The Host

Wanderer knows she will endure her host’s final painful moments when she first awakens in her new body. Wanderer was warned that human emotions are stronger than those of any other species she’s inhabited. As the memories return, Wanderer experiences deep fear and the sense that she has failed: She is running from pursuers and jumps into a hole, hoping to die by suicide.

Then Wanderer experiences a final memory of a handsome male face: “I knew nothing of what passed for beauty among these strangers, and yet I knew this face was beautiful” (13). Then an unfamiliar voice says “mine,” and Wanderer is stunned. There should have been no other entity within the body besides Wanderer.

Wanderer wakes while three souls are having a conversation around her. A Seeker (a soul assigned to capture hosts) argues that Wanderer is strong enough to handle the trauma the human host endured, while a Healer argues that his job is to protect Wanderer from further trauma. The Seeker says the answers to her questions are just as important as helping Wanderer. The Healer and the Seeker continue to argue as Wanderer gains consciousness.

Wanderer previously lived on the floor of a great ocean on an alien planet, and she had 100 arms with 1,000 eyes on each arm. She heard rumors of the war to take Earth, as well as of “Hosts whose minds could not be completely suppressed. Souls who took on the personality of the body, rather than the other way around” (19). Most souls looked down on Seekers for being willing to do a Calling (a job or vocation) that involved violence, but on Earth they have become respected due to the fierce human resistance the souls encountered.

Wanderer knows the Seeker will question her in search of information that will help her capture other humans, so she reviews her host’s memories. Some of the details are fuzzy, and the Wanderer struggles to pull them forward. It’s as if the information has been erased. The Seeker and Healer approach Wanderer, though her eyes remain closed.

The Seeker asks Wanderer questions, but the Healer encourages her to take her time. Wanderer asks if she has been placed in a damaged host merely so she can gain information for the Seeker. The Seeker reassures her that the body is perfect. The Healer asks her what she is missing, and Wanderer says she does not have access to all the host’s memories.

The Healer assures her that this is expected, because the humans who resisted are more difficult to subdue. Wanderer asks the Healer to tell her about another situation when the host refused to be subdued. The Healer explains that four years before, a soul requested an adult male host, and the only available one had been involved in a resistance group. Later, the soul—who took the human’s name of Kevin—reported that he was blacking out, and it was eventually discovered that the host was taking control of his body during those episodes. The human Kevin ultimately attacked a Healer and tried to cut the soul out of his body.

Wanderer shares that her host is named Melanie Stryder. Melanie went to Chicago (where she was captured) to find her cousin, Sharon, who she hoped was still human. Although Melanie didn’t meet with Sharon, Wanderer says that she left a note about meeting with someone else, but Wanderer struggles to remember who, though she does ultimately discern where the note is. Then Wanderer asks if they found Sharon, and she is horrified because “the question [is] not [hers]” (29). Wanderer then uncovers (and shares) that Melanie was supposed to meet someone named Jared in a state park.

Months after the implantation, Wanderer experiences a dream where Melanie is raiding a home for food. Melanie is interrupted by a man who believes she’s a “parasite” who has come to trap him. When he realizes she is human, he kisses her, so Melanie knees him in the groin and runs. He chases after her, telling her he’ll prove he’s human, and finally catches her and pins her. He introduces himself as Jared Howe. Melanie explains that her brother, Jamie, is waiting for her, and Jared tells her he has a car and can drive her to Jamie.

Wanderer wakes and feels emotional. She goes to her computer, determined to do her duty, and emails the Seeker, telling her that Melanie was associating with another human—a brother named Jamie. Wanderer sends the email, and terror washes over her. She has the urge to send an email recanting her previous message, and Wanderer realizes the feeling is from Melanie, who is getting stronger. Wanderer knows she must visit her Comforter (a kind of therapist) tomorrow and feels humiliated and defeated by this.

The Comforter, Kathy, is understanding toward Wanderer even though Wanderer skipped the last meeting. Wanderer is lecturing at a university about her experiences on different planets. Kathy asks if her problems are resolving, and Wanderer admits they are not. Kathy shares that she was an early arrival on Earth and had to pretend to be Kathy and help to turn humans into hosts. Kathy admits that she fell in love with her partner, Curt, in part because her host’s love for Curt’s host survived the implantation.

Wanderer admits that Melanie is getting stronger. Kathy tells Wanderer that she could “skip” (i.e., leave this host), but Wanderer says the problem is that she is “too weak” for Earth. Kathy encourages her to reimplant, telling her that Melanie will not be “reused.” This horrifies both Melanie and Wanderer, who believes it would be “wasteful.” Wanderer considers Kathy’s suggestion but decides, “I wanted myself. I wouldn’t let what was mine be destroyed” (48).

Kathy tells Wanderer that if she wants to remain in Melanie, she should make more friends. It might bore Melanie and make her more dormant. Kathy also encourages Wanderer to find someone she is attracted to, which both Wanderer and Melanie are disgusted by. Kathy says that perhaps the Seekers will find Jared and Wanderer can be with him, and either Melanie or Wanderer shouts, “No!” Wanderer runs out the door and flees several blocks.

