The Hostess with the Mostess

I recently read The Host, by Stephenie Meyer, the reigning queen of estrogen-powered vampire books and newest LDS pop-culture phenomenon. Unlike the Twilight SAGA, this book is written for adults and thankfully, the boy-crazy meter was dialled down from 1,000 to 500.

First, a few words about the SAGA, as they shaped my perceptions of the author and my outlook on The Host. I'll freely admit that I've read the first three Twilight books and enjoyed them. They are a quick read, and will keep you up at night turning the pages against your will. Its Harry Potter style marathon reading. I really enjoyed a different outlook on Vampires (at least from my past experience) and the plot presents an interesting pickle. Plus, the books are more about longing, passion and self-discovery than power, violence, murder and gratification, which is a refreshing change of pace from most vampire works I'm acquainted with.

Despite my enjoyment, I felt like an intruder in a strange country that I had no business visiting - a woman's mind. And a teenage one at that. Seriously. I thought boys were obsessed with girls in high school. Wow. If those books really are close to reality for the average teenage girl, I'm tempted to buy some chastity belts, a double-barrel shot-gun and a can of Bear Spray (just for good measure) right now.

Here is my one complaint with the SAGA and it consequently, my one issue with The Host: They all seem unnecessarily long. By the way, I'd never dare to complain about boy craziness, since men are much worse in their obsessions with women. Overall, I like the plots, the characters, storyline, but it just feels drug out, in certain spots. I'll give some background on The Host and explain.

The novel is set in the not-too-distant future were aliens have invaded and virtually conquered the earth. They didn't do it with guns and "Lasers" and they don't get sick from the common cold. Which was a good change. They are a species of silvery parasites that have conquered several planets and uses the host bodies of the most compatible species on the planet, in this case, humans. Once a host body dies, these Souls (as they call themselves) are re-inserted into a new host body, effectively making them immortal. These souls are very peaceful and altruistic. Most won't touch a gun and thought they were doing us a favor by wiping us and our barbaric lifestyle out of existence. The descriptions of how life on earth is after they take over are hilarious and I wish there was more of it. The Souls have one secret problem. The human minds of some older bodies don't want to let go and stick around to haunt or simply drive the invading Soul nuts hoping to regain control, but it is a terrible prison.

That alone got me to read the book. Trapped in your mind, with no control over your body and having to hear the occupier's thoughts. It makes for some great reading. Plus, it was from a woman's perspective, which made it all the more alien and interesting to me.

Another problem these invaders have is the emotional and carnal power of the body on the mind. We can all relate to this problem, which made the book thought provoking. It also shows some of Meyer's LDS roots. The Souls have never encountered a species with such strong emotions and memories - yes, they can remember everything from the host body's life. So, when a resistance fighter, Melanie is captured and attempts suicide, the Souls put one of their best in her body to discover her secrets and wipe out the last of the humans. Wanderer, the name of the Soul sent on this mission finds that she can't resist the memories and feelings of Melanie's former life and love. To make matters worse, Melanie is sticking around and forcing memories on Wanderer all the time in hopes of driving her to go find the man she loves and the brother she must protect. Wanderer is overwhelmed by this new body, its powerful emotions, memories and finds herself becoming one with its desires.

The book effectively becomes a love triangle with only two people. But its much more than that. The mental battle between the two women, and their interactions with others is very entertaining to read and yes, I was up late reading the book on several occasions. As I said, my only beef is with the plot being drug out in certain areas, and not enough in others. The portion in the middle, set in the desert could be condensed and other parts such as the new alien human culture should have been expanded. It reminds me of the stall in The Phantom Menace (Star Wars I) where the pod race story takes way too long. Maybe a second book will follow with more of what I crave. [Photo below is of Picacho State Park, a setting in the book]

I experienced a similar frustration with Harry Potter. I like mystery and out of school stuff, but spare me herbology and excessive quidditch competitions. As you can guess, the 7th book was by far and away my favorite. I'm hoping for a similar change in Breaking Dawn, the final book in...THE SAGA.

To any of the three dudes that read this blog and may contemplate reading this book, it still has a high-volume of boy craziness, but its not puppy love and I could identify with it. I'm guessing Meyer had to keep some of this element for her teenage girl fan base, or maybe she just enjoys writing about forbidden love, burning passion, etc, etc. It stays clean and I say more power to her. You go BYU Grad!

Overall, this was a great break from typical sci-fi novels because it was from a feminine perspective in a typically masculine genre. Plus, I genuinely like chick flicks and tearing up. As an unintential bonus, that scores me HUGE wife points. So go figure. I'd recommend this book to just about anyone.