It is almost time for “The Host” to start playing in a theater near you! After a lot of begging and borrowing, we finally got a copy of the “behind the scenes
filming of the host.
About The Host
The Host is a science fiction/romance novel by Stephenie Meyer. The novel introduces an alien race, called Souls, which takes over the Earth and its inhabitants. The book describes one Soul’s predicament when the mind of her human host refuses to cooperate with her takeover. The Host was released on May 6, 2008 with an initial print run of 750,000 copies.
Will it be the next “Twilight”?
The simple answer is NO – But if it performs well at the box office, then we could see many more books put to film by Meyer. Like Twilight, Meyer has been very hands on during the filming and casting of The Host.
The Host Plot Summary
In the future, Earth has been colonized by the “Souls,” a parasitic alien race which inhabits human bodies, suppressing the original personality. Melanie Stryder is one of the last free humans alive. On a raid to find food, she meets Jared Howe, another human, and the two fall in love. Melanie is chased by a group of Souls, intent on capturing rogue humans. To avoid capture, she throws herself down an elevator shaft, nearly killing herself.
A Soul named Wanderer is inserted into Melanie’s body with the hopes of accessing her memories and finding the other humans in her group. Melanie remains partially conscious and bombards Wanderer with her memories of Jared and her brother Jamie. Wanderer begins to form an emotional connection to both and heads into the desert to find their hideout.
Near death from dehydration, Wanderer is found by Melanie’s uncle Jeb and taken to a series of desert caves that serve as a hideout for dozens of free humans. Her presence angers many of the residents, who view her as a parasite, but Jeb refuses to allow her to be killed. Eventually, after helping out and showing kindness, Wanderer begins to be accepted by the group, who call her Wanda.
She must deal with her increasing attraction to Ian O’Shea, one of the residents, and Melanie’s continued feelings for Jared. She becomes angry when she discovers that the humans are experimenting with ways to remove Souls from their human hosts, with fatal results thus far for both parties.
When Jamie becomes sick, Wanda uses her identity as a Soul to gain access to a hospital and procure the needed medicine, earning her more trust. However, Wanderer’s old seeker tracks her to the caves and kills one of the inhabitants before being captured. Remorseful, Wanda reveals a method for safely extracting Souls from their host bodies, and the humans use it on several of their loved ones.
Wanda asks to be removed from Melanie’s body so that Melanie can live again, opting to die rather than possess another human. The process is a success; however, her friends go against her wishes and implant her in the body of a human girl whose mind had been left blank after a Soul was extracted.
Melanie and Wanda begin romantic relationships with Jared and Ian respectively. At the end of the book, the group runs into another group of surviving humans, which includes another turned Soul.
