Ben Writes

Book Review: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

The final book in the Millenium Series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (TGWKTHN) leaves us wondering “what could have been” had Steig Larsson not left us all too soon. Knowing we were robbed of what could have been another half dozen books makes you relish every work of what turns out to be a more satisfying goodbye than expected … and I think that is what is a little surprising. Whether or not a partially written fourth book is released or not will surely be a point of contention for years to come, but what we know is that Larsson leaves us with what ends up being a tidy ending. In fact, if you didn’t know better you would think TGWKTHN had been planned to being the end of the Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist story … there are no cliffhangers here or open plot holes, just a clean end to a great series.

Overview

What I like particularly about TGWKTHN is that it combines some great elements of the previous two books but not in a way that seems too familiar. The crux of the book centers on a trial in which Lisbeth Salander is accused of murder. Unsurprisingly, Mikael comes to her rescue and delves deep into the investigation when things begin to look bleak, harkening to the thriller plot of the first book. In a subplot Mikael’s on again off again love interest, Erika Berger, finds herself being stalked in a mystery storyline that rekindles some of the excitement of the first book. Both are equally compelling and would stand well on their own.

The third book rounds out the history of Lisbeth, completing the sordid story of a girl who taken advantage of by the people meant to protect her. Larsson does a nice job filling in the gaps, connecting the dots of her past and using the trial as a great vehicle to do so. As mentioned, the trial of Lisbeth is the focal point of the main storyline but we really don’t get reintroduced to the incredibly popular character for quite a while.

Instead the books sets up circumstances that stack the deck against Salander from the perspective of Mikael and an interesting new character, Evert Gullberg, the head of a government agency dedicated to shutting her up. Meanwhile changes rock the very core of the magazine and threaten to close it down for good. Mikael falls farther and farther down the rabbit hole, things get bleaker and bleaker, and our characters are heading for certain doom.

The end of the book is probably one of the best written and tightly constructed parts of the trilogy. It’s almost as if Larsson started with end and wrote the trilogy to get there. I don’t want to ruin anything, but suffice it to say that there is closure on all fronts as the book ends. In fact it leaves you wondering where Larsson planned to go from here; unlike the second book, where it is painfully obvious.

What I Liked

- The pacing is steady, it picks up where the second book ended and really plows through consistently to the end.

- The main plot and subplot are great, the create two very readable stories and bounce back and forth enough to keep you interested.

- The completion of Salander’s story, at the end she’s a very fleshed out character who we can understand in a more complete way.

What I Didn’t Like

- Unlike the first two books, there aren’t any moments that you absolutely can’t put down the book for. In fact, there are very few moments that stand out like the first two. This books does well to complete the story, but in a bit of a mundane fashion.

- The book is wrapped up two well, too clean. Where was the series supposed to go from here? It’s odd, eery, and almost a little annoying. To have everything wrapped up all happy contradicts the previous 2 and 3/4 books.

Conclusion

TGWKTHN is a great book, I would rank it below the first and above the second. It is certainly more polished than the other two and shows a great deal of growth. With that said, it just doesn’t ask you to invest as much as the first two - perhaps because the pacing creates a steady storyline rather than a back heavy one. Either way, it’s a masterpiece and a great ending to a series ended too soon.

**** out of *****