Oldies But Goodies
{Put This One on Your TBR List}
Book Review: The Host by
Stephenie Meyer
by Karen S. Wiesner
After I finished my last
writing reference, I'd started to hear about what I thought was a "flavor
of the day" trend going around writing circles. In direct opposition of
everything I'd ever taught about the crucial need to go deep with characters,
writers were being told that it's best not to include more than basic
information about main characters, not even providing last names for them--this
supposedly allows readers to fill in the blanks with their own details, making
the characters whatever they wanted them to be.
I can't impart to you just how
much I disliked that idea then, and how much I hate it now. First, my
characters don't belong to readers. They belong to me. And, since they're mine,
I choose who they are and what they
stand for, what choices they make. It's inconceivable to me that any writer
would surrender proprietary rights of character development to readers, that author's
don't care enough about every aspect of their stories and craft to protect them
from poking and prodding, breaches and violations. Beyond that, how can
character development be fluid enough to allow something like that without
compromising everything vital in a story? There can be no solid ground in that
situation.
Individual character choices
directly influence outcomes. That's a no brainer. Logically, if a character
isn't well defined, motives and purposes are constantly in question as well as in flux.
Additionally, if readers can't understand where the characters are coming from,
then how can the story make any kind of sense?
Ultimately, how can readers
root for characters and want them to succeed? They can't. Readers not emotionally
invested enough to, frankly my dear, give a damn what happens move on,
unimpressed. Don't kid yourself: A story without impact is quickly forgotten.
Unfortunately, what I thought
was a trend that would come and go quickly ended up becoming the norm in the
last few years. So many of the books I read these days, the films and TV shows
I watch have characters that just make no impact on me whatsoever. Even if I'm
captured by a plot, the imbalance of bad things happening to unformed lumps of
clay that haven't bothered trying to convince me to care…well, what can I say?
I'm not moved. There's more of an eh, so
what? response while I move on and I don't look back.
This really came home to me
recently. I watched the science fiction suspense movie called I.S.S. and, later, someone asked me how
it was. My response? "It was good with a compelling plot, but I never
learned much of anything about the characters involved in the conflict. Bits
here and there." At the end of the movie, the survivors had a short
conversation, to the effect of:
#1: "Where
are we going?"
#2: "I
don't know."
My brain
reacted to this with a sum up with, Who
cares?
I was barely
curious about what might happen next, though normally I hate stories that end
on a cliffhanger.
I can't help
feeling about this and other stories like it, what a waste. This film could
have been so much better, so much more memorable if only the writers cared
enough to make us care. Another forgettable installment that'll fall by the
wayside instead of resonating with people for longer than the one hour and
thirty-five minutes it took to watch it.
For at least the past year,
I've found myself much less interested than usual in reading anything new
because it's such a rare thing now to find something with a good balance of
character and plot development. In my mind, both are required if I'm going to
invest myself emotionally, physically, and financially. So I've been re-reading
books from my huge personal library that I liked enough to put on my keeper
shelves in the past. Over the next month or two, I thought I'd revisit a few of
these oldies but goodies with reviews.
The Host was the first new
work by Stephenie Meyer after the Twilight Saga reached its pinnacle. Published
in 2008, the romantic science fiction tells the tale of Earth being invaded by
an enemy species in a post-apocalyptic time. A "Soul" from this
parasitic alien race is implanted into a human host body. In the process, the
original owner loses all memories, knowledge, even the awareness that any other
consciousness ever existed. However, one Soul, called Wanderer (or Wanda),
quickly realizes its original host won't be so easily subdued. Melanie Stryder
is alive and well and begins communicating with Wanda. Like it or not, Wanda
begins to sympathize and realize the violation her species has visited upon
humans. The movie adaptation in 2013 was faithful to the story told in the
book.
It's never easy for an author that reached the heights of fame Stephenie Meyer
did when Twilight fever swept the world to move past such an epoch. The Guardian reviewer Keith Brooke,
unfairly I think, said of The Host,
"The novel works well, and will appeal to fans of…Twilight…but it is
little more than a half-decent doorstep-sized chunk of light
entertainment." The Host was
well-written and interesting, a solid balance between fully fleshed out
characters and conflicts. I enjoyed it. Its only real flaw was falling in the
shadow of its dazzlingly bright predecessor.
The author has said she'd like to make this book into a trilogy, and in
February 2011, she reported she'd completed outlines for them, even done some
writing. Thirteen years later, the only non-Twilight related work from the
author has been The Chemist, released
in late 2016, a suspense story with no connection to her previous books.
Sometimes it's hard to return to things you've been away from for so long, they
no longer feel like your own. Maybe that's the case here, and if it is, luckily
the story contained in The Host is
satisfying without requiring anything more to tie up loose threads.
Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might also find worth
another read, too.
Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.
Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/
and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog
Find out more about her books and see her art
here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor
Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/