While I was living in Singapore, I read The Host by Stephanie Meyer (of Twilight fame). I had completed the Twilight series, and had, overall, enjoyed her writing style and was interested to see if she would be able to write a story that did not involve vampires, werewolves, and a bizarre romance between a human and her two love interests (the vampire, and the werewolf – in case you didn’t know).
Back to the point of this article 🙂
The premise of The Host is that an alien race has invaded Earth to overtake the dominant native race (ie humans), and infiltrate them so that a peaceful society can ensue. Yes, these peace-loving, non-violent creatures fight humans for control of the planet.
Our story follows one particular implantee, Wanderer, and her “host”, Melanie, and their co-journey of exploration and infiltration of remaining human-only enclaves (so that, ostensibly, the creatures can finish overtaking the violent humans and bring unending peace to the planet).
I was extremely impressed by Ms Meyer’s shift into a new genre (sci-fi romance instead of fantasy/horror romance). The quality of the story-telling, in my opinion, was very good – as was the scene creation. Much of the story happens in complete darkness, or at least in completely unvisitable locales (much of the story takes place in hidden caves in the desert).
Every time I read a story, I am generally thinking about who I would cast in the main roles. Hopefully it doesn’t cloud your reading too much if I suggest a casting call for the main character(s) (but if it would, don’t read below the bulleted list).
This was another novel I really enjoyed, and would recommend to just about anyone.
- Quality of writing: 4/5
- Entertainment value: 5/5
- Story engagement: 4/5
- Overall: 4/5
I’d cast Evangeline Lilly (of Lost (Kate Austin) fame) as Wanderer/Melanie.