My favorite character in the Host is Ian. His transformation, his compassion, his unconditional love...So lets start talking about him!

I agree with you. I LOVE Ian. I wept for Ian in this book, more than once. I think of all of the characters, he and Wanderer went on the greatest journeys that involved having to change everything about what they thought about what it means to be a soul and to be a human and what it means to be in love. I adore Ian! I found him to be so compassionate and kind and protective and accepting - so much more than Jared. Jared had to find it within him to continue loving Melanie while Wanderer was in Melanie's body - he had to believe she was still there and that someday Melanie would be back, the same as before. But Ian fell in love with Wanderer and accepted the fact that Melanie's body could not love him, that her body would always long for Jared and reject him physically. He kept loving her even choosing her over his brother. He understood her - could tell when she was lying and when she was speaking to Melanie in her head. He loved he after seeing a soul and holding a soul in his hands and understanding the true nature of what he was loving. I found his love to be remarkable.

Thank you for starting this. I peeked in earlier and was SHOCKED to see that Ian had been left out and was on my way to reconcile that mistake when I saw this!!! YAY for you!!!

Anyway, I LOVE IAN. SO MUCH!!!

Jared's continued violence shocked me and I couldn't believe that he could continue being so awful to such a soft and terrified creature (I can empathize, but not justify it) To read how many times Wanderer flinched from him and he hurt her anyway was heartbreaking.

Ian on the other hand was, to me, a true man. After the initial shock (which was understandable), he began to see Wanderer for what she was. His humanity shone through. I think I started to fall in love with him when he told Jared how guilty he felt for hurting Wanderer and when he started calling her "her". It grew from there.

(Plus anyone looked up Ian Somerhalder photos yet? Mmmmm, Ian -- Ian. Not bad )

The more I've been thinking about it the more Ian -- in build -- reminds me of a friend I had in high school. He was the biggest, tallest guy I've ever met. Actually, if you can picture a Viking, that's pretty much what my friend looked like, but Ian was given his build in my head.

Ian is my favorite too, I have been dying to talk about him for weeks and I pictured Henry Cavill the entire time I read this book, sorry. Tall dark, blue eyes, fit, good at sports but in there late 20's yep I had Henry in my mind the whole time.

I agree with everything you said about him, he steals this book away from Jared. He was a bit of a jerk in my opinion. But own well. Go team Ian! We should make a name for ourselves. hehe!

My mom will be all over this one!!! mmmm, Henry -- Ian, not bad!

Lucky Wanderer!

Love Cafe Press!
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I am so glad that you all love Ian too. So are we Team Ian, or can someone more creative than me come up with a better name for us?

Ian's character evolves throughout the book. After his initial reaction to Wanderer, he realizes how wrong it was to have caused physical pain to the creature. I think that it was his guilt initially that drove him to get to know more about her. Slowly, he fell in love with her. His love was true and unconditional. He loved her for her "soul" not her body. He became the her protecter. He loved her even though she could not show him physical affection in return. He loved her despite what others thought of her.

Jared was just too brutal. He was cruel to the wanderer. His brutality made me fall out of love with his character--I must admit that in the beginning of the book I fell in love with how he was portrayed in Mel's memories.

For me, there is really no competition. I'm on Team Ian all of the way.

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I am SOOOOO getting this!!!

There was just something about Ian that I didnt like. I'm still mulling it over, I cant really put my finger on it.

I loved the first one, that was great!

You are not the first person I have heard this from and it baffles me. It must come down to the same debate over Jacob vs. Edward.

acctually Ian is my favorite too, I just almost got caught being on TM's while at work so I had to turn off my computer the most awesome thing about Ian I thought was that he was willing to face down his own brother for an alien-becuase he didn't see an alien parasite. He saw the soul (no pun intended) of a beautiful person. Whe Jamie tells Wanda that Ian wrefused to put down the cryotank I was so touched. He loved her so perfectly that even while holding the worm like creature he still saw only Wanda. I love that you guys love him like I do. I have been dying to gush about him for months.

I adore Ian, I've been dying to talk about how much I love him, he is the first character to make Edward move over in my mind. His development as a character was so beautifully spun by SM, to give you all the reasons to fall in love with him and why he and Wanda are perfect.

TEAM IAN!!!!

I almost forgot, favourite line of Ian's, pg 393:

"Sure, kid. I want you to tell Jared he's shameless."

I'm also on Team Ian. I just love him, his compassion, his willingness to set aside all differences and see the being/soul behind the "worm". When he tells Wanda that he held her in his hand and that was beautiful, I just cried. I was happy to see Jared and Mel finally back together, but my greatest joy was knowing that Ian had his Wanda back.


GO TEAM IAN!!!

I love Ian. Really. But yes, I'm kind of bothered by it too. I think the problem I have is, the kissing scenes between Melanie and Jared were so incredibly intense--I found myself really irritated to know that they (Jared and Melanie) belonged to each other and yet Wanda was going to end up with something less than what she really longed for. Did she really fall in love with Ian at the end? Yes. But I almost feel like it was a Bella-ending-up-with-Jacob situation, when all her original passion was for Jared. I totally realize the feelings Wanda had for Jared were purely based on Melanie's memories and body, but WHEW--why couldn't IAN have slammed Wanda up against the wall instead of Jared, you know what I mean?! **fans self**

Although don't get me wrong--Ian didn't seem to be a bad kisser at all...

ME too! This was one of my favorite parts of the book.

I liked Ian. His love was pure and strong for Wanda. It was refreshing compared to how everyone else treated her. However I didn't fall in love with either him or Jared really. I felt "hot" for Jared though and for Ian I only wanted him to be with Wanda.