The Host is a science fiction/romance novel by Stephenie Meyer. The novel introduces an alien race, called Souls, which takes over the Earth and its inhabitants. The book describes one Soul's predicament when the mind of her human host refuses to cooperate with her takeover. 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 Finnish, Catalan, Chinese, Japanese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch,Swedish, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Romanian, Serbian, Hebrew and Danish among others. The prologue and the fourth chapter of the book can be found on Meyer's official website.[4]
Plot summary
In the future, Earth has been colonized by the "Souls" a parasitic alien race which inhabit human bodies, erasing the original occupants. Melanie Stryder, is one of the last free humans alive. On a raid to find food, she meets Jared Howe, another human and the two fall in love. Melanie is chased by a group of Souls, intent on capturing rogue humans. To avoid capture she throws herself down an elevator shaft nearly killing herself. A Soul named Wanderer is inserted into Melanie's body with the hopes of accessing her memories and finding the other humans in her group. However, Melanie remains partially conscious and bombards Wanderer with her memories of Jared and her brother Jamie. Wanderer begins to form an emotional connection to both and heads into the desert to find their hideout.
Near death from dehydration, Wanderer is found by Melanie's uncle Jeb and taken to a series of desert caves that serve as a hideout for dozens of free humans. Her presence angers many of the residents, who view her as a parasite, but Jeb refuses to allow her to be killed. Eventually, after helping out and showing kindness, Wanderer begins to be accepted by the group, who call her Wanda. However, she must also deal with her increasing attraction to Ian O'Shea, one of the residents and Melanie's continued feelings for Jared. She becomes angry when she discovers that the humans are experimenting with ways to remove Souls from their human hosts, but that the procedure has so far proven fatal for both parties.
When Jamie becomes sick, Wanda uses her identity as a Soul to gain access to a hospital and procure the needed medicine, earning her more trust. However, another Soul tracks her to the caves and kills one of the inhabitants before being captured. Remorseful, Wanda reveals a method for safely extracting Souls from their host body and the humans use it on several of their loved ones. Wanda asks to be removed from Melanie's body so that Melanie can live again, opting to die rather than possess another human. The process is a success; however, her friends go against her wishes and implant her in the body of a human girl whose mind had been left blank after a Soul was extracted. Melanie and Wanda begin romantic relationships with Jared and Ian respectively.
Background
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." As soon as she got to her computer, she typed the outline that she had written in her notebook. Originally meant to be a side project, The Host eventually became a priority, as she favored it above the ideas of other stories she had saved on her computer.[9]
It took Meyer a year to write The Host as she was still editing Eclipse and, as Meyer considers herself a storyteller, she needed something to remind her that she was still a writer, not just an editor.[7]Therefore, after editing Eclipse, she took two days to read through 'what she had already written for The Host to get back into what she calls The Host mode.[5] The character of Ian was originally meant to play a small role' Meyer had no plans for a romance between Ian and Wanderer until Jared "got on [her] last nerve", and Ian "refused to be ignored", and as a result, the ending was changed to allow for Ian.[10]
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.[10]
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.
[edit]Potential 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 that, if published, the first sequel would be entitled The Soul and the second The Seeker.[11] In November 2009, she said, "I'd like to eventually have The Host be part of a trilogy."[12] In a Q&A session in Kansas City, Meyer stated that she has outlines for the sequels and has done some writing on them, but she has some qualms since The Host universe is a "dangerous place" where characters might die, and she is not sure if she wants to kill them off.[7]
[edit]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."[13] In a review of the book for The Guardian, Keith Brooke stated, "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."[14]
The Host was also a #1 New York Times Best Seller,[15] and remained on this list for 26 weeks,[16] and also spent over 36 weeks on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list.[17] The novel was named #1 onMaclean's Magazine's list of 10 top-selling fiction books in Canada.[18]
[edit]Film adaptation
Main article: The Host (2013 film)
The Host is being developed into a film with Andrew Niccol attached to direct and Saoirse Ronan to star as Melanie.[19][20] The project was first announced in September 2009 when 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.[21]In early 2011, before the start of filming, Susanna White had replaced Niccol as the director,[22] but Niccol resumed his role of director in May 2011.[19] In the same month, Ronan was cast to play Melanie in the adaptation.[20] On June 27, it was announced that the film is set for release on March 29, 2013 with principal photography to start in February 2012 in Louisiana and New Mexico.[23] Open Road Films acquired the U.S. distribution rights for the film and Meyer will serve as producer along Wechsler, Schwartz and Mae Schwartz.[24]
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