Returning to her apartment, Wanderer throws up just outside the front door. The Seeker whom Wanderer met after her implantation appears and tries to call a Healer, which Wanderer rebuffs. Wanderer goes inside, and the Seeker follows. The Seeker presses Wanderer for more information and mockingly asks if she’s “subdued” Melanie yet. She wants to know more about the strange lines Wanderer has reported seeing in her dreams, believing they refer to a road map. Suddenly, Wanderer realizes that the lines somehow lead back to Jared and Jamie, but she does not report this to the Seeker. Meanwhile, the Seeker tells her that Wanderer is her only assignment, so she intends to monitor her closely for further insights.

Wanderer teaches a lesson to several souls about a planet inhabited by a species called Fire-Tasters. The Seeker attends and asks Wanderer invasive questions that irritate her. She asks Wanderer if she pities humans; Wanderer does, but the Seeker sees them as brutal.

To Wanderer’s fury, the Seeker tells Wanderer that she spoke with Kathy. The Seeker tells Wanderer that she is not trying hard enough and should move on so that someone else—such as the Seeker, who already has permission—can enter Melanie and get answers. Wanderer tells her she’s not a skipper and will not give Melanie up, but Seeker is unperturbed, as when a human host resists, the long-term success rate is under 20%. While they’re talking, Wanderer accidentally speaks of Melanie in the present tense but tries to hide the slip. 

Wanderer leaves the Seeker on the street and hurries to her apartment, locking the door. Melanie asks why they cannot report the Seeker, and Wanderer tells her there is no one to report her to, as the souls’ society is not hierarchical. Wanderer looks for flights to Chicago, and Melanie asks what she’s doing. Wanderer tells her she wants to talk to Healer Fords before she decides whether to leave Melanie’s body or not.

Wanderer decides to drive to Tucson, where Healer Fords now is; the Seeker is appalled and tries to convince her to fly. Wanderer is still struggling with whether she should leave Melanie for another host or even leave the planet altogether. Wanderer worries that the Seeker—who has said she will meet her in Tucson—will attempt to follow her on the road, but there is no sign of pursuit. 

Melanie has been quiet since Wanderer stated her intent to see Healer Fords. During the drive, however, Melanie daydreams about her prior life. Wanderer wonders about Melanie’s detachment and “sense[s] no thought of attack. It [feels] more like preparation for the end” (73). Now, Melanie remembers a cabin that Jared took her to that his father and brothers had built. Jared told her it could be her home too. The cabin only had one small bed, which Melanie asked him to share. Jared was reluctant, not wanting her to feel she owed him anything. Though Melanie insisted she genuinely wanted him, Jared reminded her of the age difference—Melanie was 17 and he was 26—and the need for birth control, telling Melanie that he would never lose her. When Wanderer returns to the present, she is crying for both herself and Melanie.

Wanderer decides she must leave Melanie but wants to keep her from the Seeker. Meanwhile, Melanie continues dreaming of her life with Jared. Wanderer realizes she needs to eat and checks the map: The next stop is near Picacho Peak, a name that causes Melanie to retreat into memories, avoiding Wanderer.

Wanderer looks at the peak ahead, noticing its unusual shape. As Wanderer thinks of the shape, Melanie calls up another memory, which Wanderer thinks is an attempt to distract her. This memory features Jared and Melanie in the woods, the night before they separated. Jared reassured Melanie that they would always find each other. Melanie felt uncertain about leaving, but she’d seen Sharon’s face on the news and felt certain she was still human. 

The moment the memory ends, Melanie brings up one of Melanie saying goodbye to Jamie, followed by a memory of the moments before she was captured, when she wrote a note telling Jamie not to go home and that she loved him. Telling Melanie to stop, Wanderer asks if she wants Wanderer to let the Seeker have her. Melanie tells her there is another choice, and Wanderer realizes the peak is the shape of the lines she’s been seeing. Melanie’s paranoid uncle Jeb told her that the lines would lead her to safety, and she recently realized the lines were Pinacho Peak, which is close to Stryder Ranch, where her family once lived. Melanie knows that Jared has already figured it out and will have gone to the ranch.

Wanderer knows her duty is to reveal what she knows to the Seeker, but the thought is repellant to her. Wanderer struggles to untangle her wants from Melanie’s desire to be reunited with Jared and Jamie. Then she starts slowly toward the store just below the peak.

Melanie tells Wanderer what to get at the convenience store to prepare to try to find Jared and Jamie. Wanderer tells herself she is just doing this to get more information and that then she will find another Seeker. Melanie is suspicious of everyone in the store, but Wanderer insists that they are all helpful and kind.

Wanderer sits in the car and examines the map, but Melanie is impatient to begin hiking. They take a road that leads them closer to the peak. Wanderer wants to remain driving as long as possible, and Melanie wants to force Wanderer to comply. She cannot, but she does refuse to show Wanderer any more steps in the path that will lead them to Jared and Jamie. When the sun sets, it is too dark to keep driving—because headlights would draw attention—so Wanderer must turn the car off and sleep.