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1.87k reviews for:
The Girl in the Spider's Web: Continuing Stieg Larsson's Dragon Tattoo Series
David Lagercrantz
3.57 AVERAGE
1.87k reviews for:
The Girl in the Spider's Web: Continuing Stieg Larsson's Dragon Tattoo Series
David Lagercrantz
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's been a while since I read the last book by Stieg Larsson. There were a lot of extraneous characters, but it held my interest. I liked the story about the autistic savant and Blomkist was not as skanky as he was in some of the previous books. He was actually quite admirable.
In contrast to the original Larsson trilogy, this one feels more like a straightforward industrial espionage thriller than a complex meditation on the legacy of the Cold War and destructive inequalities in an ostensibly egalitarian state. It also feels more self-contained than the earlier novels, which get significant retelling here.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
you can tell the author changed, but it does give you a bit of closure to the story of the main characters
The Millennium series just isn't the same without Stieg Larsson. There are too many unnecessary characters to keep straight in this book. I was still entertained but it's a far cry from the first three in the series.
I was hesitant to read this book at first, after reading the review, but I am glad I did. I feel the new author did a nice job of picking up the characters and carrying on the story line. It dragged a little bit in some areas, but overall, a good story.
My copy of this book was last seen enjoying first class travel to London, having been abandoned when I got off the train.
And I didn't leave it behind by accident.
I had approached it with hope. Not high hope, sure, but light optimism at the very least. Someone having gone to the trouble of finding a suitable author to carry on Larsson's fine work must surely have done so with knowledge of what was needed?
Well, you'd think.
But what becomes apparent very quickly is that there is a big difference between knowing characters and reading them.
Larsson knew Salander and Blomqvist intimately (well, he would), while Lagercrantz had read the previous books.
What that leaves you with is a slight cold detachment, not the warmth and love that infused the pages of the original trilogy.
Of course, this could be a flaw in the translation. It could be Lagercrantz captured our heroes perfectly, but a perfunctory job done by someone who knew the words but not the nuance robbed him of some depth.
It could be that.
But that wouldn't explain the atrocious dialogue. Dialogue that I doubt gets spoken in Swedish, never mind English. Exposition-laden passages that, if genuinely spoken over coffee or a beer, would result in violence.
Then there's the plot. Or plots.
On the one hand, a computer whizz chap with marital issues and a kid on the verge of being a prodigy. Had legs, sure, if slightly leaden ones.
But it's the strand featuring Salander that is woeful.
It may have got better, it may have really picked up, but at the point the book was discarded in disgust Lagercrantz was basically ripping off the Edward Snowden saga - almost to the point of using his name.
And Larsson was so much better than that. His characters and legacy deserve better than that.
What he gave us were three thrilling novels that twisted, turned and left you breathless.
What we get in his wake is a lifeless tale with paper-thin characters and a world we barely recognise.
And I didn't leave it behind by accident.
I had approached it with hope. Not high hope, sure, but light optimism at the very least. Someone having gone to the trouble of finding a suitable author to carry on Larsson's fine work must surely have done so with knowledge of what was needed?
Well, you'd think.
But what becomes apparent very quickly is that there is a big difference between knowing characters and reading them.
Larsson knew Salander and Blomqvist intimately (well, he would), while Lagercrantz had read the previous books.
What that leaves you with is a slight cold detachment, not the warmth and love that infused the pages of the original trilogy.
Of course, this could be a flaw in the translation. It could be Lagercrantz captured our heroes perfectly, but a perfunctory job done by someone who knew the words but not the nuance robbed him of some depth.
It could be that.
But that wouldn't explain the atrocious dialogue. Dialogue that I doubt gets spoken in Swedish, never mind English. Exposition-laden passages that, if genuinely spoken over coffee or a beer, would result in violence.
Then there's the plot. Or plots.
On the one hand, a computer whizz chap with marital issues and a kid on the verge of being a prodigy. Had legs, sure, if slightly leaden ones.
But it's the strand featuring Salander that is woeful.
It may have got better, it may have really picked up, but at the point the book was discarded in disgust Lagercrantz was basically ripping off the Edward Snowden saga - almost to the point of using his name.
And Larsson was so much better than that. His characters and legacy deserve better than that.
What he gave us were three thrilling novels that twisted, turned and left you breathless.
What we get in his wake is a lifeless tale with paper-thin characters and a world we barely recognise.
I was worried a new author would disappoint, but he continued on well with the characters and story.
This book was so lacklustre that I can't even be bothered to give it a detailed review. The extremely contrived plot was meandering and tedious. The characters were two-dimensional and all the action was crammed into the last 100 pages and then painstakingly spelled out in some ghastly exposition writing. Goes without saying that it doesn't hold a candle to Larsson's original Millenium series and I doubt that I'll be bothering to read any more from Lagercrantz.