I have had a love/hate relationship with the Millennium Trilogy. Whilst there are moments of brilliance to be found in the first two volumes (despite the sometimes questionable prose), both have problems. The first, Dragon Tattoo, took too long to finish and the second, Played With Fire, took too long to get started. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest (TGWKTHN), whilst being some 200 pages longer than the first two, seldom has moments of flab. Finally, it seems, the late Stieg Larsson knows to cut to the chase (Hornets' Nest takes place mere moments after Played With Fire) and delivers the most accomplished book of the series.
What's interesting about the trilogy is that all three fit neatly into different sub-genres of an epic crime ridden narrative. Dragon Tattoo is a murder mystery, Played With Fire is a The Fugitive style chase story and Hornets' Nest is a full blown conspiracy thriller with shades of courtroom drama thrown in for good measure. The plot of book three is the most labyrinthine of the series yet it is never too big for its own boots. Stick with the crosses and double crosses, the surveillance, counter surveillance and counter, counter surveillance, and you are rewarded with a predictable but wholly satisfying pay off. The courtroom climax is pure dynamite in the same vein as other great courtroom showdowns like JFK and A Few Good Men and, despite its predictability, there is something greatly satisfying about how the defence of Lisbeth Salander is able to thwart the arguments of the prosecution.
On the back of this, it's almost heat-breaking that Larsson has passed away as it seems as though he finally hit his stride. Despite Hornets' Nest rounding up the saga quite neatly and leaving no room for a fourth book to feel necessary, I would have been eager to see where he could take these characters next. Alas, that will never happen.
4.5/5
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