The Girl Who Was Awesome

I have just finished reading Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, the third and final installment in Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy.





Wow, what a series.

Dragon Tattoo stands very well on its own, as well as a great lead-in for the rest of the trilogy. We all pretty much know the story - Blomkvist attempts to solve the disappearance of a girl in Hedestad with the help of computer genius Salander. The first book is very much like a 'closed room' detective story.

The second book, is actually a sequel rather than a continuation. It takes place some time after the first, and begins to tell its own story, rather than carry on what was presented in the first book. Some more backstory comes more sharply into focus, but it's more of a 'sequel'. Also, the style has changed - it's more of a police investigation mystery.

This book, the finale, is essentially 'Girl Who Played With Fire part 2' ; kind of like how Deathly Hallows COULD be 'Half-Blood Prince part 2'.

It ends the second book's storyline, and to a later degree, wraps up everything that's come to light in both the first and second books. This is more of a spy / espionage book, including Government organizations, cover-ups, evidence, and the like. The third book I found to be the slowest of the three, that may be because Larsson was busy setting things up carefully and slowly, bringing an end to his trilogy. Or rather, THIS trilogy, had he been alive still.

We have a really good, strong, trilogy here. I'm not too familiar with the mystery or thriller genre, but Larsson has created two memorable characters in the form of Salander and Blomkvist. Possibly as memorable as Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Salander is essentially the star of the series, as these three books are focused around her...but there's more to it than that. Everything does revolve around her and her actions.

It's a shame the author died in that we have *3* books by him...but they are quite good. It makes one wonder : 'did he have plans for Salander and Blomkvist, should they survive the trilogy?' 'if there would be another Salander / Blomkvist story, how much 'more' deeper could Larsson go? We had a mystery, then a police investigation murder mystery, and finally an espionage / spy novel...how much higher could he raise the stakes?' 'what would he do write next?

On the film side of things, it so far seems that the same creative crew (and of course, actors) who were in David Fincher's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will be back for Girl Who Played With Fire. Of course, if that film is made so too must Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which *could* be a two-parter (there's quite a bit of material in the finale, hence a bit of a slower read compared to the first two books). 

Back to the books. The three are very strong, and the third does a great job of being a final installment. Word of advice? Don't get on Salander's bad side. She could also be known as The Girl Who Was Pissed Off or The Girl Who Kicked Ass. I shall award the trilogy as a whole a very solid, well-rounded :

9/10

Now, onto the future of my reading: it's time for me to begin turning The Wheel of Time...