The Host (novel)

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The Host

First edition cover
Author	Stephenie Meyer
Cover artist	Juliana Lee
Language	English
Genre	Science Fiction, Romance novel
Publisher	Little, Brown & Company
Publication date	May 6, 2008, April 13, 2010 (paperback)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	619 pp
ISBN	0-316-06804-7
OCLC	163708271
Dewey Decimal	813/.6 22
LC Class	PS3613.E979 H67 2008

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 its 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 Catalan, Chinese, Japanese, 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]

Melanie 'Mel' Stryder is one of the only rebel humans left after the invasion of the 'souls', parasitic aliens which take over human bodies, erasing the original occupants. Wanderer is a soul who has lived on eight other planets previously, Mel being her ninth body host. She was inserted under emergency conditions, with the intent of using her to access any information Melanie might have about other free humans. This investigation is headed by an individual identified only by title, as "The Seeker", who pressures Wanderer to produce information, and views her with implied contempt for her failure to do so.

Melanie remains partially conscious despite her infestation, an aberration for which Wanderer feels some shame, and no small amount of concern. She bombards Wanderer with her memories and emotions, and Wanderer develops an emotional connection of her own to Melanie's former lover, and brother. When enough information arises for her to find them, rather than report it to the Seeker Wanderer sets out on her own to find them, nearly dying in the desert before Melanie's uncle, Jeb, finds her and bring her into the hideout, a complex of caves containing several free humans. They survive by scavenging from nearby cities. Jeb is unwilling to kill her because her host body is a relative, so she remains in the caves, and eventually develops feelings for several of the other humans, notably Ian O'Shea, with whom she has a romantic relationship. Her help and support with a dying member of the group helps to make the others view her more sympathetically. Only a few humans maintain their dislike of her, notably Ian's brother Kyle, who makes at least one attempt of her life, as a result of which he is threatened with expulsion from the group.

Wanderer's peaceful life with the group is disturbed by the realization that the humans have not given up on reclaiming those the souls have enslaved, and have been experimenting with ways of removing souls from their hosts, always killing both host and soul in the process. Severely traumatized upon discovering the discarded remains of the extracted souls, she enters a period of mourning, withdrawing from the group, and is only roused by news that Melanie's brother Jamie, for whom she has come to care, is injured. While not previously trusted with information about paths in and out of the caves, a infection developes in Jamie's wound which leads to her and Jared sneaking out of the complex together to seek medicine at a Soul-run hospital, using Wanderer's credibility as a Soul to get access. After this she becomes a regular participant in scavenging missions. When the Seeker is captured on one such mission, Wanderer finally reveals the method of detaching a soul without killing the host. This will allow them to rescue several friends and family members taken by the souls, including Kyle's girlfriend. She reveals the technique to the group's medic, on the condition that he not harm the souls after they are removed, and that she also be removed from Melanie's head and buried. This latter condition proves controversial, especially with Ian, who forcibly takes her to his cave where they confess their love for each other. However Wanderer, undeterred, sneaks away after he falls asleep to complete her plan. She is removed, but awakens in a the body of a girl who had not had a chance to develop a personality, having had a soul inserted in infancy. Kyle's girlfriend turns out to have been utterly destroyed in the insertion, and he develops a relationship with the soul inserted into her body instead. Wanderer's association with the humans continues, and in the final scene is revealed not to be a unique situation, as they meet another group with a human-sympathising soul.

Wanderer "Wanda"  – Wanderer is the main character, a parasitic alien "soul" inserted into Melanie Stryder's body in the first scene. 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 Uncle Jeb and her brother, Jamie. Initially only interested in enjoying her new life, Melanie's refusal to die off as expected forces her to make choices she otherwise would not have, and she slowly develops sympathy for the human characters, eventually acknowledging that they have a right to their own lives, and attempting to sacrifice herself so that Melanie can have her life back. She is uncomfortable with violence, and enjoys storytelling, a role she is indicated to have held in several previous hosts. Physically, her capabilities are determined by her host.

Melanie "Mel" Stryder  – Melanie is a 21-year-old human who was captured and infested with a soul after years of evading the seekers. Melanie survives Wanderer's implantation into her body, and resists the soul'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 may be considered volatile compared to docile Wanderer. Melanie is passionately in love with another human, Jared Howe, and shares a strong bond with her younger brother, Jamie. It is clear from their relationship and previous interactions that their years on the run made her extremely parentified. Despite initial anger at Wanderer of stealing her life, they eventually become unwilling allies, and finally develop a sort of friendship.

