christian Grey book, told from his perspective”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Kiddo says:

    “Things no one asked for, wants or needs for a thousand, Alec.”

  2. Christo says:

    Ugh…looks like someone needs some more icing on that stale cake.

  3. JH says:

    Love story? Oh, dear.

    • Sarah says:

      That’s what jumped out at me as well. Anyone who considers this a “love story” is beyond sick.

  4. Amy says:

    The laziest form of book-writing ever.

    Didn’t they try to do this with Twilight too?

    • Luciana says:

      Yes they did and I was just coming here to comment on that! So not only did she basically steal the characters from Stephanie Meyers (regardless of the fact that she changed their names), but she stole this idea from her too. This woman is clearly incapable of coming up with anything on her own. I wish she would just go away, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen.

      • I Choose Me says:

        Exactly. I was just about to type the same thing. And her writing’s even sh*ttier than Meyer’s. My sister in law sent me the pdf and I tried to read it but gave up after page five. How? How did her books become a thing?

    • Shambles says:

      EL James is LeAnne-Rhimes-Cibrian-ing Stephenie Meyer. Sad, and an insult to people who enjoy good literature. As you said below, I Choose Me, I admittedly read MS too. I liked your suggestion of reading it from the point of view that Edward is insane. I might have to try that soon.

    • Katie says:

      I was just about to comment that too. Yes Meyer planned to rewrite twilight from Edward’s perspective, entitled midnight sun. But it got published online in parts before she could finish so she stopped writing.
      Fifty shades is lazy writing to begin with and the entire thing is a rip off. I guess EL james needed to complete her work

  5. Damn says:

    This woman knows no shame.

    Admirable.

    • Elisa the I. says:

      I don’t quite get all the hate – good for her if she succeeds. So what if she does it in an unoriginal way? Most of the stuff I see or read IS copy/paste in some way…

  6. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    Gross.

  7. Bridget says:

    Otherwise known as “I have no other ideas, please keep buying stuff from me!”

    • BRE says:

      And I swear all the women on my FB page that seem to have never picked up a novel before these books will be “SO EXCITED!”

  8. Melody says:

    Only if Christian is a serial killer with a long-term plan, would I be interested.

    • Don't kill me I'm French says:

      If Grey was Patrick Bateman ( book or movie),it would be more readable

  9. kc says:

    So I’m embarrassed that I know this – we all know that 50 is fan fiction for twilight, right? Well Stephenie Meyer started a book telling twilight from Edward ‘ perspective called midnight sun. She didn’t release it because it was somehow hacked and everyone ended up being able to read it, so she declined to finish it. My point? Once again proof that El James is not capable of am original thought. I will now hide my head in shame.

    • Amy says:

      Thank you for confirming that Twilight definitely did do it first. Geez this woman…have she and EL ever been in a room together? I feel like on some level they have to hate each other.

    • LAK says:

      I’m embarrassed to admit that I read ‘Midnight Sun’, but i’m redeemed by the fact I read only the first 2 books in the twilight series.

      • I Choose Me says:

        I read Midnight Sun too. Bitchy Edward is hilarious and way more interesting than Bella. If you read it from the pov that he’s insane, it’s quite the entertaining read. Plus, Meyer seemed to have improved upon her writing techniques somewhat by this point.

    • Cali says:

      I’m totally not embarrassed to admit that I read Midnight Sun and still hope Stephenie writes the whole thing some day. I know Twilight books weren’t some great literary feat but I still loved them anyway, they got me back into reading fiction after a long period of non-fiction only.

      FSoG on the other hand – I am embarrassed to say I read them all. BUT deleted them from my Kindle library and from my online amazon digital library.

      • original kay says:

        **sits down beside Cali**

        I also love Twilight. But not Edward, he drives me bats. I like Jacob. God help me.

