I read "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer about two months ago. I checked it out of the library after reading an article about it. I loved it so much I finished it in two days, then I went straight to Amazon.com and bought it.
If you've ever read "The Puppet Masters" by Robert Heinlein or "The Body Snatchers" by Jack Finney, then you have some idea what "The Host" is about. In "The Body Snatchers," the situation is hopeless because the human is completely replaced by the pod person. In "The Host," a person has a chance of sorts. You don't have to vacate your body when a "Soul," as they're called, takes over. And therein lies the plot. The main character, Wanderer, takes over the body of a feisty young woman named Melanie who isn't giving up ownership of her body and mind without a fight.
"The Host" has more in common with Heinlein's book than it does with Finney's. Where it differs is that the Souls aren't connected. In "The Puppet Masters," the entities that took over the humans' bodies were telepathically connected to each other. The Souls are not. This subtle difference serves the uninhabited human characters of the book well in later chapters.
Rumor has it a film version is already in the works. I hope Hollywood does it right. They ruined Dean Koontz's books "The Watchers" and "Hideaway." They also did a poor job of adapting Robert Heinlein's book "Starship Troopers" for the big screen. I loved the book. I liked the movie, but when I read the book later, I thought the movie could have been much better if Hollywood had stuck closer to Heinlein's original story.
I give "The Host" ***** (5 stars) for drama, excitement and a pretty accurate picture of human nature.
If you've ever read "The Puppet Masters" by Robert Heinlein or "The Body Snatchers" by Jack Finney, then you have some idea what "The Host" is about. In "The Body Snatchers," the situation is hopeless because the human is completely replaced by the pod person. In "The Host," a person has a chance of sorts. You don't have to vacate your body when a "Soul," as they're called, takes over. And therein lies the plot. The main character, Wanderer, takes over the body of a feisty young woman named Melanie who isn't giving up ownership of her body and mind without a fight.
"The Host" has more in common with Heinlein's book than it does with Finney's. Where it differs is that the Souls aren't connected. In "The Puppet Masters," the entities that took over the humans' bodies were telepathically connected to each other. The Souls are not. This subtle difference serves the uninhabited human characters of the book well in later chapters.
Rumor has it a film version is already in the works. I hope Hollywood does it right. They ruined Dean Koontz's books "The Watchers" and "Hideaway." They also did a poor job of adapting Robert Heinlein's book "Starship Troopers" for the big screen. I loved the book. I liked the movie, but when I read the book later, I thought the movie could have been much better if Hollywood had stuck closer to Heinlein's original story.
I give "The Host" ***** (5 stars) for drama, excitement and a pretty accurate picture of human nature.
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