Review: the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

With the imminent release of Millenium 3 in the US and the recent release of it in the UK, I thought it was time for me to pick up my copy for a read and review.

I would first like to direct my readers to my review of the Girl Who Played With Fire, the second book in the Millenium trilogy and also the second review in my blog.
Good, now that that's taken care of, on to the review of the third one.

Title:Millenium 3: the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Author:Stieg Larsson

Rating:

Recommended?YES!!!! Read them all, and do it NOW!!!!

What I Have to Say: This third installment in Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy (which was originally meant to contain twelve books; due to Stieg Larsson's premature death caused by a tragic and brutal heart attack, it became a trilogy) is easily the best of the bunch.
Stieg Larsson is a genious. And there is no doubt in my mind that, in time, he will become known as one of the best crime thriller writers of all time. If not the very best. It made me step back and go "whoa!" on more than one occasion.
There is something complex and magical about the simplicity of his writing. Every word and every sentence flows easily into the next as we follow each of the characters through basically every step of their everyday lives (which, I must say, are nothing at all like my everyday life). At one point in time, we are follow six whole stories at the same time; never once does it seem daunting or overwhelming (even with all those crazy Swedish names). Never once did I feel lost, and I cared equally about all of the stories and their interconnections. Not one small thing is left out, and yet there manages to be nothing superfluous about the content.
Because we get to see each of the characters at their best and their worst, doing some of the most mundane things, we grow to know them and all of their complexities without even realizing it. I can easily say, without even giving it a second though, that Lisbeth Salander is the most real and unique heroine I have ever read. And Mikael Blomkvist is up there with one of the most believable, unique heroes I have ever read.
Even the secondary characters are well thought-out, well-developed, integral parts of the story.

This is a story about being on the wrong side of corruption and about fighting for the basic rights that come with being a human being. It is a crime thriller, to be sure, but this book is accessible to everyone (well, grown-ups at least). Stieg Larsson's to the point way of presenting all the facts one after the other will, without out a doubt, leave the reader open-mouthed at the edge of their seat until the very end. And even though, as this is the last of the three, everything is tied up nicely, with no loose ends so to speak, the reader can't help but crave for more.

GO OUT AND READ THIS BOOK NOW!!!! (but read the other two first)

Summary:In the third volume in the explosive trilogy that has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, Lisbeth Salander confronts political corruption from her hospital bed while a killer lurks next door.

This is the summary from Amazon. Originally, I was going to add more, but honestly, if you've read the first two, which you should, you don't need more than that. So we'll just leave it at that.

And now for a game of "Which cover do you prefer?
The big one up there is the French version, which I read. I can't help but be partial to it, as it's this particular line of covers that made me want to read the books. It's sleek and gothic in it's blackness with just a brief hint of photo. Then we have these:



I think these are both kind of boring, though I do like the UK one (on the left) better than the US one (on the right). What do you think?
There are quite a few other covers in other languages, but I'll leave it at these.

Yay! And now I can finally rent the movie - which is in Swedish. I don't doubt that an American re-make will be made eventually.