About the Book
Lisbeth Salander is a wanted woman. Two Millennium journalists about to expose the truth about the sex trade in Sweden are brutally murdered, and Salander’s prints are on the weapon. Her history of unpredictable and vengeful behaviour makes her an official danger to society – but no-one can find her anywhere.
Meanwhile, Mikael Blomkvist, editor-in-chief of Millennium, will not believe what he hears on the news. Knowing Salander to be fierce when fearful, he is desperate to get to her before she is cornered and alone. As he fits the pieces of the puzzle together, he comes up against some hardened criminals, including the chainsaw-wielding ‘blond giant’ – a fearsomely huge thug who can feel no pain.
Digging deeper, Blomkvist also unearths some heart-wrenching facts about Salander’s past life. Committed to psychiatric care aged 12, declared legally incompetent at 18, this is a messed-up young woman who is the product of an unjust and corrupt system. Yet Lisbeth is more avenging angel than helpless victim – descending on those that have hurt her with a righteous anger terrifying in its intensity and truly wonderful in its outcome.
The Long Story
When I stuck my nose into the second book of Larsson’s trilogy, I expected much of the same that I read in the first book: heaps of backstory that isn’t absolutely relevant to the complete story, but a good story nonetheless. In a way, that’s true. A heap of the first part of the book could have been chopped off, but having gotten used to Larsson’s writing in the first book and liking Lisbeth’s character anyway, I wasn’t bothered by the length.
Though this tome is massive, readers who found the first book way too full of detail will be happy to know there is more action in this book. More of the writing is directly relevant to things rather than backstory. However, once again there is a long list of names that are easy to forget and/or get mixed up. I found this more annoying in this book than the first because more of the names are important. But, I still kept up with things just fine.
I was impressed by Larsson’s overall story; there is a heap more political intrigue in Lisbeth’s past than I expected. The story is incredibly complex, and yet it didn’t take the trauma to a Hollywood-ish level, if you know what I mean. I didn’t expect to be interested in a government screw-over of a young girl’s life, but it ended up being very interesting.
Of course, it was nice to see Lisbeth feature more prominently in the story as she is a popular character.
The friend who has been lending me these books told me to tell her when I was getting to the end of this book because I would want the third straight away. She was right! Of all the cliffhangers I have read, I love this one the most. While it did make me want to jump right into the next book, it was utterly appropriate and satisfying for a cliffhanger.
I hope you know what I mean if you read it.
The Short Story
I recommend this book if you have read the first one (you will like it more) or if you want to give ‘that bestseller trilogy’ a go. You can read this without reading the first book and not feel hugely out of place.
***
Rating: 3 stars
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***
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Stieg Larsson
http://www.stieglarsson.com/
ISBN: 978-0307454553
Length: 630 pages
