The Host

Stephanie Meyer 2008 Buy from Amazon.com

This is in the style of ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ and all of that genre. Earth was invaded by a species which is inserted into the back of the neck, and sends threads of itself through the host brain and nervous system. It takes control of the host body and the mind of the human is either trapped inside or sinks away to oblivion. Now there are only a few humans left scattered around, and the aliens live the everyday lives of humans.

It begins very well, with a scene that describes exactly what’s going on and how it works, without feeling like an infodump. The entire book is from the perspective of the alien species, and explains quickly that local terminology is used for their concepts on each world they have invaded. They are known on earth as Souls. The main character is a Soul known as ‘Wanderer’, later shortened to ‘Wanda’, who has lived on several other worlds. She is put into the body of a girl called Melanie. Their relationship is one of the things that makes this book so interesting.

On no other planet has Wanda felt such heightened emotions, and she finds it initially overwhelming. Melanie was a human that had successfully avoided being captured for a long time, and is resistant. The success rate for proper integration with resistant bodies is very low, and sometimes the host’s mind can take over the body. Wanda tries hard to ignore Melanie, but they share a strong dislike for a Seeker who has been assigned to their case. The Seeker hopes to get more information from Melanie about where to find the remaining free humans. Eventually their aversion to her becomes strong enough that they flee into the desert, following instructions Melanie remembers from her uncle Jeb to try to find his hideout.

When Wanda and Melanie arrive in the human enclave, their relationship becomes more complex. Melanie’s partner Jared and her brother Jamie are there, and Wanda reacts to them because of Melanie’s memories. Jared is distant and hostile, and the humans are initially not accepting of them. As time goes on, she finds that different people interact with them in different ways. Some are not able to distinguish between Wanda and Melanie, others don’t it difficult at all. Some try to understand her perspective as a Soul, others treat her as a human.

This is one of those stories that really explores an interesting concept in depth, and shows the implications from the inside. There were some tricky issues that were left largely unresolved at the end, but that fit with the story well enough. Some problems just don’t have easy solutions.

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