The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

OK, so almost everyone has at least heard of the Millennium trilogy. They've been so heavily promoted that you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't read one of the books. There have been movies made in Sweden for all three, and the American versions are the in the works. I get it, everyone loves them. What I am about to say may seem like a shock but I might be the only person in the entire world that thought they were only so-so. There I said it! I'm sure to be marked as a literary pariah for admitting it, but I can't lie. I struggled through the first one, I hardly remember any of the second and the third was just 'eh' to me. The only parts that I really enjoyed were from Lisbeth's point of view. I think that the other characters, Blomkvist, Berger, etc. are  unbelievable and  downright annoying. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest just helped to solidify my opinion of the series. Much of the book is spent mucking around in legal issues and following various police officers who in my mind were so similar as to be interchangeable. Meanwhile, Blomkvist is trying to help vindicate Lisbeth, while banging multiple ladies during his free time. Berger is, as always, a powerful woman with a sketchy sexual background that Larsson never misses a chance to remind us of. Lisbeth remains as the only character that I don't find unbelievable or predictable.

It seems obvious to me that Larsson lived vicariously through Mikael Blomkvist. Even though Blomkvist is middle aged and not extremely fit or atractive, he constantly has younger attractive women throwing themselves at him. He is able to have a regular sex buddy on the side, (Erika Berger) who he has been sleeping with for over 20 years without any strings attached. He always finds himself in the middle of a huge story that will put him on top. Not to mention he is BORING. Maybe I am biased but I can't stand him. I find myself rolling my eyes or laughing at how transparent Larsson is being whenever I read Blomkvist's portions of the book. If he's not having sex with random women, he's sitting around brooding while drinking black coffee, eating sandwiches and smoking excessively.

All rants about Blomkvist aside, Larsson's saving grace is Lisbeth Salander. Considering she was created by a man, Lisbeth is an believable and intriguing female lead. She is completely unpredictable which gives the series the kick it needs to stay interesting. As a reader you are always on Lisbeth's side, making her story all the more exciting. She is the only character that I actually care about.  It's really a pity that Larsson wasn't able to complete the series because I read in a interview with his girlfriend that the 4th book was going to explain all of Lisbeth's tattoos.

Read the series for Lisbeth, it's worth mucking around in the other characters' stories for her part alone.