David Lagercrantz - The Girl Who Lived Twice

Lisbeth Salander--the fierce, unstoppable girl with the dragon tattoo--has disappeared. She's sold her apartment in Stockholm. She's gone silent electronically. She's told no one where she is. And no one is aware that at long last she's got her primal enemy, her twin sister, Camilla, squarely in her sights.
Mikael Blomkvist is trying to reach Lisbeth. He needs her help unraveling the identity of a man who lived and died on the streets in Stockholm--a man who does not exist in any official records and whose garbled last words hinted at possible damaging knowledge of people in the highest echelons of government and industry. In his pocket was a crumpled piece of paper with Blomkvist's phone number on it.
Once again, Salander and Blomkvist will come to each other's aid, moving in tandem toward the truths they each seek. In the end, it will be Blomkvist--in a moment of unimaginable self-sacrifice--who will make it possible for Lisbeth to face the most important battle of her life, and, finally, to put her past to rest.

Comment: This is the 6th installment in the Millenium series, started by the late Stieg Larsson, and continued by David Lagercrantz.

In this novel, Lisbeth is finally ready to set up things and confront Kira, the sister who she once shared everything with, including their despair, but who has been her enemy for years. It will not be easy to end this thing between them, but she will try, if she can... at the same time, Mikael embarks on a new investigation, regarding a few people in important places, as usual, with the extra of the existence of a homeless man who seems to have some knowledge over a terrible secret involving them. This man used to be a guide on the Everest, and everyone knows of the case of the Swedes who died there some years ago... but that was an accident, everyone said... However, somehow, Mikael also sees himself in the middle of Lisbeth's plans for her sister. Is there any hope they come out of this alive? 

The last book in the series I had read was in 2019. I only remember the basics, and the overall impression because Lisbeth and Mikael are characters who stay with us, so impressive is their presence. While reading, many things came to mind again, that is true, but I did feel a little lost here and there.

This book was planned, I assume (even due to the publicity around this book's release) to be the last one in the series and, indeed, it was the last one written by David Lagercrantz. Therefore, there are situations that seem to lead to a sort of finite path for the characters, but at the same time the story ended in such a way that it would not be impossible to return to these characters and it seems this was the publisher's decision, and a new author picked up the series after this book. 

Thus, the plot of this story, pertaining the main characters, seems pretty basic. Lisbeth needs to confront her sister, the source of so many problems for her in the past books, and Mikael returns to his investigation while still worrying for Lisbeth. Their friendship and care for one another don't follow the usual patterns but so many adventures together have brought them together as friends and "partners in crime so to speak, and I must say that one of my favorite parts of these books has always been how they connect. Part of me wishes they could have become a couple but, frankly, that isn't something I miss that much.

I wasn't too fond of Lisbeth's sub plot here, to be honest. I know there's a lot of investment in what she feels she needs to do, but I would sometimes get a little annoyed at these sections because they obviously had to include Kira's presence and actions and the whole sub world stuff and mafia like behaviors and deals just pulls me out of a story for they are themes I don't care about. The sisters do have a final showdown, and it is certainly hollywoodesque but I struggled to follow the emotional impact of what was happening and why it mattered to Lisbeth.

I was much more interested in Mikael's investigation of what had happened during the Everest expedition and how he connected the dots between the homeless man and the reason for why there was such a big secret over everything. It turns out that the explanation isn't as shocking as one might assume... I mean, yes, something terrible happened there but the motivation wasn't a big novelty. I also think there were too many characters in this whole plot, and then some would mix up with what was going on with Lisbeth, and sometimes I felt rather confused.

In fact, the writing made several situations seem confusing. I think the back and forth between what was happening with one character, and then the other made for a convoluted book. I also felt a little disappointed that both Lisbeth and Mikael had a lack of personality (to my own perception) when comparing to how they had been portrayed in other books, namely the first three. I think I have said before that David Lagercrantz smoothly continued what Stieg Larsson had started but yes, it is also true that there is a difference in their "voice".

Since a new author has written two more books in the series - I've read somewhere that Stieg Larsson had planned for the Millenium series to have ten books - making them up to eight, could it be that the series will see its end then? Let's see...

Grade: 7/10

David Lagercrantz - The Girl Who Takes and Eye for an Eye

Lisbeth Salander - the girl with the dragon tattoo, the brilliant hacker, the obstinate outsider, the volatile seeker of justice for herself and others - has never been able to uncover the most telling facts of her traumatic childhood, the secrets that might finally, fully explain her to herself. Now, when she sees a chance to uncover them once and for all, she enlists the help of Mikael Blomkvist, the editor of the muckraking, investigative journal Millennium. And nothing will stop her - not the anti-Muslim gang she enrages by rescuing a young woman from their brutality; not the deadly reach from inside the Russian mafia of her long-lost twin sister, Camilla; and not the people who will do anything to keep buried knowledge of a sinister pseudo-scientific experiment known only as The Registry. Once again, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, together, are the fierce heart of a thrilling full-tilt novel that takes on some of the most insidious problems facing the world at this very moment.

Comment: Having read last month the first book in the Millenium series (originally by Stieg Larsson) that was written by David Lagercrantz, I've decided to keep going with this one too, since it was available at my local library. 

