The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Wow, wow, and wow. This one's going to be hard to break down. The things that stood out to me in this book combine for a total effect that really left me speechless. So, yeah, this is hard to do.
I'm attempting here.
I really loved this book. I enjoyed the Twilight Series and will continue to enjoy it, but with The Host, Stephenie accomplished something truly outstanding.
She took a new species and implanted in me the need to hate that species. She then made me walk the walk and when push came to shove, I buckled, hopelessly in love. She proved her point well. Oh, we can say we write without this objective, but we all know deep down that to write good fiction we have to write persuasive fiction. We can't expect to collect a following without it. I think it's been some time since I thought so much about a set of characters and really looked at humanity like I was shown in this book.
Then again, strange as it may seem, the stand she took was a stand I intended with PC. This gives me some peace, but frightens me all the same. I'm not sure if I can accomplish what she did.
Descriptions:
To begin with, I want to mention Stephenie's gift of description once more. When it comes to focusing a reader, less is more, more in the right spot is better, and the right combination is perfect. The Host is a big book. But it's not full of filler. Every word is important and every sentence has a meaning. Once again, Stephenie uses her descriptions as a weapon that shoots straight into our hearts. We are dealing with a new species and the book is written through that species' POV. But she never forgets her readers. Never. So no, we aren't treated to a million descriptions of our normal everyday life. This, I'm thinking, wasn't an easy thing to keep from doing. We are taught that we should use descriptions only to describe what would be new or important to the POV character. How'd she manage to do what she did? Well, read the book and pay careful attention.
No cheap parlor tricks:
Ah, now we cut to the core of the matter. This is what sells her books. It's easy to throw a character into a fray, shake up the plot, and raise the stakes. We grow accustomed to doing this. It becomes our stock and trade. After a while, it becomes cheap and eventually hacky. So how do we avoid falling into this trap while at the same time keeping the book's tension high? Guess what? Stephenie did it. She did it in her Twilight books too. It just took me until now to notice it. When a problem arises, it seems normal, expected-not there just to give me a reason to keep reading. This leaves me feeling satisfied that she's not trying to sell me this tale, but instead she's simply telling me an amazing story that happened.
A foundation of trust reinforced:
How many times do we as writers fear we'll fall off our pedestal? Huh? Yeah, well, I feel it. Someday my books will sell, someday I'll have fans. And these fans will learn my style, my inner voice. When they open a new book of mine, they'll expect me to deliver what I have before. Yeah, we've heard this. Some say this is why we shouldn't jump from genre to genre. My opinion? These folks jumped on the wrong bus. It's not about genre; it's about how you tell your story. It's not about character voices; it's about your style.
My example of this:
Near the end it seemed every loose end had been tied up and I worried Stephenie intended to stop right there. I felt cheated already. But why? I mean, other writers do this. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Finish the story but leave the reader wanting a bit more.
NO! Seriously, I hate this! I want to see my happy ending in motion. I want to peek into their lives and know for sure they have done what the writer left me thinking they were gonna do. I flipped through a couple pages and noticed that I wasn't as close to the end as I thought I was.
You know what zipped through my head then?
"Of course she wouldn’t do you like that, Shea! This is Stephenie. You know she gives you that last glimmer of hope you long for so much."
She never forgets her readers. She followed through on that trust she's already built. This is how Stephenie writes and this is what I expect from her.
So there are my craft points.
About the story though? Well, I'll be honest. I think Stephen King better look out. There's a new kid in town and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but she writes with a passion that compels me to love, to follow, and to realize there's more to fiction than just the shock value. It's not so much about how wild her imagination can be. It's more about how well she can make me believe that however off the wall the story is, I want it to be true! God, but I want it to be true!
Once I was Twilight fan, but now-now, I’m a Stephenie fan. She's got me for the long haul now. And yeah, I think this road will be VERY long and VERY fruitful.
I'm attempting here.
I really loved this book. I enjoyed the Twilight Series and will continue to enjoy it, but with The Host, Stephenie accomplished something truly outstanding.
She took a new species and implanted in me the need to hate that species. She then made me walk the walk and when push came to shove, I buckled, hopelessly in love. She proved her point well. Oh, we can say we write without this objective, but we all know deep down that to write good fiction we have to write persuasive fiction. We can't expect to collect a following without it. I think it's been some time since I thought so much about a set of characters and really looked at humanity like I was shown in this book.
Then again, strange as it may seem, the stand she took was a stand I intended with PC. This gives me some peace, but frightens me all the same. I'm not sure if I can accomplish what she did.
Descriptions:
To begin with, I want to mention Stephenie's gift of description once more. When it comes to focusing a reader, less is more, more in the right spot is better, and the right combination is perfect. The Host is a big book. But it's not full of filler. Every word is important and every sentence has a meaning. Once again, Stephenie uses her descriptions as a weapon that shoots straight into our hearts. We are dealing with a new species and the book is written through that species' POV. But she never forgets her readers. Never. So no, we aren't treated to a million descriptions of our normal everyday life. This, I'm thinking, wasn't an easy thing to keep from doing. We are taught that we should use descriptions only to describe what would be new or important to the POV character. How'd she manage to do what she did? Well, read the book and pay careful attention.
No cheap parlor tricks:
Ah, now we cut to the core of the matter. This is what sells her books. It's easy to throw a character into a fray, shake up the plot, and raise the stakes. We grow accustomed to doing this. It becomes our stock and trade. After a while, it becomes cheap and eventually hacky. So how do we avoid falling into this trap while at the same time keeping the book's tension high? Guess what? Stephenie did it. She did it in her Twilight books too. It just took me until now to notice it. When a problem arises, it seems normal, expected-not there just to give me a reason to keep reading. This leaves me feeling satisfied that she's not trying to sell me this tale, but instead she's simply telling me an amazing story that happened.
A foundation of trust reinforced:
How many times do we as writers fear we'll fall off our pedestal? Huh? Yeah, well, I feel it. Someday my books will sell, someday I'll have fans. And these fans will learn my style, my inner voice. When they open a new book of mine, they'll expect me to deliver what I have before. Yeah, we've heard this. Some say this is why we shouldn't jump from genre to genre. My opinion? These folks jumped on the wrong bus. It's not about genre; it's about how you tell your story. It's not about character voices; it's about your style.
My example of this:
Near the end it seemed every loose end had been tied up and I worried Stephenie intended to stop right there. I felt cheated already. But why? I mean, other writers do this. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Finish the story but leave the reader wanting a bit more.
NO! Seriously, I hate this! I want to see my happy ending in motion. I want to peek into their lives and know for sure they have done what the writer left me thinking they were gonna do. I flipped through a couple pages and noticed that I wasn't as close to the end as I thought I was.
You know what zipped through my head then?
"Of course she wouldn’t do you like that, Shea! This is Stephenie. You know she gives you that last glimmer of hope you long for so much."
She never forgets her readers. She followed through on that trust she's already built. This is how Stephenie writes and this is what I expect from her.
So there are my craft points.
About the story though? Well, I'll be honest. I think Stephen King better look out. There's a new kid in town and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but she writes with a passion that compels me to love, to follow, and to realize there's more to fiction than just the shock value. It's not so much about how wild her imagination can be. It's more about how well she can make me believe that however off the wall the story is, I want it to be true! God, but I want it to be true!
Once I was Twilight fan, but now-now, I’m a Stephenie fan. She's got me for the long haul now. And yeah, I think this road will be VERY long and VERY fruitful.