Post-Millennium Blues

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
Stieg Larsson
Quercus Publishing, April 2010; UK paperback
Knopf, May 2010; US hardcover

I was one of those who couldn’t and didn’t wait for the third book in the Millennium Trilogy to be released in the States and ordered it from Amazon UK.  It was great to read it while I was still psyched from the second novel, but the down side was I had no one to talk with about the last book.  I’ll get over that soon since The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest finally comes out in the States tomorrow (5/25).

Elisabeth Salander rocks, Mikael Blomkvist rolls.  The speculation that Larsson’s partner of 30 years, Eva Gabrielsson, has 2/3 of a 4th novel hidden away on a laptop tantalizes.  The fight going on between her and Larsson’s father and brother, who are the legal heirs to his estate, saddens.  The New York Times posted an article about Larsson and what’s going on these days around his legacy and the opportunities people are taking to make money off of his current popularity.  You can read the article here.

The last book of the trilogy is not my favorite of the three.   The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest starts off right where the second book ended and the suspense is built upon anxiety over Salander’s fate.  The last part of the novel gracefully ties up some loose ends and left me with a feeling of hope as well as cravings for a good cup of coffee.

But the plot tension in the middle of the book isn’t as tight as Larsson’s first two novels.  In fact I thought it dragged a bit at times.  I imagine its something like what a real investigation must be like: lots of boring, routine work interspersed with exciting revelations and quick bursts of action.

But, then again, maybe I just dragged a bit knowing that this would be the end . . . at least for a few years, anyway, while legal wranglers figure out what to do with that almost completed 4th novel and the rumor of detailed outlines for six more novels begs the question of whether or not a writer will be hired to carry on the adventures of Salander and Blomkvist.