Magda Reviews

The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

copyright Andrew Greenfield Lockhart 2012

Magda Green Books

www.magdagreen.co.uk

REVIEW: The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

It took me a long time to get round to reading this series. None of my friends had recommended it and on principle I never read books just because they are popular. Moreover, at 1,850 pages, The Millennium Trilogy demands a major reading commitment. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me. Im glad it did. These thrillers are among the best of the genre. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo The first book in the series has - superficially - a simple plot: girl gone missing, probably murdered; PI and sidekick engaged to discover the truth. Superficially it works out, but along the way, Stieg Larsson tackles some very controversial and sensitive issues - the ritual abuse of women, corruption and conspiracy at the heart of government and industry, and the legacy of Nazism, to mention just a few. The private investigator of the novel is journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who is hired by retired captain of industry Henrik Vanger to solve a fortyyear-old mystery, the disappearance and probably murder of Vanger's

granddaughter, Harriet. To help him in his quest, Blomkvist engages Lisbeth Salander (she with the tattoo), a sassy, unconventional security investigator and computer expert with a mysterious past. To give away too much about Salander at this point would spoil the story for new readers. However, it is round her personality, talents and morality that the whole story pivots. Blomkvist's character too is well drawn but without Salander Dragon Tattoo would be just an everyday thriller. The search for Harriet's killer uncovers a trail of murders that stretches back more than half a century and puts the two sleuths in danger of their lives. The climax unmasks a cold, maniacal serial killer as sadistic and repulsive as any in the works of Val McDermid. Larsson is long on detail and enjoys building the background of his characters. He frequently changes viewpoint and, while this generally works as a technique for creating tension, there are moments when, used mid-chapter, it becomes confusing. After some four hundred pages, the solution to the Harriet mystery does not come as too much of a surprise. The triumph of the novel is Larsson's brilliant

resolution of the intriguing subplot involving Blomkvist and a corrupt industrialist called Wennerstrom. I couldnt wait to read more about Lisbeth in books two and three of the series.

The Girl Who Played with Fire A year has passed and Lisbeth Salander is in the Caribbean. Why? Well, she has come into some money and is taking a holiday - but that is not what I mean. My question is - why has Larsson put her there? There seems to be no reason for the episode, so I suppose I shall just have to wait until book three to discover if the trip has any purpose in the greater scheme of things. Actually, I dont really care because by now Im so in love with Lisbeth that I want to know everything about her. Anything she does therefore has a purpose. Its crazy, this love. Lisbeth is not my type at all: Im not very fond of tattoos, especially when they are large and conspicuous; and Im no fan of body piercings either. On top of that, Lisbeths morality and lifestyle leaves a lot to be desired in my view. Well, that was my view. However, Played with Fire is a lot about confronting ones own prejudices and seeing them for what they are - just prejudices. Lisbeth Salander is really a very moral person, surprising perhaps given the way society has treated her, and in this second book of the trilogy we get a much deeper insight into her character and motivation. Friends of Mikael Blomkvist, Dag and Mia, are victims of a hit killing. The couple have been investigating a criminal gang involved in under-age prostitution and people trafficking, and are on the point of publishing their findings in Blomkvists Millennium magazine. Tied up somehow in this unsavoury business are Salanders father, her legal guardian and members of the Swedish security services. Suspected of murder, Lisbeth goes into hiding and uses her uncanny computer skills to uncover the truth. Supported on the outside by Blomkvist, who believes in her innocence, she delves into events of her own past for clues as to the identity and whereabouts of the mastermind behind the killings. The way she deals with the thugs sent to eliminate her is inspiring and I had to lay down the book to laugh and applaud. But for all her courage and resourcefulness, Lisbeth is only too human. Indeed, it is probably her weaknesses as well as her strengths that make her lovable. In confronting a powerful international gangster and his homicidal bodyguard, she

overestimates her abilities and puts herself in mortal danger. Only Blomkvist can help, but can he reach Lisbeth in time? From a literary point of view, Played with Fire has flaws. Once again, the frequent change of viewpoint can be bewildering, and Larsson expends, in my view, too much time developing the background of too many minor characters. And there are those questions: the Caribbean episode? Camilla? - seemingly irrelevant but waiting perhaps to be explained in the third book. Still, since when were thrillers meant to be literary fiction? The Girl and her exploits work for me! The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest The final book of the trilogy begins on the same precipice on which the second ends. Journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Milton Security chief Dragan Armansky form an unconventional alliance with the Swedish secret police. Their objective: to expose a dangerous and corrupt cabal at the heart of the establishment. This group, The Section, is intent on silencing Lisbeth Salander by locking her up once again in a mental institution. Lisbeth is meantime fighting for her life in a Gteborg hospital, having been shot in the head. [If youve come this far, you will know that anyway; if you havent read the book, you will have learned it from the blurb on the back cover, so I feel no guilt at mentioning it.] But you cant keep this singular woman down. Though confined and guarded by the police, Lisbeth, with the help of Blomkvist and a sympathetic surgeon, is able to go back to doing what she does best, ferreting out secrets that the bad guys hide behind passwords and firewalls. As the various investigations progress - both the official and the clandestine we see the pieces of the jigsaw that are Lisbeths past fall slowly but surely into place. Even when we think we know all about her, Larsson springs surprises so that, even when we suppose a just and satisfying ending is approaching, we are kept on tenterhooks in case he springs one last bombshell. Lisbeth engages Blomkvists sister Annika Giannini to defend her against the criminal charges of which she is accused. Giannini is an expert in womens rights and has no experience of criminal law. However, it is when she seems to have no case at all that we see her at her most incisive and, from the prosecution point of view, most deadly. The courtroom scene in Part 4 is one of the most dramatic and

exciting I have ever read and stands there with the best of Erle Stanley Gardner and Perry Mason. Some reviewers of Hornets Nest have criticised it as too long. At 750 pages, I am inclined to agree. The backgrounds of some of the minor characters are unnecessarily detailed. The subplot involving Blomkvists friend, colleague and part time lover Erika Berger could very well be a novel in its own right and could be omitted without hurting the main story or affecting its outcome. For all that, it does fit. It affords us another opportunity to see Lisbeth at work and shows us a grudgingly forgiving side to her character that is not apparent elsewhere. Lisbeth herself is irresistible to the end and it is so sad that Larssons untimely death has deprived us her further adventures. The Hackers Republic in which she participates is a brilliant invention - [lets hope it is an invention] - just as she is a lovable stroke of genius. As for these unanswered questions, we still have no answers. Larsson, it seems, had nearly completed a fourth novel at the time of his death. Perhaps, when the legal complexities concerning his will have been sorted out, we may get them.