The Girl Who Played With Fire

I have finally gotten the opportunity to finish Larsson's second installment of the Millenium Trilogy, two or so years after reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In terms of writing a review, I am as perplexed as to what to say, just as I was after the first book. I give it four stars because though I didn't feel the Earth shake upon completion, at the end, I had forgotten about all of the negative opinions I had formed during the first section and a half of the book and found myself gratified at how it played out.

While I was non-committal as to my assessment of Larsson's writing style in my previous review, I am now solidly in the camp that enjoys his narrative abilities. I am convinced that, had he lived, he would be to the police detective/investigation/espionage genre what John Grisham is to “legal fiction”. Larsson is skilled at weaving a complex narrative, creating and integrating a wide range of characters, and has an interesting way of revealing details very early in a narrative only to NOT ruin the inevitable final revelation of those details in the end. For example, you could suspect very early on that Niedermann was the killer, but his relationship with Zala, his relationship to Salander, etc. was paced nicely (and intuitively).

My review would be incomplete if I did not comment on the Salander character. Two very close friends of mine, whose literary opinions I respect very much, love her character. I find her (simultaneously) maddeningly under-developed and over-developed. (Though I will admit that her character came into focus as this novel wore on.) Her mystique was justified in “Dragon Tattoo” and I had no problem with the peripheral details of her life and why she was the way she was. She was an accessory to the main plot and provided a nice change of pace in the form of a sub-plot, just as the Blomkvist character did. I just don't feel that she can be the central character of a piece of fiction without portions of the work delving into the overly cliche. Whereas Larsson is skilled at withholding details as to the central “case” of his novels, I find his attempts to do so with a character frustrating and, at times, jarring. Just about the time we start to sketch a picture of Lisbeth, we are given something else that shatters that image. With some characters this isn't a bad thing; but in the case of Lisbeth, there's little consistency with the other aspects that we've learned. For instance, I found her points of vanity (e.g., the cosmetic surgery, the details of her relationship with George Bland, the furnishing of her apartment, etc.) in “Played with Fire” too far removed from what we had learned in “Dragon Tattoo”. Vulnerability I would have welcomed; vanity was too far in the direction of “she's really just like any other girl”. I will admit that I have no knowledge of the mental condition with which she is most closely associated (Aspergers), which may push me toward such a conclusion.

Larsson obviously asserts his themes of injustice and morality through Lisbeth, but the injustices dealt to her border on the edge of any realistic plausibility. Portions of her character feel like a writing exercise - i.e., how many bad things can we make happen to this girl? She was abused and that had led to a number of failed and abusive relationships as she grew older - I can appreciate such details. Her abuse and subsequent actions keep her on the radar of a number of law enforcement agencies - plausible, but questionable. She is secretly watched as a central figure in national security and part of a supreme cover up? Not sure about that one...

Consequently, my disconnect with the Salander character made the first 300 or so pages of this book extremely difficult for me. Much like other reviews that I have read, I found myself wondering when we were going to launch toward the central mystery of the book. Upon launch, I couldn't put the book down. Further, I enjoyed the minor themes of power, considering alternate definitions of success as well as love, and revenge and found them suitable additions to the narrative.

I look forward to reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and have a copy of it on my shelf, but I will take a much-needed step away from the seemingly unending crime drama of Sweden.

I prefer to read original language rather than translation, am suspicious of sudden hits, rarely read crime novels, and virtually never start a series partway through. In this case, however, I needed some thick travel books for a long layover, and I took what was available at home - the final two books of the Girl who/Millennium series. I'm clearly one of the last to read these.

I have seen the Swedish film of [b:The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo|2429135|The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)|Stieg Larsson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327868566s/2429135.jpg|1708725], so I had some of the book 1 background. And Larsson does a good job of providing necessary background in an unobtrusive way. Girl who Played with Fire was (to me) a pleasant surprise. Reg Keeland's translation of Stieg Larsson's prose is extremely readable. The style is short and to the point, and a nice carrier for Larsson's detailed but not florid descriptions. There's a wealth of information, but it's presented in a nicely organized, very journalistic fashion.

The plot revolves around journalist Holmkvist's efforts to help colleagues investigate sex trafficking in Sweden. Trafficking in persons is a grotesque crime that few people seem to think about, and I appreciate Larsson's effort to bring it a little more into the spotlight. While his matter of fact descriptions of how it works were grisly, the reality is much worse.

