Dajuroka rating 8.5

Stephenie Meyer, creator of the much loved Twilight series makes a move into more hardcore psychological alien science fiction with this novel focused on the adult market. It is a mature exploration of the likely human reactions to an alien takeover of individuals (as in The Body Snatchers). There are romantic elements and some quite satisfying aspects of the traditional thriller.

If an alien parasite can have an altruistic side then Ms. Meyer has dropped us into an interesting insight into the complications of an alien experiencing human emotions.

The experience of our alien – The Wanderer – in past world dominations is a true exploration of new science fiction concepts and storytelling. The romance of a ménage a troi with only two bodies will satisfy most readers of the romantic novel even without sparkles!

Melanie Stryder is a true hero as she battles both the external alien invasion and an even more personal internal alien conflict with The Wanderer. Inevitably humanities emotional complexity overcomes eons of other less emotive or ‘angst-filled’ species as humans in many worlds brings to fruition perfectly.

Melanie Stryder is inflamed with passion and desperation, both for lost love and the reality that should she give in to the invader known as Wanda, she will cease to exist. She is a troubled young woman, battling to save herself and her most personal of memories. She becomes our hero yet never fails to display how fragile she, and humanity, truly is. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 31). (May)

In 2013 we saw a movie based on the novel …