The Host (novel)

The Host

Front cover of The Host
Author	Stephenie Meyer
Language	English
Genre	Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy
Publisher	Little, Brown & Company (Adult)
Publication date	May 6, 2008
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	619
ISBN	ISBN 0316068047

The Host is a science fiction/romance novel by Stephenie Meyer. The Host introduces an alien race, called souls, who take over Earth and its inhabitants because they believe humans to be too violent. The book describes one soul's predicament when her host body refuses to cooperate with her takeover.

The Host was released on May 6, 2008 with an initial print run of 750,000 copies. However, an international version of the novel was released on April 2, 2008 in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, and Hong Kong by the UK publishing division. The prologue and the fourth chapter of the book can be found on Meyer's official website.

Background

Before writing The Host, Stephenie Meyer had published three books: Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, the first three novels of the Twilight series. The idea for The Host originated on a trip from Phoenix to Salt Lake City. Bored, Meyer made up stories to entertain herself, and was halfway through outlining the story of The Host in her head before realizing what she had created. She notes that the story grabbed her attention, and that she "could tell there was something compelling in the idea of such a complicated triangle." Originally meant to be a side project, The Host eventually became a priority.

The character of Ian was originally meant to play an extremely small role. As a matter of fact, Meyer had no plans for a romance between Ian and Wanda until Jared "got on her last nerve", and Ian "refused to be ignored".

The title "The Host" comes from the perspective of the main character, Wanderer, because her "host" Melanie forever changes the way she sees the world.

Characters

Melanie "Mel" Stryder -- Melanie is a 20-year-old human who managed to escape capture by the invading souls for years, living on the run. Eventually she is captured, and a soul known as Wanderer is implanted in Mel's body. Mel continues to fight after Wanderer is implanted in her body, speaking to Wanderer and feeding her memories of the people she loves in hopes that Wanderer will one day lead her back to them. Mel likes the feeling of being physically strong and berates Wanderer for neglecting to keep her that way. She has a temper and may be considered volatile compared to docile Wanderer. Melanie is passionately in love with another human named Jared, and shares a strong mother-like bond with her younger brother. She grows to care for Wanderer deeply as a sister, as well. Melanie is described as beautiful, tall and athletic, naturally tan skin, a square face, dark brown hair, and hazel eyes.

Wanderer/Wanda -- Wanderer is the invading soul that inhabits Melanie Stryder's body. She received her name due to the number of planets she has lived in, having never settled on one she truly liked. She is later nicknamed "Wanda" by Mel's eccentric Uncle Jeb. Like all souls, she is naturally inclined to do good and is disgusted by violence. She feels incredibly guilty about the unrest her presence causes amongst Melanie's loved ones, and throughout the book she puts others before herself. She feels an initial affection for Jared, Melanie's lover, and Jamie, Mel's little brother, due to the memories she was fed by her host, and eventually develops her own relationship with both of them. She falls in love with Ian O'Shea and feels guilty that she was unable to reciprocate his feelings earlier. Wanderer is several thousand years old and looks like other souls -- a silver centipede-like creature -- but because she inhabits Melanie Stryder, she bears all of Mel's physical characteristics. Later in the book she is implanted in the body of another girl. Her new body is 17 years old but appears younger, and is petite and delicate, with gold hair, freckled skin, and a dimple in her chin.

Jared Howe -- Jared is Melanie Stryder's lover. Circumstances always improve for the rebel humans he runs into, due to his great skill. He is seen as loving and somewhat excitable in Melanie's memories, though the loss of her renders him very bitter. He bears a grudge against Wanda and is unable to empathize with her for most of the book. He eventually develops a closer relationship with her in addition to his extreme devotion to Melanie. He is somewhat of a rival to Ian O'Shea, because Ian sees Jared as a competition for Wanda's affections. He is described as physically beautiful, with tan skin, sienna-colored eyes, and sun-bleached hair.

Ian O'Shea -- Another of the rebel humans, Ian O'Shea is one of the first of the humans to treat Wanda with anything but hostility. He believes that she is an innocent girl who does not deserve to be punished because she inhabits Melanie's body. He eventually falls in love with Wanda and is shown to be extremely devoted to her. Ian does not get along well with Jared Howe, due partially to Wanda's affection for Jared and partially because of Jared's willingness to harm Wanda for his own personal gain. Ian is the only person who understands how Wanda thinks, and feels responsible for her since she is so self-sacrificing. Ian is described as beautiful, having pale skin, dark hair, and striking blue eyes.

Jamie Stryder -- Jamie is Melanie's younger brother, and is about 13 or 14 years old. He develops a relationship with Wanda due to her closeness to his sister; eventually, he develops a strong brotherly bond with Wanda himself. He considers Wanda "angelic" and enjoys her stories about other planets. He is very close to Jared, though their relationship becomes tense due to Jared's shabby treatment of Wanda. Jamie is shown to want to be treated like a man; when he falls ill he is uncomfortable with the coddling he receives and yearns to go on raids with Jared and the other men. He is described as being the only person not to have difficulty with Wanda's transfer into a new body, possibly always seeing Mel and Wanda as two distinct beings. Jamie is described as having shaggy black curls and chocolate brown eyes.