As things go on, the web of people involved grows and grows, eventually involving (of course) Lisbeth. Despite some descent into Swedish political history, and a large cast of characters, the book was clear and easy to read throughout. Even though it ends without a clear final solution, the end is satisfying.

All in all, as you've no doubt heard elsewhere, Girl who Played with Fire is a well-written, easy reading, massive book, and worth a look whether you like crime fiction or not.

Short Review: This series has been misrepresented (or at least I have misunderstood it.) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a prequel to the second and third books, which are just split because of length, but are really one book. The second and third books are much better than the first. This is a thriller/mystery book worth reading. Interesting to see how a different legal system affects the story line.

Click through for the full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/girl-fire/

Great book. Totally sets up book three.

this book moved along much better than the 1st one. much more action and a lot less non essential detail.

Better than I had expected. Rather hamfisted, and the main character is totally a Mary Sue... but I found myself enjoying the story and the characters. Larsson had a strong sense of justice and moral outrage, and dammit it's just fun to watch some übercompetent good guys fight and win (spoiler alert: yeah, like there's ever any doubt) against bullies.

Better than the first book as the story expanded into something greater than just your standard solving of a murder (or murders, in this case). While the first book could be a standalone, this one is more like the first of two parts. Story-wise, it's pretty clever that the plot weaves in together with the connections between the characters played out in unexpected ways.

It is Lisbeth vs the world in this book. She meets some long-lost family members and they try to kill each other. Mikael tries to keep up with her.

I liked this one a lot better than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The perspective is less detached and you really get involved in the characters in a good way, especially Salander. Like the last, things are extremely slow to get off the ground, nearly three hundred pages before you get to the point in the book summary, but once you're there things really take off.

That said, this book is ridiculous. Ridiculous. The bad guys are almost cartoonish, our heroine is not only a genius but suddenly has super powers, the police are complete idiots, and the misogyny and ableism is at such mouth-frothing exaggerated (dear god, I hope its exaggerated) levels that its hard to not throw the book across the room. Sometimes it feels like really really long fan fiction.

And unfortunately, my interest started wane towards the end, as suspenseful as Larsson tried to make it. A lot of the major points, like who is responsible for the murders the story surrounds, are kind of thrown out unceremoniously, pretty much exemplifying the point the focus of these books is not the solving of murders but to watch Lisbeth Salander be awesome. Which isn't so bad, but jesus after 700 pages I would've liked a little bit more of a pay off.

I liked this book better than I liked the first in the series. I found it more compelling and less dull, though I still think there are a few too many meaningless, useless, and repetitive details. How many times do I need to read about characters making coffee and eating sandwiches? All in all, a very enjoyable book.

Una excelente obra. Todo pareciera indicar que lo que presenciaremos es una segunda aventura de Salander y MB, sin embargo poco a poco vamos descubriendo que la historia revelará todos los secretos del pasado de Salander. Lo mejor de todo es como Stieg Larsson nos va llevando por un laberinto de sentimientos hacia la extraña y a su vez fascinante protagonista y los personajes que la rodean. La presición con la que el autor narra cada momento nos da oportunidades únicas de vivir la aventura con la misma intensidad con la que seguramente éste se dedicó a hacerlo.

I skipped lots near the beginning, and found myself editing sentences (never a good sign), but I was well hooked about a 1/3 in, and I enjoyed the ride to the non-end, albeit with some eye rolling along the way. If Kindle had allowed me to download the 3rd book while in Mexico (it didn't for some odd reason), I'd have moved on to it quite happily.

Enjoyed it only because Stieg Larsson was woven a compelling story. It wasn't as good as the first one, but still kept me enthralled.

