Review/Discussion: Millennium series (The Girl with ect ect) potential SPOILERS!

['Itan Atxur]

SPOILER FREE REVIEW STARTS HERE

All right, so the most recent series I've finished is the Millennium series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest) and I absolutely loved it. It's funny though, because the books are NOT of consistent quality (don't even get me started on the movies which are consistently horrible).

The first book I found to be really good. It didn't catch me immediately though. It's not that it started slowly, it just started, well, boringly. If it weren't for the fact that the author nailed the main character (Lisbeth Salander) I may not have finished the book. But wow, I just connected with Salander right off the bat. I could tell exactly how she was going to react to each situation not because the story was predictable (which it wasn't) or that the author telegraphed things, but because I knew who Salander was. The first book is a decent mystery which wouldn't be out of the ordinary if it wasn't for the EXTRAORDINARY main character. Bloomkvist is a decent supporting character, but he really is just about as average as it gets IMHO. Rating: B+

The SECOND book, well, I could write a novel about it. The first chapter is by far the best chapter I've ever read. It doesn't start off fast and action packed. It starts out at a perfect pace. There's a set of murders, the totally awesome Lisbeth Salander is the prime suspect and you really don't know if she's innocent or not. The pacing stays consistent so your always getting new information and plot elements throughout. When I reached a certain part of the ending, I felt like throwing my book or tearing it in half. Not because it was poorly written. What happens in the woods is SO well written, I felt the pain (it actually made me dizzy) and impact of it immediately both physically and emotionally. I was on break at the grocery store when I finished this book and it ended on such a huge cliff hanger I went down to our literature section and purchased the final book immediately. I consider this the best book I've ever read. Rating: A+

The third book... isn't bad, but it's not much more than average either. Theirs no peril or sense of urgency. The good guys face by far their most serious and seemingly insurmountable enemy yet, but at every corner they completely demolish the bad guys. Seriously, throughout the entire book, the good guys win. You know whats going to happen at the end (just not exactly how it'll play out) almost from the get go. I thought the author was just making the reader think we knew what was going to happen, but he wasn't. The good guys just BASH the bad guys non stop. The ending is good but leaves some medium sized questions unanswered. I hoped the epilogue would take care of this but it goes off in a completely unnecessary direction. It did however, result in one of the most bad ass moments in all of bad assery history. Also, Lisbeth Salander remains as awesome as ever. Rating C+


SPOILER FREE REVIEW ENDS HERE ^^^

Anybody else here read the series? Please feel free to discuss any part of the story.

[Yayo]

LOL! You're a violent reader! I've heard good reviews about these books but I'm not sure about the movies though.

['Itan Atxur]

LOL! You're a violent reader! I've heard good reviews about these books but I'm not sure about the movies though.

I'm fairly certain the guy who directed the Swedish movies didn't even bother to read the books. Key character development parts are changed so drastically, they accomplish the OPPOSITE of what the book was trying to do.

I'm still looking forward to the big budget movies being made. Don't know why though, the books are always so much better.

Also, I think its funny that the Swedish director is saying the movies don't need to be "remade" so soon when he's already made them. He's forgetting that A) Not everybody will watch foreign films and that B) His movies were so far off target, you could actually say they don't have anything to do with the books.

['Itan Atxur]

Having reread the 3rd book I have to change my review score from a C+ to an A-. I had the wrong mind set going into it the first time. I had a specific way I personally wanted the book to play out and didn't let the author do his thing.

[Syulang]

I've read these books. I wont go as in depth as you did, but I'll say a bit.

I liked the first book, it definately introduced me to a more adult genre. The second one was good, not as good as the first.

Spoiler

The bit where you think Lisbeth died... I was so suprised, it was like I couldn't process it. I actually cried... and then when I saw she was actually alive, I was so relieved  

The third one was, well, slow. It took forever for anything to happen.  

It's been a while since I've read them, but I'm considering re-reading them.  

['Itan Atxur]

Spoiler

The bit where you think Lisbeth died... I was so suprised, it was like I couldn't process it. I actually cried... and then when I saw she was actually alive, I was so relieved  

Spoiler

I wanted to tear the book in half when that happened, lol

['Itan Atxur]

Blech. I just found out that this series was supposed to be a 10 book series and that the 4th book is finished but can't be published because Stieg died before he wrote his will and therefore his wife (who was heavily involved in writing the first 3 books) can't publish until the legal dispute is solved. The dispute (between Stiegs father and his wife) has been at a stalemate for 5 plus years