By Shannon McKenna
Round Table editor
What would the world be like if it was controlled by an enemy that can’t be seen? Family and friends are no longer who they use to be. Their bodies and faces remain the same while their minds are taken over by the parasite, making it seem as if nothing has changed about them. The few remaining survivors live in hiding to keep from joining the growing pandemic in which humans become the host bodies for other worldly creatures.
“The Host” by Stephenie Meyer, the author of the popular “Twilight” series, created a completely different mood for this book and the life of Melanie Stryder. Although Melanie’s body has already been taken over by the parasitic creature, she refuses to give her mind over to the new controller of her body.
The parasitic creature, or “soul” as it is known in the novel, that inhabits Melanie’s body is named Wanderer. It was given Melanie’s body but was warned of the challenges it would have to face. Melanie is a rogue human, refusing to relinquish possession of her mind due to her overwhelming hatred for the “souls,” and her strong will to protect the ones she loves. Wanderer would have to learn to control the overwhelming human emotions, the new feeling of senses and the too vivid memories that Melanie once had.
The book sends readers into a new world where there are no diseases, wars have been eliminated, money isn’t needed, and Earth has turned into a carefree paradise with no problems. Throughout the entire book, readers can feel the raw emotion coming from both Melanie and Wanderer.
The book plays on human memories and emotions and is difficult to put down as readers feel compelled to know what’s going to happen to Melanie and her controller. Even though Melanie and Wanderer were destined to hate each other, they soon become reluctant allies on a search to find a human named Jared, the man Melanie loves, and the man for which Wanderer begins to yearn.
Unlike the “Twilight” series, which is a classic romance series, “The Host” changed the way its readers look at life. There are so many complex things going on in the human mind, but the book puts it into simpler and more creative terms.
While some readers are skeptical of the “Twilight” author’s work, Meyer wrote her only non-vampire book completely different from the more-popular saga. The themes, characters and problems in “The Host” are unique. It is a novel that deserves to be measured with a different scale, as unique as the concept of the story itself.
