I don't brag I mostly Host

Unbeknownst to any female under the age of 16, the author of the Twilight series Stephenie Meyer has this other book called The Host. That too is getting a big screen adaptation now the fan following of the Twilight movie series has reached pandemic proportions. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, Meyer’s work is spreading faster than herpes but the difference between The Host and the teenage vampire romance plague is it's actually good.

Her first book targeted at adults, The Host contains none of the `I’m so mature for my age, nobody understands me’ mantra, rather a whole bunch of sci-fi awesomeness instead. The book is a lot darker than her previous works and having read the novel myself, I’m pleased to say this is an original piece of writing and Meyer convincingly creates a violent, apocalyptic world that you get lost in. Problem is, the book is so complex and much of the story so internal you can pretty much bet on the fact they’re going to stuff the movie up. Variety, who were the first to pounce on the story, describe the plot as follows:

"Meyer’s novel is a love story set in the near future on Earth, which has been assimilated by an alien species that call themselves “Souls.” They are benevolent parasites that subsume the conscious of humans and take possession of their bodies. One such soul, The Wanderer (so named because she has wandered among so many different worlds) is fused with a dying human named Melanie Stryder, in an attempt to locate the last pocket of surviving humans on Earth. The Wanderer cannot subsume the forceful Melanie, and they battle for the girl’s memories and her spirit."

It’s actually a lot more badass than that but I couldn’t be bothered breaking down the story for you myself as I don’t have a spare eight months. Film Drunk did a much better job at summing up the plot and had this to say;

"Hmm, I think using your surviving brain cells to refuse assimilation into an invading horde of boring parasites might be a metaphor for growing up Mormon."

For those who vomit a little in their mouth every time they see a douche wearing a Team Edward shirt, the good news is most of the characters in The Host are older and more complex than in the Twilight series. In even better news, the team set to bring the novel to the big screen are pretty darn wicked.

At the fore are producers Nick Wechsler, Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz who used their own money to acquire the screen rights and will develop the project independently. More importantly, New Zealand filmmaker Andrew Niccol is onboard to write and direct the flick which is a big comfort for those concerned they might try and turn this into a juvenile, adventure, love-story targeted at Twihards*. Niccol was nominated for an Oscar back in ’99 for his work writing The Truman Show and he has also made Lord Of War, The Terminal, S1m0ne and Gattaca. Of course Meyer has to have her finger in every pie and she’s “heavily” involved with the project. There’s been no news about casting or release dates yet and The Host hasn’t even been added as a project to imbd it’s THAT fresh.

Stay posted for more updates and constant grillings of Twihards.

*Twihards: first coined by Movie Mazzupial in November ’08, the term is used to describe semi- hardcore Twilight fans.