The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Hachette, 2008
Genre: Science fiction
Sub-genre: Alien encounter
Rating: 2 1/2 pints of blood
I want to know who Meyer sold her soul to in order to ensure her books were graced with such striking covers. I love the dramatic lightplay here, and the close-up on the eye ensures I can't look away. It's simple and evocative and alright, I could perhaps have done with a little less eyeliner, but the effect is stunning nonetheless.
So a few months ago, I read and reviewed Twilight just to find out what all the fuss was about. The sparkles hurt my brain, but after much nudging from people who enjoyed the books much more than I did, agreed to give Meyer another shot. Hey, I'm more than willing to be fair, and have on occasion been known to enjoy a healthy slice of humble pie. Instead of continuing with her vampire saga, though, I thought I'd try The Host, which is marketed to an entirely different audience from her other books. The Host is geared to adult sci-fi readers, and I was promised there was far less whiny angst involved.
The Host is set in a time when humankind has been almost completely overtaken by a race of small, parasitic aliens who call themselves Souls. The Souls insert themselves in human bodies, taking control of the mind and body and essentially erasing the human personality that previously lived in the "host" body. True humans, those who haven't been taken and used as a host by the Souls, are nearly extinct. So when Melanie, one of the few human rebels left, is discovered and caught, the Souls decide to bring in one of their best and brightest. As a strong-willed adult, Melanie is far from an ideal host, but the Souls are desperate to know where she came from and if there are others.
The closest thing the Souls have to an expert on acclimatizing herself to new bodies and worlds, Wanderer is brought in. She's expected to sift through Melanie's memories, find the information the Souls want, and then turn it over. The catch is that Melanie is still very present inside her body, and blocks Wanderer from finding out anything important. The two personalities fight a lot, leaving Wanderer feeling incredibly stressed out (Souls pretty much hate conflict of any type). The abrasive Seeker assigned to Melanie's case is anxious for any information, and keeps pressuring Wanderer, even suggesting the effort might be too much for her and it might be better if they moved someone else into Melanie's body instead. The risks of a Seeker losing themselves to a dominant host's personality are high, but Wanderer is determined, especially when the Seeker mentions herself as Wanderer's replacement.
Wanderer and Melanie's mutual hatred of the Seeker starts a strange co-operation between them, and the few memories Melanie does let Wanderer see of her past and loved ones makes the Soul more and more sympathetic to the human's plight. She finds herself sharing Melanie's love for the people she knows and is hiding, and with the Seeker's constant threats hanging over them, they both know they're running out of time before someone less sympathetic is placed in Melanie's body. What would previously have been unthinkable to Wanderer becomes her only thinkable course of action, and she leaves the Souls' society behind to hunt down the humans' hiding place, both to ensure the people in Melanie's memories escaped safely and to warn them of the little information the Seeker does have.
And that, my friends, doesn't even bring you to the halfway point of the book. This is one freaking long story, of the "How can there possibly be another 300 pages to this thing?!?" variety. In all honesty, I think the story should have been tightened up considerably and split into two volumes, since about halfway through the book we seem to head into an entirely different plotline.
As a science fiction story, it's different from most of what's out there. It's slower and more introspective, while a lot of today's sf is more focused on shiny laser-powered toys or inter-species battles. The vast majority of the conflict is internal, especially given that Souls (Wanderer included) are pacifistic, to the point where the very notion of violence horrifies them. This makes for an interesting version of an alien takeover, since the Souls believe humans to be a bunch of violent savages who need to be saved from themselves and are really much better off under the influence of the peaceful parasites.
Wanderer herself is so sweet and gentle and altruistic she might have given me cavities had she not been paired up with the strong-willed Melanie. The two of them together actually made a fun odd couple, their personalities contrasting just enough to keep things interesting. With Wanderer's outsider perspectives and Melanie's dollop of human interest, the two of them together made for a very readable protagonist. (Alright, I'll admit I got a little annoyed later in the book during Melanie's long silences.)
As a general statement, Meyer writes romantic stories with fantastical trappings, and The Host is no exception. Under the influence of Melanie's memories and body surges, Wanderer develops feelings for Melanie's human rebel boyfriend. The increasingly complex love story is dealt with a light hand, which is undoubtedly the best method in such a heavy story, although it's difficult to sympathize with Melanie and Wanderer's romantic notions when Jared spends so much time beating and torturing them.
I actually think I would have found the story more interesting without the last couple of chapters tacked on. Wanderer is forced into a position where she makes a difficult, self-sacrificing decision... and then in the space of 20 pages it's not only reversed for her, but the random rainbows and chirping songbirds took away some of the power the story could have had otherwise. But then, maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age, preferring the bittersweet over the sweet sweet ending tied up with a bow.
