The Host - Stephenie Meyer: A Review

 

BOOK TITLE: The Host

ISBN: 9780316218511

AUTHOR: Stephenie Meyer

GENRE: Science Fiction, Romance.

NUMBER OF PAGES: 574

FORMAT: e-book

SERIES / STANDALONE: The Host #1

REVIEW BY: Dhivya Balaji

HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: A new book by a famous author initiated interest and therefore acquired this book.

REVIEW:

Some authors write varied books and often when one has read their series books, one sort of gets into the groove and the characters. So it definitely is a new experience reading a standalone book by the same author. And it is a sweet surprise if the book turns out good. So with such mingled expectations, I started “The Host”.

          The book back cover has a riveting description and the story line has an advanced science fiction / alien invasion theme. The story describes how ‘souls’ of the origin planet travel to other planets by inserting themselves into the bodies of ‘hosts’. What happens when they inhabit advanced life forms like humans forms the rest of the story.

          The souls who had so far inhabited worlds with lesser life forms like plants and animals decide to inhabit the humans of the earth. The initial process goes without a glitch and the planet is by and large occupied by the souls. But a small part of humans realise what is happening and form a resistance. Before long, hosts discover that when a human body is prepared for this invasion, the mind will still regain control even after possession.

          The story is told in a first person narrative of a much experienced soul called as the ‘wanderer’ who inhabits the body of a young girl named ‘Melanie’. The experienced soul comes across much resistance from the host and finds the crisis of its life time. How the host and the soul correlate to find out the lost relatives of the host, how the soul convinces the host that all souls are for betterment of the world and how the host convinces the soul that whatever good the souls do the hosts wont like the presence of aliens forms the plot.

          In trademark Meyer style, the whole book is interlaced with the pains and pangs of love, the conflicts of interests between the soul and the body and whose love interest would finally be united is a suspense. The plot has no real villains and even one weak attempt at a villain has a justifying past. The concept of villainy is the story itself and not its characters. Even the alien invaders are depicted as benevolent minds that create a concept of no money and a free for all society.

          The souls justify their presence by a turning a world into a friendly non violent place, but however genuine the reasons are, no one likes oppression. The journey of the soul ‘wanderer’ and her interactions with her host across deserts following the clue of an enigmatic uncle of the host is a real page turner. The thrilling search for the lost humans and the kindred spirit that comes with fighting a common enemy is woven into an intricate tale. The characters are etched in the mind and the scenes portrayed are vivid.

          But where the story falters is its predictable end in spite of many twists and turns. And the typical feel good end without the tragic losses that will leave a permanent imprint in the minds of the readers is for those who like their stories where their favourite characters are definitely going to make it. But altogether, the host is a refreshing book and as a standalone story good for a one time read. For twilight fans, there are no memorable dialogues, as was expected anyway, no surprises there.

WHAT I LIKED: The new concept, the strong characters sketch, the realistic expressions and scenes, twists.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: Predictable end, abstract and vague scenes, occasionally.

VERDICT: The book is heavy on totally new concepts, but has the trademark Meyer style of love at all corners of the world. Meyer fans will lap this one up.

RATING: 4/5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Stephenie Meyer is an American young adult author and producer, best known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 different languages Meyer was the bestselling author of 2008 and 2009 in America, having sold over 29 million books in 2008, [and 26.5 million books in 2009. Twilight was the best-selling book of 2008 in US bookstores.

Meyer was ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008", and was included in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the world's most powerful celebrities in 2009, entering at #26. Her annual earnings exceeded $50 million. In 2010, Forbes ranked her as the #59 most powerful celebrities with annual earnings of $40 million.

In May 2008, Meyer's adult sci-fi novel The Host was released by the adult division of Little, Brown and Company. It follows the story of Melanie Strider and Wanderer, a young woman and an invading alien "soul," who are forced to work as one. The Host debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for 26 weeks. Meyer has said that she is working on additional books in The Host series and that she intends to write a trilogy, with the second and third books being called "The Soul" and "The Seeker", respectively. 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.

 

EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook.

PRICE: Rs. 225

BOOK LINKS: http://www.amazon.com/The-Host-Novel-Stephenie-Meyer/dp/0316043044