The Host is a 2008 science fictionromance novel by Stephenie Meyer. The book is about Earth, in a post-apocalyptic time, being invaded by a parasitic alien race known as "Souls", and follows one Soul's predicament when the consciousness of her human host refuses to give up her body.
The Host was released on May 6, 2008,[1] with an initial print run of 750,000 copies.[2] 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.[3] It was translated into many languages.
Plot
A species of parasiticaliens called "Souls" have invaded Earth, deeming the humans too violent to deserve the planet. When a Soul is implanted into a host body, the consciousness of the original owner is erased, leaving their memories and knowledge. Wanderer, a Soul, is placed into the body of Melanie Stryder. However, Melanie's consciousness is still alive and begins to communicate with Wanderer mentally. Wanderer's assigned "Seeker" suggests that she could be placed into Melanie to retrieve the memories before disposing of the defective body, but Wanderer makes several attempts to deny her Seeker's wishes. As Wanderer starts to uncover some of Melanie's memories of her younger brother Jamie Stryder and her boyfriend Jared Howe, Melanie gets her to follow a series of landmarks throughout the Arizona desert to find her Uncle Jeb, hoping that Jared and Jamie are with him. By doing so, she would be denying the Seeker Melanie's memories and the humans they would lead her to.
When Jeb comes across Melanie's dying body, he realizes what had happened to her but still leads her to his hideout: a network of caves housing more than thirty people. Most of the other humans wanted her to be killed with the exception of Jared and Jamie, and later on Ian O'Shea, who develops feelings for Wanderer. As days pass and she starts to become a part of the community, many of the community members start to trust her with jobs and eventually gave her a teaching role among the colony. She is also given the name Wanda in replacement of the name Wanderer. After tending to a cancer patient one night, Wanda is attacked by Ian's brother, Kyle. After managing to save both herself and Kyle from drowning, the two are taken into the infirmary. Shortly after recovering, Wanda stumbles across a slew of mutilated bodies that cause her to hide by herself in terror for three days. During her time in isolation, Wanda learns from Jeb that the humans are trying to cut Souls out of their hosts in attempt to restore the consciousness and life of the humans but so far each attempt has resulted in a dead body.
When Jamie is suffering from a fever caused by infection from a leg injury, Wanda realizes that she must recover medicine from the Souls to cure Jamie before it is too late. With the assistance of Jared, the two manage to cure Jamie's ailments in time. Thanks to her efforts, Wanda is entrusted with attending raids for supplies and it is now believed by many that Melanie is still present inside Wanda's mind. Not long after the raiders return to the colony, they learn that the caves have been attacked and Wanda's Seeker has been captured. After coming to a conclusion about the Seeker's life, Wanda decides to tell Doc how to properly remove Souls from human bodies. The Seeker is sent back into space. Wanda devises another plan to remove herself from Melanie's body and let herself die in order to allow Melanie to return to Jared once more. Learning of Wanda's plan, Ian becomes furious and calls a tribunal to stop her plans. Despite his attempts, Wanda manages to get herself to Doc's beforehand. Before going through the procedure though, Wanda declares her love for Ian.
To her surprise, Wanda wakes up in a new host whose consciousness has not returned. In her new body, Wanda gains wide acceptance from the humans and is free to be in a relationship with Ian while Melanie goes back with Jared. Over the course of time following the surgery, the colony begins to grow and many of its residents become more prosperous than ever before. The novel ends with their discovery of another group of humans like theirs who have a Soul named Burns in their group.
Wanderer – Nicknamed Wanda, a parasitic alien Soul who is inserted into Melanie Stryder's body. She received her name because of the number of planets she has lived on, having never settled on one she truly liked. She is later nicknamed "Wanda" by Mel's Uncle Jeb. Initially only interested in enjoying her new life, Melanie's love for her brother and boyfriend spills over to Wanda and she finds herself abandoning her kind to seek them out in the desert. She slowly develops sympathy for humans, eventually acknowledging that they have a right to their own lives, and attempting to sacrifice herself so that Melanie can have her life back. Like all Souls, she is naturally altruistic, horrified by violence, and finds it difficult to believably lie (to humans). She hates upsetting people and so suffers endlessly trying to be as little of a burden as possible.