Genre: Science fiction
Sub-genre: Alien encounter
Rating: 2 1/2 pints of blood
I want to know who Meyer sold her soul to in order to ensure her books were graced with such striking covers. I love the dramatic lightplay here, and the close-up on the eye ensures I can't look away. It's simple and evocative and alright, I could perhaps have done with a little less eyeliner, but the effect is stunning nonetheless.
So a few months ago, I read and reviewed Twilight just to find out what all the fuss was about. The sparkles hurt my brain, but after much nudging from people who enjoyed the books much more than I did, agreed to give Meyer another shot. Hey, I'm more than willing to be fair, and have on occasion been known to enjoy a healthy slice of humble pie. Instead of continuing with her vampire saga, though, I thought I'd try The Host, which is marketed to an entirely different audience from her other books. The Host is geared to adult sci-fi readers, and I was promised there was far less whiny angst involved.
The Host is set in a time when humankind has been almost completely overtaken by a race of small, parasitic aliens who call themselves Souls. The Souls insert themselves in human bodies, taking control of the mind and body and essentially erasing the human personality that previously lived in the "host" body. True humans, those who haven't been taken and used as a host by the Souls, are nearly extinct. So when Melanie, one of the few human rebels left, is discovered and caught, the Souls decide to bring in one of their best and brightest. As a strong-willed adult, Melanie is far from an ideal host, but the Souls are desperate to know where she came from and if there are others.
The closest thing the Souls have to an expert on acclimatizing herself to new bodies and worlds, Wanderer is brought in. She's expected to sift through Melanie's memories, find the information the Souls want, and then turn it over. The catch is that Melanie is still very present inside her body, and blocks Wanderer from finding out anything important. The two personalities fight a lot, leaving Wanderer feeling incredibly stressed out (Souls pretty much hate conflict of any type). The abrasive Seeker assigned to Melanie's case is anxious for any information, and keeps pressuring Wanderer, even suggesting the effort might be too much for her and it might be better if they moved someone else into Melanie's body instead. The risks of a Seeker losing themselves to a dominant host's personality are high, but Wanderer is determined, especially when the Seeker mentions herself as Wanderer's replacement.
Wanderer and Melanie's mutual hatred of the Seeker starts a strange co-operation between them, and the few memories Melanie does let Wanderer see of her past and loved ones makes the Soul more and more sympathetic to the human's plight. She finds herself sharing Melanie's love for the people she knows and is hiding, and with the Seeker's constant threats hanging over them, they both know they're running out of time before someone less sympathetic is placed in Melanie's body. What would previously have been unthinkable to Wanderer becomes her only thinkable course of action, and she leaves the Souls' society behind to hunt down the humans' hiding place, both to ensure the people in Melanie's memories escaped safely and to warn them of the little information the Seeker does have.
And that, my friends, doesn't even bring you to the halfway point of the book. This is one freaking long story, of the "How can there possibly be another 300 pages to this thing?!?" variety. In all honesty, I think the story should have been tightened up considerably and split into two volumes, since about halfway through the book we seem to head into an entirely different plotline.
As a science fiction story, it's different from most of what's out there. It's slower and more introspective, while a lot of today's sf is more focused on shiny laser-powered toys or inter-species battles. The vast majority of the conflict is internal, especially given that Souls (Wanderer included) are pacifistic, to the point where the very notion of violence horrifies them. This makes for an interesting version of an alien takeover, since the Souls believe humans to be a bunch of violent savages who need to be saved from themselves and are really much better off under the influence of the peaceful parasites.
Wanderer herself is so sweet and gentle and altruistic she might have given me cavities had she not been paired up with the strong-willed Melanie. The two of them together actually made a fun odd couple, their personalities contrasting just enough to keep things interesting. With Wanderer's outsider perspectives and Melanie's dollop of human interest, the two of them together made for a very readable protagonist. (Alright, I'll admit I got a little annoyed later in the book during Melanie's long silences.)
As a general statement, Meyer writes romantic stories with fantastical trappings, and The Host is no exception. Under the influence of Melanie's memories and body surges, Wanderer develops feelings for Melanie's human rebel boyfriend. The increasingly complex love story is dealt with a light hand, which is undoubtedly the best method in such a heavy story, although it's difficult to sympathize with Melanie and Wanderer's romantic notions when Jared spends so much time beating and torturing them.
I actually think I would have found the story more interesting without the last couple of chapters tacked on. Wanderer is forced into a position where she makes a difficult, self-sacrificing decision... and then in the space of 20 pages it's not only reversed for her, but the random rainbows and chirping songbirds took away some of the power the story could have had otherwise. But then, maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age, preferring the bittersweet over the sweet sweet ending tied up with a bow.