The Host: It's All In Your Mind. The Battle Is On.

My head is still striking even though it's my fourth entry. Who could have resist the cold breeze of the air and the pitter-patter of the rain outside. All I have to do is to have a cup of coffee, sit and think.(actually it is now my third cup of coffee. :p) Since it is my day-off, I guess I can hit it one more time.

I was at the bookstore a few days ago, taking a quick opportunity to peruse the shelves for something of interest. The layout of the place had changed, so it took me a few minutes to figure out where things were. Along the way, I noticed a display filled with books from Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series and an advertisement for a release party in early August for her newest work Breaking Dawn. I’m not a particularly huge fan of vampire stories, so I kept moving.

Once at the new release section, I noticed that Meyer had a book called The Host prominently displayed. Nothing that it was her first adult book, it seemed like an obvious choice for both casual reading and a review. One writer has compared her as a cross between Isaac Asimov and Stephen King. Pretty impressive!

Here’s the premise: Something’s inhabiting humans—taking over their minds while leaving them normal in every other way. Melanie Stryder’s mind is also invaded, but she’s not going to go down easy. Something about true love also comes into play with the man she loves. It sounds interesting, although I can’t seem to get Frank Peretti and his works on similar ‘invasions’ (This Present Darkness, The Oath) out of my mind. But due to Meyer’s past track record, I’ll give her some leeway.

Taking over minds is not an easy thing to do. Or is it? A person has to grant permission to whatever it is that wants in. Once this happens, one’s actions tend to embody what their mind is dictating. If the mind says, ‘go have fun,’ the tendency is to do something entertaining (provided one’s not in a business meeting or something). But when a person becomes a Christian, they willingly allow God’s truth to take over their mind, leading to changes in one’s actions. This battle of the mind is one that goes on throughout our lives, and whatever controls it controls who we are. Kind of scary, huh?

So what does the battle for one’s mind look like to you? And why does it matter who the winner is?

(And depending on how I like The Host, I might wait for the release of Breaking Dawn in August. But let’s see how this novel turns out first . . .)