ugh. Really? Really world? This is the kind of thing you buy by the dozen? (or so it seems)Okay...let's go with the positives. This was better than [b:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2429135 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) Stieg Larsson http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275608878s/2429135.jpg 1708725]. The way that Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol was better than Police Academy: Mission to Moscow. I like Lisabeth Salander – yeah, in many ways she's cliched...but in enough ways she isn't. The parts of the book that focused on her – not the investigation into her, but her, are far and away the best parts of the novel. Actually, if you cut away the rest of it – which is almost wholly dead weight, it'd be readable.Now, the problems...well, some of them.There are just too many characters. Well, there are too many names tied a quick description and some sort of quirk which supposed to equal characters. You could eliminate 30-50% of them and not do a darn thing to the plot.There are plot lines that do nothing other than chew up space. The whole new job for Berger thing, for instance. Sure, this might come back to mean something in book 3, but I can't see how.There's just too much wasted ink. We don't need three paragraphs describing someone leaving the house to go get a hamburger and that's it. Doesn't advance the plot, doesn't reveal anything about a character (other than to buttress the theory, based solely on this work, that all Swedes eat McDonald's obsessively).I had a laundry list of things to whine about–but who wants to read that (much less write it)? Let's just leave it as, an over-written, over-long, dull book with one heckuva good, mostly wasted, character.

Holy shit this book is good, it blew my mind. I actually like it a little better than the first book because there is minimal sexual violence against women this time.

Wasn't as fantastic as the first book in the series, but compelling enough to make me read the next one...

Loved it! Couldn't put it down.

Book 2 in the “Millennium” series. This one again mixes personal history with international intrigue, but this time the goal is to learn more about Lisbeth Salander, who was something of an enigma in the first book.

Larsson does this by having her accused of murder, after which she goes into hiding. Mikael Blomvkist is determined that she's not guilty, so he starts his own investigation separate from the police one, which requires delving into Lisbeth's personal history and unlocking some huge secrets. It's an interesting way of telling the story, and one that allows everyone to stay in character while allowing Larsson to continue to present Blomkvist as the hero of the story, even though he seems to recognize that Lisbeth is the most interesting character.

Larsson's mysteries work well because there's some elements in them that are obvious, so you feel smart for guessing them before the characters do, but other elements that you (or at least I) don't seem coming so you stay surprised and hooked throughout the story.

One minor thing that bugged me while reading this was Larsson's tendency to use brand names and product details to create verisimilitude. It's enough for me to know that Salander used her laptop to hack into someone's computer; I don't need to know that it's an iBook with a 15.6” screen, or the exact amounts of RAM and hard drive space that it has.

Though it starts a little slow, once the action kicks in, around chapter four or so, it is a darn good sequel to The [b:Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 2429135 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) Stieg Larsson http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275608878s/2429135.jpg 1708725].

I really enjoyed the second installment. In the end, I liked it more than the first, but I am hesitant to read the third. I don't want to ruin it.

This book is wrought with twists and turns almost everywhere. The ending is a major cliff-hanger, so I recommend a lot of patience or the third book nearby when you finish. It's quite interesting to see how Larsson weaves a tale of corruption with women's rights (and abuses) and how this plays out in what most people consider to be one of the most liberal, well-functioning societies in the world. I find Blomkvist and Salander to be incredibly likable characters, and despite the serious subject matter, I find them all to be interesting and at times even oddly humorous.

Fun. But nowhere near as good as the first book. Ended way too abruptly.

[b:Dragon 2429135 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) Stieg Larsson http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275608878s/2429135.jpg 1708725] primarily dealt with Mikael Blomkvist and the Vanger family, in Fire we (finally) learn a lot more about Salander. Definitely recommend you read Dragon first to understand the continuing characters. After Dragon and some of it's dark moments, I was just a bit concerned that Fire may be too dark for my taste with the cover summary stating that Blomkvist's next big story will be about sex trafficking. After completing Fire, and can say that I thought Dragon was actually the darker of the two stories. Still very good character development. After the crime, each new character introduction had me considering how they could possibly be integrated into the crimes! I also thought the suspense for the 40 year old Vanger disappearance was better than the present day crime that Fire deals with. I felt the background and development for two of the characters was a little extreme (you know who if you've read). There were some strange turns in Dragon, but it all felt believable. These two characters in Fire were just a little too extreme for me to chalk this up as a believable story. Yes this is fiction, but but not fantasy... There were some very big points were left unfinished and I was disappointed with the cliffhanger ending. I am still looking forward to reading Hornet, but wish I could begin it with a clean slate, not to close things that should already be resolved.

I liked this one better than the first. The characters still find themselves in ridiculous situations, but hey, that's the fun of reading fiction, right? I felt like Larsson did a better job in this one of tying up the loose ends. I am looking forward to the next one.

I liked this better than the first. Less disturbing, but still has twists and turns. Still not sure I “like” Lisbeth but I appreciate her. Looking forward to the last one.