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A review by madmooney
The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
3.0
Spoiler-Free review
Getting this out of the way first:
-I am pretty sure this is not the 4th book that Larsson intended to write.
-I suspect that this was written from scratch, rather than from any notes that Larsson had.
-About a year ago, Larsson's writing partner/common law wife had described the 200 pages of book 4 taking place on a remote Canadian island. It looks like Lagercrantz was not privy to these details for obvious reasons.
Thoughts on the book:
-Certain aspects of the writing feel very similar to Larsson's, but there are distinct flares that do not jive with Millennium 1-3 (namely: describing a single scene from multiple points of view with the apparent purpose of padding the book with more pages).
-It has been a long while since I read the trilogy, but it feels that there are way more characters in this book.
-On top of a thrilling story, Larsson also used his writing to discuss certain social issues (violence against women in Sweden, corruption and impotence of government bodies to do anything about it etc.). Lagercrantz infuses the book with an entirely new theme: government surveillance which, while it seems a more encompassing 'big bad', doesn't feel nearly as important as what the Millennium trilogy brought to light.
-The technical aspect of the book is highly researched and interesting/scary, but (despite Lisbeth's hacking background) feels too heavily used and it may turn off some readers.
-There is a certain 'loose-end' of the trilogy that Lagercrantz uses to create a momentum for possible future books. While I am totally fine with what he does in Spider's Web, I really wish he waited a bit longer to make certain revelations
Final Impression:
I enjoyed the book, but would totally understand why others wouldn't
Getting this out of the way first:
-I am pretty sure this is not the 4th book that Larsson intended to write.
-I suspect that this was written from scratch, rather than from any notes that Larsson had.
-About a year ago, Larsson's writing partner/common law wife had described the 200 pages of book 4 taking place on a remote Canadian island. It looks like Lagercrantz was not privy to these details for obvious reasons.
Thoughts on the book:
-Certain aspects of the writing feel very similar to Larsson's, but there are distinct flares that do not jive with Millennium 1-3 (namely: describing a single scene from multiple points of view with the apparent purpose of padding the book with more pages).
-It has been a long while since I read the trilogy, but it feels that there are way more characters in this book.
-On top of a thrilling story, Larsson also used his writing to discuss certain social issues (violence against women in Sweden, corruption and impotence of government bodies to do anything about it etc.). Lagercrantz infuses the book with an entirely new theme: government surveillance which, while it seems a more encompassing 'big bad', doesn't feel nearly as important as what the Millennium trilogy brought to light.
-The technical aspect of the book is highly researched and interesting/scary, but (despite Lisbeth's hacking background) feels too heavily used and it may turn off some readers.
-There is a certain 'loose-end' of the trilogy that Lagercrantz uses to create a momentum for possible future books. While I am totally fine with what he does in Spider's Web, I really wish he waited a bit longer to make certain revelations
Final Impression:
I enjoyed the book, but would totally understand why others wouldn't