If I was shipped off to another island for the rest of my life and was held at gun point and forced to only take a few books (although that cliche of a fantasy situation is utterly ridiculous and we all know it) then the Millenium series is likely to be my ultimate first choice. But truth be told, I had no idea there was a fourth book in the series until a few weeks ago. When I found out, I almost screamed in delight. I haven't read much this year so I haven't kept up at all in the world of new book releases.
So I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that I had become *too* obsessed with the internet and my social media, to the point I stopped enjoying old hobbies like reading. So over the past couple of weeks, I've stopped spending so much time online and spent more of my free time reading books. The first one in a while being The Girl In The Spider's Web.
For those of you less familiar with the Millenium series, they're crime novels based on two main characters called Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker with a photographic memory and Mikael Blomkvist, an infamous investigative journalist whose is brought under scrutiny after he is charged and sentenced for libel against a billionaire. Despite being two people who are polar opposites in terms of characters, they team up together to solve a case of a missing person after being hired by the family member. Although I won't go into detail about the plots but they are fast paced, highly addictive novels which are not only incredibly easy to read but leave you engrossed into the characters and their lives.
Unfortunately the novel's author, Stieg Larsson, passed away in 2004 and despite there being rumours that the Millenium series was intended to be 10 books in total, only 3 were written by him. However, in 2013 Swedish publisher Norstedts allowed an author by the name of David Lagercrantz to write the fourth novel and so here we are!
So what are my thoughts on the fourth installment? well, to put it simply, having a well loved series be continued by a totally different author was always going to have it's criticisms and in no way did The Girl In The Spider's Web escape mine. Initial thoughts before I even started reading it were something along the lines of "Oh god, no! Why? just why?!" and "but what if he doesn't even write like Larsson, he'll completely ruin the series" so not to be overdramatic or anything, but yeah. I was nervous. I was also excited; excited at the fact I have a brand new story involving Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, both whom I've come to love. I finally got to bring them back to life in my mind and to see where the next journey leads them; a feeling I know all to well from growing up and waiting for each Harry Potter book to be released. But to say I was underwhelmed with it all is an understatement. I thought Lagercrantz' effort in continuing Larsson's short but sweet style of writing was great but the plot felt....boring. In parts, I really felt myself switching off and not paying attention to what I was reading and I did end up putting the book down for a whole week when I was about 20% way through. However when I picked it back up, I did get back into and the book and ended up finishing it within a couple days.
Whilst I did mostly enjoy the story and thought Lagercrantz made a good effort, there was a conscious part of me throughout reading the book that it just wasn't the same. Of course, to think that it would be totally the same with a different author would be naive but there was a constant feeling that there was something missing. I think the plot felt quite dry in parts and in my opinion, there wasn't enough of Lisbeth for me to ever be happy with it.
I honestly tried to not be loyal to Larsson's writing and started this book with a completely open mind but I would say it was an average attempt at best and it'll be interesting to see if the same author is allowed to continue the series any further.
Unfortunately the novel's author, Stieg Larsson, passed away in 2004 and despite there being rumours that the Millenium series was intended to be 10 books in total, only 3 were written by him. However, in 2013 Swedish publisher Norstedts allowed an author by the name of David Lagercrantz to write the fourth novel and so here we are!
So what are my thoughts on the fourth installment? well, to put it simply, having a well loved series be continued by a totally different author was always going to have it's criticisms and in no way did The Girl In The Spider's Web escape mine. Initial thoughts before I even started reading it were something along the lines of "Oh god, no! Why? just why?!" and "but what if he doesn't even write like Larsson, he'll completely ruin the series" so not to be overdramatic or anything, but yeah. I was nervous. I was also excited; excited at the fact I have a brand new story involving Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, both whom I've come to love. I finally got to bring them back to life in my mind and to see where the next journey leads them; a feeling I know all to well from growing up and waiting for each Harry Potter book to be released. But to say I was underwhelmed with it all is an understatement. I thought Lagercrantz' effort in continuing Larsson's short but sweet style of writing was great but the plot felt....boring. In parts, I really felt myself switching off and not paying attention to what I was reading and I did end up putting the book down for a whole week when I was about 20% way through. However when I picked it back up, I did get back into and the book and ended up finishing it within a couple days.Whilst I did mostly enjoy the story and thought Lagercrantz made a good effort, there was a conscious part of me throughout reading the book that it just wasn't the same. Of course, to think that it would be totally the same with a different author would be naive but there was a constant feeling that there was something missing. I think the plot felt quite dry in parts and in my opinion, there wasn't enough of Lisbeth for me to ever be happy with it.
I honestly tried to not be loyal to Larsson's writing and started this book with a completely open mind but I would say it was an average attempt at best and it'll be interesting to see if the same author is allowed to continue the series any further.
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