Melanie Stryder – Melanie is a human rebel who was captured and implanted with a Soul after years of evading the Seekers. She is Wanderer's host body. Melanie's consciousness survives and resists Wanderer's control as best she can. She likes the feeling of being physically strong and berates Wanderer for neglecting to keep her that way. She has a temper and is often quick to use threats of violence, much to Wanda's displeasure. Melanie is passionately in love with Jared and shares a strong bond with her brother, Jamie, of whom she is fiercely protective. Despite initial anger at Wanderer for stealing her life, their shared love of Jamie and Jared turns them into unwilling allies. Their relationship grows to the point where Melanie tearfully begs Wanda not to give her body back, knowing the alien plans to kill herself once removed. Melanie is described as having hazel eyes, dark hair and tan skin and is half Latina on her mother's side.[4]
Ian O'Shea – Wanderer calls Ian "as kind as a Soul, but strong as only a human could be". Like most of the group, he has a strong dislike of the Souls in the beginning, but quickly abandons it once he begins to empathize with Wanderer. Other characters seem to view him as mostly level-headed. Ian befriends Wanderer and gradually falls in love with her because of her personality, insisting he cares very little about Mel's body. He is constantly annoyed at how selfless and self-sacrificing she is, worrying that she is willing to do things she does not want because she thinks it will make others happy. Once Wanda is put into a new host they begin a relationship. He does not help Melanie find a new body for Wanda, which surprises Melanie. Ian said that he did not care what she looked like; he loved Wanda for her personality. He is described as being tall and muscular, with black hair, sapphire blue eyes and fair skin.[5]
Jared Howe – Melanie's lover. Jared met Melanie while they were both stealing food from the same house, each believing the other to be a Soul; when he realized he had found another human he was so excited he kissed her. Loving, aggressive and somewhat excitable in Melanie's memories, by the time Wanderer meets him he has become bitter and hardened. He originally despises Wanda for taking Mel's life, but he cannot bring himself to let Doc experiment on her. He starts to change his views on the Soul when he sees her comforting a dying friend. His survival skills are an asset to the group, and he is often charged with leading the raids because of his rationality and levelheadedness. He has a somewhat parental relationship with Jamie, whom he continued to care for after Melanie's capture. He is described as being muscular and tall, with tan skin, sienna-colored eyes and naturally dark, but sun-bleached hair.[5]
Jamie Stryder – Jamie is Melanie's younger brother. Unlike most characters, he holds no animosity towards Wanderer for stealing his sister's body or life and quickly comes to view her as a substitute sibling. He is fascinated with Wanda's stories about the other planets and the species that live on them. Despite his apparent innocence and naivete, Jamie wants to be treated like an adult; he yearns to go on raids with the others, and is uncomfortable with the coddling he receives when he is injured.[5]
Uncle Jeb – Jebediah "Jeb" is Melanie's eccentric uncle. A paranoid survivalist before the invasion, Jeb had constructed an elaborate hide-out in caves beneath the Arizona desert. He maintains strict control over the hide-out by virtue of having the only firearm. He believes Wanderer can fit in with the humans and pushes for this to the point of creating great strain within the group. He is calm and deliberate in his decision-making, and despite being one of the most welcoming towards Wanderer, nonetheless does not hesitate to explain and justify the human perspective to her.[5]
The Seeker – The Soul who originally caught Melanie. Her calling is to search for and track down humans who have managed to avoid implantation, although she takes her job more seriously than most others. Mutual spite towards the Seeker is the basis of Melanie and Wanderer's early relationship. She is unusually irritable and edgy for her species, at one point even shooting a human in cold blood, despite most Souls not being able to even pick up a gun. She mocks Wanderer for not being able to completely drive out Melanie's consciousness. This is later revealed to be because of her insecurity at having failed to subdue her own host, Lacey, who speaks to her like Melanie does to Wanda. Lacey is just as abrasive as the Seeker.[5]
