Well, that's it. I've read them all, devoured them all, and, as far as I know, there won't be any more stories featuring the further exploits of Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. What a read! What a thrill ride! What memorable characters! As you know, all of Stieg Larsson's books were published posthumously after he died unexpectedly in 2004 of a massive heart attack at the young age of 50. The poor guy didn't even get to enjoy his own literary success.

I would highly recommend that you read this trilogy in order to preserve the dramatic context and the relationships. The first novel is titled, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," originally more appropriately titled, "Män som hatar kvinnor" ("Men Who Hate Women"), then the second novel, "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and, finally, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," the last novel in what ended up as a trilogy but was supposed to have been a continuing series. 

The original title of the first book speaks to the overriding theme of the trilogy, which portrays Lisbeth Salander as a vengeful nemesis of men, especially powerful men, who abuse women or take advantage of them from a position of trust and respect. Consistently underestimated by all of her enemies, the petite Lisbeth, who weighs in at under a hundred pounds and is less than five feet tall, shocks them with her cunning and her ferocity as a fighter. Her powerful intellect (she solves mathematical theorems for a hobby) buttressed by a photographic memory proves to be the undoing of all who offend her code of ethics. In summary, she has no equal when that intellect is combined with her street smarts, her computer hacking skills, and her complete fearlessness when confronted by danger.   

Unfortunately, this novel is the weakest in the trilogy, although I will grant that the story does wind up in a very satisfying manner. The exciting trial at the end of the book flies by with a fascinating epilogue concerning the fate of Niedermann which evidences substantial emotional growth on the part of our heroine. And then that is it. There are a few plot points left not addressed, like Lisbeth's sister, who we never get to meet even though we know that she is out there. Maybe Larsson had intended to do this in a later story. 

The singular flaw of this book is that Larrson felt compelled to give us a history lesson on Swedish international relations during the Cold War era along with an extended explanation of the inner workings of the Swedish government, especially as it pertained to SAPO, the domestic intelligence agency. When I say "extended," I mean extended. Long passages in this book have to be slogged through in order to get back to the story and the plot resolution. These passages slowed down the dramatic tempo and hurt the emotional impact of the story. I really didn't care to read most of it, and I hope that the third of the outstanding Swedish movies on these novels will dispense with this unnecessary discourse into internecine Swedish politics.

Larsson had intended to write ten novels about Blomkvist and Salander, but he died shortly after completing the third. There are rumors that he left an unfinished manuscript for a fourth novel along with notes for a fifth and sixth novel, all of which are supposedly in the possession of his common law wife. That hope being offered, however, I have not read any independent verification of it, not even from his publisher, who appeared on a Charlie Rose Show. 

My suspicion is that this is a negotiating ploy for a share of Larsson's substantial estate by his common law wife. She lost the court case over ownership of the copyrights, which were awarded to Larsson's father and brother as his nearest surviving relatives. The irony is that Larrson was devoted to this woman and lived with her for decades without ever marrying her, while he was estranged from his family and rarely, if ever, spoke with them. Sad to say that the laws in liberal leftist Sweden are so backward in this regard. I'll let the court of public opinion hash this out, but my heart goes out to her. 

The end of "The Girl Who Played With Fire" finds Lisbeth Salander and Zala being flown by helicopter to a regional hospital equipped to handle trauma cases. Thus "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" opens with their arrival there and their steady progress back to consciousness and a semblance of a healthful recovery. Since his injuries were less severe, Zala is the first to regain consciousness, and his first awakening thought is to kill Lisbeth.

There are other forces in play. Salander is still charged with the three murders, and the officer overseeing the investigation is in the confidence of SAPO, the secret Swedish security agency. He will do everything he can to make the charges stick. In spite of this, Lisbeth has a few powerful friends who resolutely believe in her innocence. They include Mikael Blomkvist and Dragon Armansky, the head of Milton Security which had employed Lisbeth and was the original link to connect her to Blomkvist. Mikael enlists the aid of his sister, Annika Giannini, a noted lawyer (though not a criminal lawyer), to defend Lisbeth.

Inspector Jan Bublansky, head of the police team investigating the three murders, will find growing evidence of a coverup which leads right into the upper echelons of police and governmental power. Needless to say, the members of those upper echelons of police power will do their best to make sure that Lisbeth is never allowed to testify in her defense. 

Who would have thought that such cold, distant places with names that I can't even pronounce populated by people whose names I also can't pronounce would prove to be so compelling and so captivating? Stieg, I will miss you; you were taken from us far too soon. 576 pages, US publication, 2010, translated from Swedish by Reg Keeland. Originally titled "Luftslottet som sprängdes by Norstedts" and published in 2007.