Cox Commentaries: The Host

I admit I would have never picked up The Host by Stephenie Meyer if I hadn't read and enjoyed the Twilight series. For one, I'm not a huge science fiction fan (used to be back in eight grade, but not so much any more) and the thought of reading a book about aliens gave me a "blah" feeling, and two, the cover freaks me out.

However, remembering the conversations I heard before I gave Twilight a chance that went something like this:

Person 1: "Have you read Twilight yet?"
Person 2: "No, what's it about?"
Person 1: "Oh, vampires . . . It's really good."
Person 2 (incredulous): "Uh, vampires? That's not my thing."
Person 1: "But it's not like that!"

I decided that The Host, being a Stephenie Meyer novel was probably as much about aliens as Twilight was about vampires. In reading Twilight, I had found it more about teen romance than anything else.

So what about The Host? Is it really an "alien" novel? No. Put simply, it is a book about discovering what it means to be human and overcoming prejudices. On the side, there is danger, romance, survival, and, of course, aliens. It is science fiction for those who do not like science fiction.

Be forewarned, it is not Twilight. I heard of one person who had a hard time getting into The Host at first because what she really wanted was more Twilight. After she accepted it was a different book entirely, she liked it. Luckily, I had this warning before I read it so I didn't have those expectations.

I did find the novel a bit difficult to read at first. The story is told first person from the alien Wanderer's point of view, which was uncomfortable because my natural prejudice was to dislike her and think her the enemy and want her to get the heck out of Melanie's body. However, as the novel progressed and I got to know Wanderer better, I found I liked her. I still thought her people were wrong to come take over humankind, but I didn't blame her. I still wanted her to give Melanie her life back, but I hoped somehow it work out well for her too.

Experiencing my own prejudices against Wanderer strip aside as they do for the human characters in the book was fascinating and compelling. I found I couldn't put the book down, and I began wanting it to end so that my drive to finish it would stop keeping me from fulfilling my domestic duties. Consequently, the end seemed to drag on for me. Meyer wrote the novel to stand on its own, with the possibility for a sequel, but perhaps it would have been better if she had planned it to be a series from the start.

The Host surely has a place in good modern American story telling, so even if aliens are not your thing, you may want to give the book a try. You may just learn a little something about what it means for you to be human and overcome some prejudices of your own.