Jared Howe  – Jared is 30 years old and Melanie Stryder's lover. Loving, aggressive, and somewhat excitable in Melanie's memories, by the time Wanderer meets him he has become quite bitter. He bears a grudge against Wanderer, and is unable to empathize with her for most of the book. He is somewhat of a rival to Ian O'Shea, who sees him as competition for Wanderer's affections. He also has a vaguely parental relationship with Jamie, who 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. His survival skills are an asset to the group, and he is considered responsible and capable by most other characters.

Ian O'Shea – Wanderer calls Ian "as kind as a soul, but strong as only a human could be." He has a strong dislike of the souls in the beginning, but quickly abandons it once he begins to empathise with Wanderer. Other characters seem to view him as mostly level-headed. however he does have a temper; he shows violent and aggressive reactions when his love interest, Wanderer, is at risk, including wanting to kill his own brother for threatening her, and becoming aggressive and physically pushy with her when she proposes to sacrifice herself for Melanie. In the end of the book, he is in a relationship with Wanderer, who had been put into a new host body. He is described as being tall and muscular, with black hair, sapphire blue eyes, and fair skin.

Jamie Stryder  – Jamie is Melanie's younger brother and is 14 years old when he first meets Wanderer. His behaviour and emotions are generally childish, representing an idealised innocence; unlike most characters, he holds no animosity towards Wanderer for stealing his sister's body or life. He quickly comes to view Wanderer as substitute sibling, and draws her into the group with his interest in her stories and opinions. Despite his apparent innocence and naivete, Jamie wants to be treated like an adult; he yearns to go on raids with the others, and when is uncomfortable with the coddling he receives when he is injured.

Uncle Jeb  – Jebediah "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 maintains strict control over the hideout 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 humans' perspective to her.

The Seeker  – The soul responsible for finding Melanie's family, mutual spite towards the Seeker is the basis of Melanie and Wanderer's early relationship. She is described as unusually irritable and edgy for her species. She mocks Wanda for not being able to completely drive out Melanie's spirit. This is later revealed to be due to her insecurity at having failed to subdue her own host, who remembers her name and recovers most of her personality when the seeker is finally removed.

Kyle O'Shea – Kyle, Ian's brother is a fiery character with a strong dislike of souls. This is implied to spring from the loss of his girlfriend, Jodi who was caught and implanted earlier in the war. He is impulsive, and tends to take precipitous action without considering the group's opinion, which can lead to danger for himself; possible due to this quality, he is not trusted to lead raiding missions. His hatred for souls disappears abruptly when he realises that his girlfriend cannot be saved, and he begins a friendship with the soul inside her Sunny.

Doc  – A tall, slim human rebel who was a surgeon and serves as the rebels' doctor. He is shown as deeply affected by his patient's suffering, which in combination with the conditions, places him under great strain; this drives him to alcoholism, such as they can afford. He is very interested in finding out how the souls invaded, and attempting to rescue the victims of the invasion. His real name is Eustace. Some of his characteristics were influenced by Meyer's younger brother, Seth.^[5]

Magnolia "Maggie"  – Jeb's sister and Sharon's mother. She shows extreme dislike towards Wanderer and never accepts her, though her attitude softens when Wanderer is moved into Pet's body.

Sharon  - Jeb's niece, Maggie's daughter, and Melanie's cousin. Like her mother, she hates Wanderer and obsesses about the threat she poses, sometimes to the point of risking other priorities. Her dislike weakens when Wanderer is placed in Pet's body because pet is so pretty. Her mother set her up with Doc, with whom she has a shaky relationship.

Pet (Petals Open to the Moon) – Pet is the former host body of a soul named Petals Open to the Moon, from which name hers is derived. After Petals Open to the Moon is removed and placed in cryogenic storage to be shipped to another planet, it is found that Pet's mind either did not have a chance to develop, or did not survive implantation - she is essentially a blank slate. As a result it is decided that they will use her as a host for Wanderer after the latter is removed from Melanie. She is 17 years old, small and weak, with pale skin, gray eyes, and wavy blonde hair.

In an interview with Vogue Magazine, 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 that Melanie is all-too aware of 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 something different of us 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]

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]

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.

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, but she has not decided whether she will write them 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]

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 on Maclean's Magazine's list of 10 top-selling fiction books in Canada.^[18]

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]