Kyle O'Shea – Kyle, Ian's brother, is impulsive, quick-tempered, and often considered a pain by the others. His hate for Souls is extreme, even among the group. He tries to kill Wanda, despite being warned not to hurt her, and ironically has to be saved by her from falling to his death after he is knocked out in the struggle. When he realises the Seeker's host was able to get her body back, he leaves to kidnap Sunny, the Soul now inhabiting Jodi's body, and takes her back to the cave to see if he can get Jodi back. He is shocked to discover that Sunny is not scared and feels an attachment to him, the way Wanderer did to Jared. When Jodi does not wake up after Sunny is removed, he allows Sunny to stay. Although still wishing Jodi could return, he becomes close to Sunny and they are described as being inseparable.[5]
Doc – A tall, slim human who was a surgeon and serves as the group's doctor. Wanda's initial impression of him is that he is a cold-hearted torturer, but he is later shown as being deeply affected by the suffering of his patients and is one of the first humans to accept Wanda. He is fascinated by how effective Soul medicine is and is desperate to find a way to remove Souls without killing either the parasite or the host. Doc is prone to alcoholic binges when he fails in these endeavors. His real name is Eustace, as he mentioned to Wanda before he removed her from her host. A man of his word, Doc is only stopped from letting Wanda die like he promised her because Jared threatens him with a hunting knife. Some of his characteristics were influenced by Meyer's younger brother, Seth.[5]
Major themes
In an interview with Vogue, Meyer stated that body image was a major aspect of her novel. She noted that she is "very critical" of her body, but not others'. In The Host, she tried to convey "what a gift it is to just have a body, and really love it". This is something most humans would take for granted before being captured, and something of which Melanie is all-too aware once she loses control of her body.[6] Other themes Meyer explored were the mother/child bond, the need to change our lives for the ones we love or because our community expects of us something other than what we want, and not fitting in.[7] In other interviews, various themes were noted including the value of the Soul and faith in a world that has been destroyed,[5]tolerance, forgiveness and understanding.[8] Identity issues are also frequently mentioned, as Wanderer notes whether other characters differentiate between her personality and Melanie's identity as they interact with her.
References to other works
Like Meyer's other books, The Host includes a poem at the beginning of the novel. The poem, by May Swenson, is titled Question, and ties into the idea of the mind's reliance on the existence of the body, just as Melanie experiences when inhabited by Wanderer.
Sequels
Meyer has said that she is working on additional books in The Host series and that she intends to write a trilogy. She said in an interview with MTV that the first sequel would be titled The Seeker and the second would be titled The Soul.[9] In November 2009, she said, "I'd like to eventually have The Host be part of a trilogy."[10] In February 2011, Meyer said that she had outlines for the sequels and had done some writing on them.[7]
Reception
The book received a 64% from The Lit Review based on 11 critic reviews and the consensus of the reviews being, "'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' with romance; written with an adult audience in mind but still leaning towards the teens. An enjoyable, light read."[11]
In a review of the book for The Guardian, Keith Brooke wrote, "When it's good, the novel works well, and will appeal to fans of the author's hugely bestselling Twilight series, but it is little more than a half-decent doorstep-sized chunk of light entertainment."[12]
The Host was developed into a film with Andrew Niccol as director and Saoirse Ronan as Melanie.[18][19] The project was first announced in September 2009 when the producers Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz used independent financing to acquire film rights to The Host. Niccol was hired to write the screenplay and to direct the film.[20] Principal photography began in February 2012 in Louisiana and New Mexico.[21]Open Road Films acquired the U.S. distribution rights for the film and Meyer acted as co-producer.[22] The film was released on March 29, 2013, to largely negative reviews.[23]
Related Research Articles
Twilight is a 2005 young adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is the first book in the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington. She is endangered after falling in love with Edward Cullen, a 103-year-old vampire frozen in his 17-year-old body. Additional novels in the series are New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.
