The Host by Stephenie Meyer Versus Twilight
Meyers' Books Compared – Aliens Versus Vampires
Stephenie Meyer loves sci-fi, that's for sure! Her Twilight novels evolve around vampires and werewolves and her adult novel The Host about aliens. How alike are these books? A comparison
The Host and Twilight are Both Sci-Fi Books
Stephenie Meyer herself called The Host ‘a sci-fi novel for people who are not really into sci-fi.’ This is also true for her previous novels in the Twilight series. Many readers who did not like traditional vampire stories simply devoured the books and adore leading characters Bella and Edward. The same goes for her adult novel The Host. It’s about ‘aliens’ but don’t be afraid: it’s nothing like those space creatures with tentacles or five eyes you see in sci-fi movies, just as the vampires of Twilight are not all blood-thirsty creatures with blood coming out of their eyes.
The Story of The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Contrary to the Twilight books of Stephenie Meyer, The Host is not about vampires and werewolves, but about parasites taking over human bodies. These so-called ‘Souls’ have invaded earth long ago and are trying to take over all the humans. When humanity finally realizes this, it’s already too late.
As soon as a Soul is placed into a human body, the human mind is suppressed. At the beginning of the book The Host, we meet the girl Wanderer, a Soul that has been placed into the host body of a girl named Melanie. Wanderer knew that taking over a human would not be easy, but she never expected this: the previous owner of the body is refusing to let go of her mind.
Melanie resists and refuses to give her body to Wanderer. Therefore, Wanderer always sees Melanie’s memories, hears her voice and know all of her thoughts. After a while it’s almost like Melanie’s memories are Wanderer’s. She longs for people she has never met; particularly for Jared, the man Melanie loved.
Realistic and Exiting Adventures in Both Books
The characters of The Host by Stephenie Meyer are very realistic which makes reader identification easy. The people in the book really hate the Souls as the reader will probably do too at the beginning of the book. But as the story evolves, it's easy to start sympathising with Wanderer.
Meyer has giving her characters depth and they manage to evolve throughout the novel; something that bothered some people in the Twilight series where Bella and Edward seemed to stay the same. They don't evolve much through the books.
The exciting adventures of Wanderer and Melanie will have readers poised at the edge of their seat, just as the adventures of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen did. The romance of Melanie and Jared add a little extra to this novel which combines adventure with love, hate and questions about what it means to be human. It crawls under reader's skin in a typical Meyer's fashion.
The Aliens of The Host Versus the Vampires of Twilight
With The Host, Stephenie Meyer strikes out on a new course. It’s her first novel for adults, but adolescents will also enjoy it. The difference between this book and the Twilight books is that The Host has a greater depth to it. In Twilight the emphasis is on an heartbreaking love between human and vampire, whereas The Host concentrates on the question what it means to be human. The answers to this question are given by Wanderer who looks at humanity with her alien eyes. The book will keep the reader wondering about these questions for days.
What is similar to Twilight, is that The Host is also about love. Again, Meyer writes about a love triangle. This time not a triangle between vampire (Edward), human (Bella) and werewolf (Jacob), but between two women (Wanderer and Melanie) residing in the same body and one man (Jared). The difference between these romances is that the relationship in Twilight focuses on 'teen love' and the one in The Host on 'adult love'.
People who loved the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer should also check out The Host, you will not be disappointed! Want to read an excerpt? You can read a few pages from The Host on Stephenie Meyer's website.
Books by Stephenie Meyer
Twilight. Little, Brown Young Readers (September 6, 2006). ISBN: 0316015849
New Moon. Little, Brown Young Readers (September 6, 2007) ISBN: 0316024961
Eclipse. Little, Brown Young Readers (August 7, 2007). ISBN:
The Host. Little, Brown and Company (May 6, 2008). ISBN: 0316068047
Breaking Dawn. Little, Brown Young Readers (August 2, 2008). ISBN: 031606792X
The Host
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