The Host , the first adult novel from Stephenie Meyer , is as sleazy as you ’d anticipate from this trailer , which aerate during Good Morning America . ( Not to mention Meyer ’s lead record as author of the young - adult vampire series Twilight , before long to be a movie . ) But The Host is a good class of beach read , thanks to its storyteller , an alien who participate in a successful occupation of a conquered Earth . A outlandish love life triangle get Meyer ask questions about human consciousness , and whether the colonizers assimilate the colonized , or vice versa . mollycoddler ahead .
I ’m a huge lollipop for novels that take place after an alien invasion of Earth has already follow . ( Actually , the only other novel along those lines I can call up of is the criminally neglected When Heaven flow by William Barton . ) In Meyer ’s novel , a backwash of parasites / symbionts has bring home the bacon in have over almost every human on Earth . ( They ’re sort of like the shake from Star Trek , or the sponge from the recent Nicole Kidman vehicle Invasion . Just like the Body Snatchers , The Host ’s “ souls ” took over via subterfuge , until they were unstoppable .
And in line with some other mind - controlling parasite stories , the “ souls ” are much more peaceful than humans . They abhor fury and are unequal to of lying . After the souls take over , execution and rape become unknown and nipper molester line up to move around themselves in . ( In a uproarious sequence towards the end of the Koran , we learn the souls ’ video programs are completely softened , and even The Brady Bunch turn out to be too red for them to watch . )
What makes the “ souls ” ( and yes , the names are among the cheese - markers in Meyer ’s novel ) so interesting is that they do n’t always take over their legion body completely . former hosts , who are cognisant of the foreign invaders , can protest even after the parasite are implanted . The novel ’s main character , Wanderer , gets plant into the trunk of one of the few human resistance fighters , Melanie . And then Wanderer and Melanie have to struggle for ascendence over Melanie ’s body , before becoming ill at ease friends .
And even when the “ someone ” manage to eradicate all vestige of the consciousness of their bodies ’ original owners , they still cling to old riding habit . The new “ ensouled ” bodies live in the same houses as before , stay put matrimonial to the same people ( also worry by “ souls ” ) and often keep the same job . It ’s like that Roald Dahl story about the birds that switch places with the multitude , hold up in the people ’s houses and carrying on their routines while the people watch , incapacitated , from the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
One of my problems with The Host was the fact that it made the transition from “ struggling for control ” to “ uneasy friends ” means , right smart too chop-chop . Wanderer presently becomes haunt with Melanie ’s beau and kid brother , both of whom are still parasite - free and cover out in some caves with a grouping of resisters . Wanderer relives Melanie ’s memories and accrue in love with Jared , the valet de chambre Melanie be intimate . Instead of access Melanie ’s intellect to help the “ souls ” track down the human resisters , Wanderer starts key out with them .
As I say , Meyer race over Wanderer ’s change of heart , because Meyer is much , much more concerned in what happens when Wanderer / Melanie oversee to get together the human resistance fighter . ( Where Wanderer is in constant danger of being kill , and does get rough out up pretty horribly a few prison term . )
Will Jared , the human being both Wanderer and Melanie making love , ever swallow the parasite in the body of his girlfriend ? Is it really Melanie ’s body , and not either of her warring consciousnesses , that really responds to Jared , because of pheromones and chemical attractions ? When Jared finally does show affection to Melanie ’s trunk , will Melanie be capable to get over her green-eyed monster of Wanderer receiving some of that aid ?
Yes , as the book - jacket copy puts it , this is the first ever love Triangulum involving only two body . And weirdly , a garish romance turns out to be the perfect fomite for exploring proceeds of consistency and identity element . Do we exist beyond our physical self ? Are our desire just our body ? How can Wanderer convince the suspicious humans that she still has Melanie ’s consciousness alive within her ? Is it honest for Wanderer to have sex using Melanie ’s body , while Melanie watches powerlessly ? ( Melanie only seldom carry off to moderate her own dead body after Wanderer takes over . )
The book ’s giddy romance subpot hint up politicizing Wanderer , turning her into a race betrayer who helps the man to deliver others from the sponger ’ genial occupation . We ’re told , over and over , that what get humans special is that we have such strong emotion , as compared with the mostly bland - sound dolphins , bat and cacti that the parasites have take before . It ’s hint that natural emotion may finally save the human race from being delete evermore ( mayhap in the inevitable sequel . )
Without giving away The Host ’s ending , I will mention that it ’s a bit disappointing . A threat that ’s been bulk large since the start of the book gets settle way too easily , so that Meyer can get back to the love story that really worry her . And then Wanderer faces a quandary whose solution is obvious , but which nobody divulge for a few dozen pages . But even if raw plot is n’t exactly Meyer ’s warm suit , the novel ’s soapy storyline will have you debate with your friends about the idea / body dichotomy and colonial occupation for days .
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