Stephenie Meyer is an American novelist and film producer known for writing the vampire romance series Twilight, which has sold over 160 million copies, with translations into 37 different languages. She was the bestselling author of 2008 and 2009 in the U.S., having sold over 29 million books in 2008 and 26.5 million in 2009. She received the 2009 Children's Book of the Year award from the British Book Awards for Breaking Dawn, the Twilight series' finale.
New Moon is a 2006 romantic fantasy novel by author Stephenie Meyer. The second installment in the Twilight series, the novel continues the story of Bella Swan and her relationship with vampire Edward Cullen as she enters her senior year of high school. When Edward leaves Bella after his brother attacks her, she is left heartbroken and depressed for months until Jacob Black becomes her best friend. However, her life twists once more when Jacob's nature reveals itself and Edward's sister decides to visit.
Eclipse is the third novel in the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. It continues the story of Bella Swan and her vampire love, Edward Cullen. The novel explores Bella's compromise between her love for Edward and her friendship with shape-shifter Jacob Black, along with her dilemma of leaving her mortality behind in a terrorized atmosphere, a result of mysterious vampire attacks in Seattle.
Isabella "Bella" Marie Cullen is the protagonist character of the Twilight book series by Stephenie Meyer. She is initially an ordinary teenage girl, but during the series, Bella falls in love and marries a vampire Edward Cullen, with whom she has a human-vampire hybrid daughter, Renesmee Cullen. The Twilight series, consisting of the novels Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, is primarily narrated from Bella's point of view. In The Twilight Saga film series, Bella is portrayed by actress Kristen Stewart.
Edward Cullen is a character in the Twilight book series by Stephenie Meyer. He is featured in the novels Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, and their corresponding film adaptations, and the novel Midnight Sun—a re-telling of the events of Twilight from Edward's perspective. Edward is a telepathic vampire who, over the course of the series, falls in love with, marries, and fathers a child with Bella Swan, a human teenager who later chooses to become a vampire as well. In the films, Edward is played by actor Robert Pattinson.
Jacob Black is a character in the Twilight book series by Stephenie Meyer. He is described as an attractive Native American of the Quileute tribe in La Push, near Forks, Washington. In the second book of the series, New Moon, he discovers that he is a therianthrope who can shapeshift into a wolf. For the majority of the series, Jacob competes with Edward Cullen for Bella Swan's love. In The Twilight Saga film series, Jacob is played by Taylor Lautner.
Midnight Sun is a 2020 companion novel to the 2005 book Twilight by author Stephenie Meyer. The work retells the events of Twilight from the perspective of Edward Cullen instead of that of the series' usual narrating character Bella Swan. Meyer stated that Twilight was to be the only book from the series that she planned to rewrite from Edward's perspective. To give them a better feel of Edward's character, Meyer allowed Catherine Hardwicke, the director of the film adaptation of Twilight, and Robert Pattinson, the actor playing Edward, to read some completed chapters of the novel while they shot the film. It was released on August 4, 2020.
Twilight is a series of four fantasy romance novels, two companion novels, and one novella written by American author Stephenie Meyer. Released annually from 2005 through 2008, the four novels chart the later teen years of Bella Swan, a girl who moves to Forks, Washington, from Phoenix, Arizona and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen. The series is told primarily from Bella's point of view, with the epilogue of Eclipse and the second part of Breaking Dawn being told from the viewpoint of character Jacob Black, a werewolf. A novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, which tells the story of a newborn vampire who appeared in Eclipse, was published on 2010. The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide, a definitive encyclopedic reference with nearly 100 full color illustrations, was released in bookstores in 2011. In 2015, Meyer published a new novel in honor of the 10th anniversary of the book series, Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, with the genders of the original protagonists switched. Midnight Sun, a retelling of the first book, Twilight, from Edward Cullen's point of view, was published in 2020.
