movieking

Just a heads up, The Girl Who Played With Fire, the sequel to Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, was finally released in North America yesterday. I went to the bookstore today and they didn't have any, so I might have to download it for my e-reader. I was a huge fan of the first book, and can't wait to get this one (the final part of the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, has yet to secure a North America release date).

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was critically acclaimed and made a lot of Best Books of the Year lists. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

Geofferson

I have the paperback of the first book sitting in my to-read pile. I've heard nothing but praise for it. Hopefully this second installment receives similar praise.

Dusty Bottoms

I'm about 100 pages away from finishing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I didn't have to read much before deciding to pre-order the sequel. It shipped yesterday, and I hope to have it by the time I finish the first book.

djmont

You clearly didn't talk to me about it!

movieking

How come you didn't like it? Or did you just think that it was overpraised?

djmont

I found it to be stultifyingly dull. I struggled to get through the first 100 pages and kept asking myself, "This is supposed to be a thriller?"

I read the UK translation before it was published in the U.S., and I've been told the U.S. translation is better. But I doubt it made that much of a difference.

I have heard, however, that book #2 has better pacing.

movieking

So has anyone else finished this yet? I'd be interested to hear some opinions (spoilered if necessary).

flixtime

BUMP


As of right now, Amazon has a Lightning Deal going for Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy - Deluxe Boxed Set in hardcover...$29.70 (70% off list).

edited to add: the non-deal Amazon price is $39.50 (60% off list). And...I haven't followed the pricing on this boxed set or checked around elsewhere to see how this Lightning Deal price compares to other e-tailers.

beer me

Ugh! I was looking to get that boxset but was nowhere near a computer yesterday.

Rob V

I finished this over the weekend and was more than disappointed. Maybe the 3rd book will pick up where this left off, but there were SO many unanswered questions. I don't need my hand held and every loose end tied up... but seriously, what was the point of the opening chapter with Lisbeth overseas and the wife beater getting killed in the storm? Also, no answer to her enigmatic equation that was teased throughout the story... and finally, did Zala really die, get arrested, etc?

Like I said, I have no inkling what the 3rd book brings so maybe these things are answered... but after book 2 I was let down.

Oh, one final thing... introducing a professional boxer to the story was a looooong way to go to move the plot along. Way too many coincidences / conveniences IMO.

Geofferson

I too was hugely disappointed with the second book (haven't read the third yet). My favorite chapter was with Lisbeth on the island battling the storm and her new found beach friend. Didn't care for the remaining 90% of the story that followed.

Rob V

Other than placing her there and giving some sort of backstory for her disappearance, I just didn't get the gist of having that in the story -- not that it wasn't interesting, but it had NO place in the overall plot.

fumanstan

The third book answers just about everything, if i recall correctly. Book 2 and 3 are pretty much meant to be read back to back because of the cliffhangers.

Guru Askew

There are a couple minor characters in the books that were essentially planted for larger roles in later books but considering the situation re: Larsson's death, his supposed 10-book plan etc. I'd say like 95%+ of what's introduced is wrapped up at the end of the 3rd book. Larsson had designed the first three books as a trilogy with their own arc within the larger "Millennium" story. Of course it would have been easy for Larsson to send most of the major characters into other adventures later on.

There may be more little hooks for future expansion but the two that come to mind are Blomkvist's arch-rival journalist who is mentioned throughout the series and the other one was the blonde security expert ex-cop fitness freak. Her part in the third book could pretty much be lost entirely but Larsson was clearly grooming that character to play a major heroic role later on.

But yeah, those are minor threads running throughout the stories and part of the reason I'm opposed to "finishing" the 4th book is that even if his ex were to finish it I think she'd essentially be opening a can of worms by introducing whatever elements he was planning on fleshing out in books 5-10.

Geofferson

Agreed (seemed like filler and not sure what the point was). That said, I was simply more entertained by this stand-alone segment compared to the rest of the story we were told in the remaining pages of the book.

Guru Askew

Everything from "Seven Samurai" to practically every Bond film uses a similar device in which the character is established and their abilities and personalities showcased in a self-contained situation otherwise unrelated to the rest of the plot. It's so common that it's practically a cliche and I'm surprised to see more than one person on a forum like this who is perplexed by it.

This is especially common in sequels as it serves to give new readers/viewers an idea of what this unknown character is all about and what they're capable of and it also helps remind returning audience members who may go a year or more between watching or reading installments in a trilogy.

Rob V

Ok, we get it, you're really smart and we're really dumb... but why would someone pickup the second book in a trilogy other than they had no idea that it was the second book???

Guru Askew

Because it's on the bestseller list, because their coworker recommended it, because they found a copy in their house, because the synopsis to the sequel is more interesting than the one on the original, because they know they've read the earlier one even though they don't realize how little they remember, etc.

Are you honestly suggesting that nobody has ever read or watched a sequel to something without seeing its predecessors?

Rob V

I'm not suggesting that has NEVER happened -- of course it has... Ugh.. forget it.

Guru Askew

You're right, of course it has, and that's why scenes like that have existed in the beginnings of sequels for years.