Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Country: Boston, MA., USA
Publication Date: May-2008
ISBN: 9780316068048
Page Count: 619
Melanie Stryder is one of last uninvaded humans remaining after invasion. After "insertion" into a human body, aliens erase the occupant and take control of body and mind. Wanderer is a soul who has lived on eight different planets previously, with Mel being her ninth host body. Upon waking inside her new body, Wanderer is shocked by the power and vividness of human emotions, memories, and senses, and quickly learns that Melanie is not willing to give up the entirety of her mind.
The Seeker, who is in charge of Melanie's body, starts to worry about Wanderer's apparent lack of control over Melanie's mind. Wanderer is bombarded with Melanie's memories and her powerful yearning for Jared and Jamie, and soon finds herself feeling strong love for Melanie's former companions. She becomes desperate to find out whether they are still alive. On a road trip to Tucson, Melanie remembers her Uncle Jeb telling her about a secret hideaway he once made, and which Jared is aware of. Wanderer sets out to find the hideaway, with a vague sketch of the path from Melanie's memories, and is found by Jeb on the verge of death. She is taken to the hideaway, a complex of caves in which a group of rebel humans live, but is treated spitefully as they consider Wanderer a parasite in Melanie's body. Many of the humans believe she should be put to death and attempts are made on her life, most notably by Kyle O'Shea, despite the protection provided her by some of the humans, including Ian (who strangled her when she was first brought there), Jeb, and Jared (who experiences powerful, conflicting emotions towards his alien-possessed lover). Over time, Wanderer, now becoming known as "Wanda", becomes a part of the group's routine by working, eating, and becoming an unofficial history teacher by telling stories after evening meals about her experiences in former hosts on other planets occupied by the souls. During this time, Ian, Jamie, and many other humans befriend Wanda. The Seeker, still not convinced that Wanderer was killed in the desert, returns in a helicopter, but is unable to find the caves. Kyle tries to kill Wanda by throwing her into a boiling hot, underground river. Due to Wanderer's vigorous defense, he is unsuccessful and is about to fall into the river himself when his intended victim saves him. A tribunal is held and it is decided that Kyle is allowed to stay, though many of Wanda's friends are upset about this decision, particularly Ian, who believes that Kyle deserves to die after his plot to kill Wanda. Meanwhile, Ian begins to fall in love with Wanda. After discovering this, she is confused with her own feelings since she has been deeply infected by Mel's love for Jared.After spending more time with Ian, she realizes she loves him too, but Mel doesn't really like him.
The humans realize that Wanda can be of use to them as a raider, because she is trusted by other souls. Following a raid in which the Seeker is caught, Wanda decides to reveal her biggest secret: how to remove a soul without killing either the human or the soul, a procedure that Doc had been attempting unsuccessfully. She promises to teach Doc under two conditions: first, they must send the souls to new planets without harming them, and second, Doc must remove Wanda's soul from Melanie's body and bury Wanda, because "she does not want to be a parasite any longer". Wanda successfully removes The Seeker and sends her to another planet, and the body the Seeker was in is revived. Wanda then teaches Doc how to take out the souls himself.
Ian is enraged at the idea of Wanda ending her life so that Jared can have Melanie back. He forcibly takes her to his cave where they reveal their love for each other, but she sneaks away from him after he falls asleep, still determined to give up her life for Melanie. Wanda has Doc remove her from Melanie's body, believing that she will die thereafter, according to their agreement. However, she awakens in a new human body whose original owner was possessed as a baby and therefore has no suppressed human personality, and it is revealed that Jared and Ian forcibly prevented Doc from carrying out the agreement and that most of the humans want her to stay as one of them. The book ends with the rebels discovering another group of humans who also have a soul among them. This discovery suggests that humanity and souls together may still have hope for the future.
The worlds mentioned in the book are the Vulture World, the Dragon Planet, the Summer World, the planet of the Flowers, the Singing World (Bats), the Spiders, the Fire World, the world of the See Weeds, the Dolphins, the Mists Planet (Bears), the Origin, and of course, Earth.