Uncle Jeb -- Jeb is Melanie's eccentric uncle. He was one of the first humans to suspect an alien invasion, and thus constructed an elaborate hide-out in caves beneath the Arizona desert. He believes that Wanda can fit in with the humans, and therefore puts both her and the others in very uncomfortable social situation. However, he remains convinced that no one will hurt Wanda due to his habit of strolling around with a gun and warning others that they are in "his house, his rules". Despite his flighty demeanor, he seems to have a handle on everything in the caves and tends to give very good advice. He is described as having a wild beard.

Doc -- A tall, slim human rebel that has medical training and serves as the rebels' doctor. He is shown to be compassionate and emotional, though he initially makes Wanda uncomfortable as he seems to view her as more of a science experiment than a person. He has alcohol problems and often gets drunk to drown his sorrow when he fails at a medical task. He has a shaky relationship with Melanie's cousin Sharon; though the issues are not specified, they appear to resolve them at the end of the book. His real name is Eustace.

The Seeker -- One of the invading souls. Melanie and Wanda's relationship is initially based on their hate for the Seeker, who is described as being irritable for the usually gentle souls. She mocks Wanda for not being able to completely drive out Melanie's spirit. It is later revealed that this is because of her insecurity at not being able to fully drive out the spirit of her body's former tenant, similar to Wanda's predicament. She is stated to be very violent, a point which is proved when she kills Wes.

Plot summary

Melanie Stryder is one of few "wild" humans - rebels who have evaded the alien souls that have taken over the Earth. With her younger brother Jamie and the man she loves, Jared Howe, Mel is on the run from souls who hunt down host bodies for use. Souls are creatures that rely upon host bodies to survive. After insertion, they erase any mental presence of the being there prior and establish a claim over the body and mind. Earth is Wanderer's ninth planet, and Mel is her ninth host body. Upon waking inside her new body, she is shocked not only by the vividness of human emotions, memories, and senses, but quickly learns that Melanie Stryder is not willing to give up her mind.

Wanderer is bombarded with memories and her host body's yearning for Jared and Jamie, and finds herself in love with the humans and desperate to see if they are still alive. On a road trip to Tucson, Melanie remembers her Uncle Jeb telling her about a secret hideaway he once made. Wanderer sets out to find the hideaway, and is found half-dead with exhaustion and dehydration by Jeb. She is taken back to the caves in which a rebel cell lives, but is treated spitefully as they believe Wanderer to be a "parasite" in Melanie's body. Kyle and Ian O'Shea, two brothers, attempt to kill Wanderer, but are stopped by Jeb. Given time, Wanderer becomes a part of the routine by working, eating, and becoming an unofficial history teacher after evening meals; some even grow to believe that Mel is present in her mind as well. During this time Ian befriends Wanda, as she is most often called. Meanwhile, Ian begins to fall in love with Wanda, who is confused because of the love she feels for Jared. Insisting that Ian is only in love with her body, not Wanda the soul, Wanda rejects him.

When Jamie returns from a raid with an infected cut to the leg, Wanda and Jared sneak out to a hospital where she steals supplies to bring back to Jamie and the rest. At this point the humans realize that Wanda can be of use to them as a raider, since she is trusted by other souls. Following another raid, Wanda decides to reveal her biggest secret: how to remove a soul without killing either the human or the soul, a procedure that their doctor had been attempting unsuccessfully. She promises to teach Doc under two conditions: first, he promises to send the souls to new planets, and second, he promises to remove Wanda's soul from Melanie's body and bury Wanda, who does not want to be a parasite any longer.

Wanda sneaks away from Ian, who is enraged at the idea of Wanda ending her life, and has Doc remove her from Melanie's body. Later, however, she awakens in a new one, and it is revealed that none of the humans wished for her to leave. The book ends with the rebels, when on a raid with Wanda, discovering another rebel group who also have a soul amongst them. This discovery suggests that humanity may still have hope for the future.

References to other works

True to Meyer's other books, The Host includes a poem at the beginning of the novel. The poem is titled Question, by May Swenson, and ties into the idea of the mind's reliance on the existence of the body, just as Melanie experiences when inhabited by Wanderer.

Potential sequels

Stephenie Meyer has stated a sequel to The Host is "almost done" as of March 2008. She stated in an interview that, if published, the first sequel would be entitled The Soul and the second The Seeker.

Reception

The Host was named one of the 'Best Books of May' by Amazon.com, and also received praise about its ending saying, "Readers... will gleefully note that the story's end leaves the door open for a sequel--or another series."

The Host was also a #1 New York Times Best Seller, and remained on this list for 26 weeks.

Most recently, The Host was named #1 on Maclean's Magazine's list of top 10 fiction books in Canada.