      • Virgilia Coriolanus says:

        I didn’t hate the writing of Twilight (writing has to be flat out awful for me to put something down, especially as I read a lot of fanfics that have dubious writing skills), but the storyline is what drove me crazy. The characterizations, etc. The first one was okay….but after that? I only read the fourth one because I liked the descriptions of the other vampires from different countries, different races, etc…..we don’t often see that in YA books (At last not ones I’ve read, so don’t jump on me, lol). But by the time the second movie came out, I was over it. Like my aunt was all excited, brought the movie over, and I was like “eh”……

  10. Adaobi says:

    Ohhhh please not again. Pls someone stop this from happening. I still have a bad taste left in my mouth from reading less than half of the first book.

    • Maria A. says:

      There are not enough air sickness bags in the world to induce me to read even one miserable paragraph of this author’s work.

  11. Mia4S says:

    Dear My Entire Gender,

    If any of you are excited about this and planning to spend money on it kindly open your right palm, put your fingers together, and then smack yourself in the face.

    Cheers! 😉

  12. Pinky says:

    “E.L. James to release a new Christian Grey book, told from his perspective”

    Double crap!

  13. yael says:

    it pains me that this horrid excuse for an author can get published and get rich off of a terrible, unoriginal story, while talented writers are left spinning their wheels.

  14. Allen Smithee says:

    She actually wrote this (or at least parts of it), for a Twilight fan fiction community fundraiser called Fandom Gives Back, to benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand. And she had to be talked into doing it, too. So HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA at this: “When Erika mentioned to me that she wanted to explore Christian’s viewpoint and re-open the story…”

    She’s such a POS.

    • Julaine says:

      So someone paid $20K for this as part of a charity endeavor. Sure hope E.L.James didn’t promise exclusive rights to the material. Regardless, this is a very shady thing to do, IMO. If James was capable of an original thought, instead of writing Twilight fan fiction don’t you think her publishing house would be trumpeting the news by now? *crickets* The next 50 Shades of Annoying Tics is going to be a hot mess with her increased involvement.

      • MeganDraper says:

        I have a copy of this. Didn’t she write the part where Bella is kidnapped by James? I wonder how much more she has written for a “new book”?

  15. kri says:

    F*cking great. My ay of hell is complete. Had to rush my cat to the vet this a.m. and now this…dreck.OMG Becky. I think I may as well just start writing. I need the money.

  16. Hej says:

    Noooo
    prepare for 300 pages of I wanted her but I didn’t deserve her. But God how I wanted her… but i didn’t deserve her

    • I Choose Me says:

      Hahahahahahahahahaha. I’m braying laughter right now and my co-worker is giving me the side-eye.

  17. Leslie says:

    That people will actually buy this crap….

  18. Tough Cookie says:

    Thank you Kaiser, for taking one for the team (especially me) by hate-reading these books.

  19. FLORC says:

    Yes, This is dumb and unoriginal.

    That aside have you guys watched the video “A Tale Of 2 Brains” on youtube? Mark Gungor is giving a couples lecture, but explains quite well in a simplistic and hilarious way how men and women think. It’s a must watch and comes in few minutes to 2 part versions I highly rec checking out what you can.
    Anyways, the point you get is men have simplistic brains. When it comes to these desires it’s hardly is thought out as a female and less complex.

    And as a side note. has anyone played a game called Mind Ball at a science center? Amazing! It reads your alpha and sometimes beta waves. To move a ball into your opponents side you have to calm your mind. guys can flatline while still listening to gfs/wives. Ladies spike in absolute silence interesting to try.

    • Anon33 says:

      Oddly enough I am writing a novel and have a male protagonist. I’ve been interrogating my husband a lot when I write “his” parts, and he literally said the exact same thing as you’re describing. And he is one of the most sensitive men I’ve ever met so even those types of guys don’t internlaize that much.

      • FLORC says:

        Anon
        Interesting! And yea. Not surprising they are very simple in their thought process. I do recommend A Tale of 2 Brains if only the 10 minute portion. Great insight.

  20. Cali says:

    She sucks. It’s not bad enough that she ripped off Stephenie Meyer’s characters but now her idea with Midnight Sun? I just can’t with this loser.

