The Host: A Novel
Written by: Stephenie Meyer
Narrated by: Kate Reading
Length: 23 hrs and 5 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date: 06-09-08
Publisher: Hachette Audio
There’s no doubt – The Host is superior to the Twilight Series, probably given it is designed for adults, rather than teens, and I fall in that first category.
Quite interesting insights into a genre that hasn’t been explored much. Take Robert Heinlein’s “The Puppet Masters” or maybe ABC Televesion’s recently unsuccessful series “Invasion”, jump 3 years after some symbiotic aliens have successfully crushed Earth and many of its human population then tell a story from the point of view of a good alien introduced right into a hostile host then you have the beginning of The Host.
The insights in to the human condition, how important life is usually, how brutal and bestial we are able to treat the other person, etc, really makes this audiobook shine to me.
I’m not sure this shiny, happy-end was absolutely necessary but I like how within the hardback edition there are a few blank pages inserted between the natural conclusion with the novel and the happy ending which means you can choose you own ending. Pretty cool.
I think the book was well thought out and is worth your hard earned cash. I am actually re-reading the audiobook version of my iPod now to ses if I can get any subtle nuances I may have have missed or this narrator might convey with her reading of the audiobook.
I think that the book is more of a character examination set inside confines of a romance covel (without any fluff) when compared to a hard sci-fi book. However there are distinct sci-fi themes to please the fans of the genre. The core of this book is going way past genres into the world of literature and hits with the root on the human condition, emotional anxiety, social mores, prejudice, and commonplace misconceptions determined by looks rather than character.
Stephanie Mayer sets up an improbable scenario and skillfully leads us through a transformation into a brilliant ending that’s immensely rewarding. This book gets you thinking. Usually I like action adventure books up but I don’t mind some self-examination as well as the sometime unplesant reflections which a well composed, intelligent first person story reveals.
Kate Reading does a very good job narrating this challenging story that develops entirely into the head of two females trapped inside of a single body.
This may be the first existing science fiction audiobook I would highly recommend considering that the Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, has been one of my favorites in the genre. If it is a sampling of what Stephanie Meyer has in store for her readers once she jumps of the teen-angst vampire bandwagon, I will be curious to check it out.
Here’s the movie trailer for The Host:
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