The GIrl Who Played with Fire - Larsson

The World is Burning and Salander Didn’t Strike a Match

I am officially two-thirds through the Stieg Larsson trilogy and can still say I am officially still on board Lizbeth Salander/Mickel Blomkvist fan club train.  I just finished, “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and can tell you the intrigue, twists, and shocking narrative that were the hallmark of “Dragon Tatoo” keep coming.  And this is not a sequel in the sense that a new story is being told.  It’s the same story.  Larsson had a story to tell, it is just so much longer than a standard novel that it will take him three or more full length treatments to reach the end.  The tragedy of course it that Larson is no longer with us so it is impossible to know what was ultimately locked away within his characters.  And since I’ve seen all three movies I know that the saga is not brought to a neat close.

So what we have is not three separate novels but one story.  And therefore the first novel, the “Girl with the Dragon Tatoo” is only a marketing ploy.  Lizbeth Salander is not the main focus of the first novel. Mickel Blomkvist is the principle actor in that one no matter however intrigued we might be by the mysterious and heroic introduction of Salander.  But we do wish to know her better.  Who is she? Where did she come from? Why is she the way that she is?  “The Girl Who Played with Fire” answers all of these questions and more.   And as we learn about Salander, and meet her horrific and twisted past, we solve another mystery…or she solves it…without striking a match.  This book is another whodunit, but this time with a real murder, a series of murders in fact, rather than a search for a missing person with a cold case file.  We also meet her true family, and those she considers friends, and discover who wants her dead, or at least locked away, and who is trying to protect her. 

 In Salander’s world, everything that that we consider normal is completely backward and the world is set ablaze before us.  Those that should love and protect us are trying to bury us in a hole.  Those we are close to get hurt.  And those we are unable to trust completely we must trust on faith alone.  We may never know Larsson’s motives for writing these books, perhaps he is preaching; perhaps he wanted to send a higher message.   At this point it’s hard for me to tell.  But what I can say is that these are great books with great entertainment value.   Once again however I will not go as high as five stars for this book.  A very strong four and a hope that the final chapter will bring this trilogy home with five stars.