Twilight is a 2008 American romantic fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. It is the first installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as Bella Swan, a teenage girl, and Edward Cullen, a vampire, and focuses on the development of Bella and Edward's relationship and the subsequent efforts of Edward and his family to keep Bella safe from another coven of vampires.
Breaking Dawn is the 2008 fourth novel in The Twilight Saga by American author Stephenie Meyer. Divided into three parts, the first and third sections are written from Bella Swan's perspective, and the second is written from the perspective of Jacob Black. The novel directly follows the events of the previous novel, Eclipse, as Bella and Edward Cullen get married, leaving behind a heartbroken Jacob. When Bella faces unexpected and life-threatening situations, she willingly risks her human life and possible vampire immortality.
The Twilight Saga is a series of romance fantasy films based on the book series Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The series has grossed over $3.36 billion worldwide. The first installment, Twilight, was released on November 21, 2008. The second installment, New Moon, followed on November 20, 2009. The third installment, Eclipse, was released on June 30, 2010. The fourth installment, Breaking Dawn – Part 1, was released on November 18, 2011, while the fifth and final installment, Breaking Dawn – Part 2, was released on November 16, 2012.
Twilight: The Graphic Novel is a two-part comic book miniseries by Young Kim, an adaptation of the first thirteen chapters of the 2005 novel Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Volume 2 was released on October 11, 2011. In October 2012 Volume 1 and Volume 2 were put into one book for a collectors edition that included extras in the back of the book about 5 of the characters (Carlisle Cullen, Edward Cullen, Bella Swan, Jacob Black, and Esme Cullen. On April 23, 2013, volume one of the New Moon: The Graphic Novel came out.
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is a novella in the Twilight series by author Stephenie Meyer. It tells the story of a newborn vampire, Bree Tanner, who is featured in the third book of the series, Eclipse (2007). The book is written from the viewpoint of Bree, as opposed to the rest of the series which is predominantly narrated by character Bella Swan. Meyer let director David Slade, screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, and a few of the actors read a draft of the story during production of the 2010 film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.
The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide is a spin-off encyclopedic reference book for the Twilight Saga book series, written by Stephenie Meyer and was released on April 12, 2011. The Guide includes exclusive new material about the world Meyer created in Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn and The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, and nearly a hundred full-color illustrations by illustrator Young Kim, who previously illustrated Meyer's #1 New York Times Best SellerTwilight: The Graphic Novel, and several other artists.
The Host is a 2013 American romantic science fiction thriller film written for the screen and directed by Andrew Niccol based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Jake Abel, Max Irons, Frances Fisher, Chandler Canterbury, Diane Kruger, and William Hurt. It tells the story of a young woman, Melanie, who is captured after the human race has been taken over by parasitic aliens called "Souls". After Melanie is infused with a "Soul" called "Wanderer", Melanie and the alien "Soul" vie for control of her body.
Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined is a young adult vampire-romance novel by Stephenie Meyer. The story is a gender-swapped retelling of the first book in the Twilight series, and introduces Beau Swan and Edythe Cullen in place of Bella and Edward. The book was originally published on October 6, 2015 as part of an "oversized flip-book pairing" with Twilight to celebrate the original novel's tenth anniversary. An audiobook (CD) was released by Penguin Random House on the same day.
The Storytellers: New Voices of the Twilight Saga is a series of seven romance-fantasy short films from Lionsgate and Stephenie Meyer inspired by the vampiric world established in Meyer's four novels. It began as a competition to bring more attention to Women in Film.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