    Anybody know how the DVD sales went for FSoG? I’m curious if they were a “huge” hit or flopped hard.

  21. P'enny says:

    I feel for writers who try very hard to write a good book without a single error and clever to boot, and then she comes along and makes a million out of drivel. I have to hand it to her, she make her money, as long as she doesn’t start defending her drivel as the next best thing to the Bronte’s I can deal, sort of.

  22. Insomniac says:

    Sigh. Stephenie Meyer needs to write another book so that EL James can come up with a “new” idea of her own.

    • Cali says:

      This. I want to hear Stephenie yell “Challenge Accepted!” Let’s release Midnight Sun the same day as E.L.’s crap and see which one does the best… I’ll buy 50 effing copies of M.S. LOL

  23. TEE JAY says:

    Ok this is so embaressing, but I guess I should confess.
    I did read all three 50 shades books. Several hours that I can’t get back.
    *runs out before tomato is thrown*

    • lila fowler says:

      I read them, too. The way some people were going on about them–positively and negatively–made me think that I needed to know what they were talking about.

    • Tig says:

      When I first saw the heading, thought it was FSOG from A Christian’s perspective-LOL! For what comfort you can draw from the fact, you have LOTS of company- plenty of folks read the books. Quite frankly, I’m more mad about slogging through The Goldfinch- that was a colossal waste of time. These books are the literary equivalent of junk food- meh. Hopefully this release means end of year bonuses for the publisher’s employees! Tho truth be told, wish Stephanie Mayer would finish Midnight Sun.

      Anyone think this is timed to blunt the lack of any notable progress on a director announcement for the second movie?

  24. “Just what I’ve been dying to read”, said NO ONE EVER.

  25. lila fowler says:

    Oh, man. You should have said that you wanted the second and third books and I would’ve sent you the epub files, no need to spend $$.

    I thought EL James had already published a few chapters or something from Grey’s perspective or did I imagine that? I hope her writing has improved by a factor of 100 since 50 Shades but I doubt it.

    • Fallon says:

      Your screen name is everything.

      … Would you be able to send me the second and third? I want to confirm they’re as bad as everyone says.

  26. lucy2 says:

    She’s not going to stop, is she? She’s going to continue to churn out this garbage, have maniacal control over movies, and probably anything else she can get her hands on, and we are going to be subjected to the publicity about this nonsense for years.

  27. JudyK says:

    Read 100 pages of the first book (100 pages too many) and threw it in the trash. The woman can’t write.

  28. Nikki L. says:

    That’s some epic 90’s hair she has there.

  29. jwoolman says:

    On a positive note, she does look good. The woman knows how to dress.

    I think I’ll stick to comic books, though.

  30. LAK says:

    Haven’t we suffered enough?

  31. sauvage says:

    First, a comment not to be taken completely seriously: As a Gemini, I must thouroughly protest. Christian Grey is NOT a Gemini. From my dating experience, he’s either Scorpio or Aries.

    Secondly, a comment TOTALLY to be taken seriously: The book told from Christian Grey’s perspective is going to be even worse than the ones told by Anastasia Steele. Mark my words!

  32. Suzy from Ontario says:

    Milking it for all she can.

  33. Mercedes says:

    First book was good, made you want to find out what happened.

    Second book was meh, it read like she cut and pasted and added more sex. It was more about what they did in the bedroom rather than an actual “story” story.

    The third book was horrible. Sex, sex, sex with very little other content. It felt like she must have been pressured to finish the story and just wrote (or cut and pasted) to get the book done.

    The only reason why I even bothered to but the third book was to find out what happened and with this hope that Book #3 would be an improvement from Book #2. How utterly wrong I was!

    The movie (which again I had hoped would be good) was 90 minutes of wasted time I will never get back.

    Suffice it to say, I won’t be buying a fourth book.

  34. pissy_author says:

    Actually, it was 12 tequila shots.

  35. Jitters says:

    Pretty sure her next book will be called The Hostess. The slutty apocalyptic story of craptastic writing and kinky alien sex.