In this fifth installment of the series, we find Lisbeth Salander in prison due to a situation which happened in the previous book. Lisbeth isn't going to spend too much time there but she still finds someone to look for in the inmate Faria Razi, a woman accused of murdering her brother. Faria and most of the prison population is afraid of Benito Andresson who terrorizes everyone, including the guards. Lisbeth gets annoyed and gives an ultimatum to the chief of the guards but that might cause her some problems int he future, especially because her beloved mentor dies while she's locked up and Mikael Blomkvist is investigating possible connected situations that might also have something to do with the older man's death. Will Lisbeth be released and remain safe enough from a few more enemies?

In the comment of the previous book I've said the style of this new author and that of the late Stieg Larsson are different but since the story has the same conduit, things don't appear to be that off. However, I can't help but notice that it does feel like the rhythm follows a different tune. Nevertheless, the storyline has the reader following certain steps which we can link to previous situations. Basically each new story is independent but still part of a whole. 

As always, Lisbeth is the central character although this time the focus wasn't much herself or her challenging relationship with her sister Camilla, which was one of the key situations developed in the last book. This time that is a little secondary, as the focus switches to a different perspective of how her family life has turned the way it did and how is helped shape her current personality.

Even Lisbeth's attitude while in prison and why she helps the other inmate have a purpose  and s somehow part of why Lisbeth is supposed to be a sympathetic character but part of me wonders if it wasn't simply a way to put Lisbeth in the right position for some plot moves...

I think it's always interesting to keep peeling the emotional layer Lisbeth has managed to hid due to her childhood and the bad things she lived through but part of me also can't help thinking the whole "Lisbeth as the victim" - the way I see it - has become a little too much, as if this storyline is being dragged on and on... perhaps it would be time to solve this side of things and maybe focus on Lisbeth's skills now to help with other stuff? I can see why the focus would be on this, after all any crime investigator is only as more interesting as his/hers personal issues but... it can seem to be getting a little repetitive.

The plot is filled with sudden discoveries, some more important than others for what matters the most in the plot, but all have some sort of connection between them. It can be quite difficult to mix things but still keeping them part of a whole and for that, I must commend the author's attempt to do things in a proper way, so that readers ca be captivated by all details. There are some elements which I would say were used to divert the reader's attention and others were so out there (the villain's reasons to keep secrets after years and without the personal possibility any positive outcome is very weak at times) I struggled to understand why some things mattered that much.

All things considered, I enjoyed the story and some of the things I liked less are minor in the bigger scheme of things, probably more due to my personal POV than a huge problem of the novel but despite the enjoyment, some things really don't allow me to think better of the story.

Grade: 7/10

David Lagercrantz - The Girl in the Spider's Web

Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist have not been in touch for some time.
Then Blomkvist is contacted by renowned Swedish scientist Professor Balder. Warned that his life is in danger, but more concerned for his son's well-being, Balder wants Millennium to publish his story - and it is a terrifying one.
More interesting to Blomkvist than Balder's world-leading advances in Artificial Intelligence, is his connection with a certain female superhacker.
It seems that Salander, like Balder, is a target of ruthless cyber gangsters - and a violent criminal conspiracy that will very soon bring terror to the snowbound streets of Stockholm, to the Millennium team, and to Blomkvist and Salander themselves.

Comment: When Stieg Larsson first got known in the early 2000s not many people would know his successful novels which we now now as the Millenium trilogy would be his greatest achievement (since he passed away not that long after) and that it would open the door for many more Scandinavian authors to be read by so many foreign readers in several countries and not just a few fans here and there.

This is the continuation of that famous trilogy, now in the hands of someone the family trusted to keep up with the work of late Larsson.

In this novel, the protagonists of the other stories, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Slander have not been in contact due to several aspects, mainly her reluctance and disappointment.

Mikael's magazine isn't doing well financially and the partners accepted the help of a particular group which injected some capital without demands. Well, at first... this means Mikael is considering ending the magazine or he would need a huge piece to make things right again. The problem is that Mikael isn't feeling motivated until something falls into his hands, namely an information about a genius man who is in danger and is trying to protect his autistic son.

When things seem to go bad, Mikael nevertheless asks for Lisbeth's help, although none of them know exactly how everything is connected to them both until it might be too late...

I've bought this book (in Portuguese) because I do consider myself to be a fan of the original trilogy. I wanted to see how the new author would pick up the story and how alike or different his "voice" would be compared to Stieg Larsson.

I confess I don't remember many details from the stories themselves, except key points and the only thing I remember from the writing is how fast paced things were and how intriguing and mysterious everything was but at the same time the "good guys" were always a step ahead when necessary. I also recall the majority of the focus was on Mikael and Lisbeth and that is, probably, what I didn't appreciate as much in this fourth story, the lack of scenes centered more on the protagonists.

I suppose it can be unfair to compare the two writers. Just being different people would obviously ut Lagercrantz in a unjust position because he is still alive to change and make mistakes/improvements while Larsson will remain in a pedestal by those who love his world building. However, if the same world is being used, not comparing things gets to be a non-action too difficult to avoid too...

The plot of this book focuses on helping a man who now wants to protect his son. But his genius abilities and work have made him a man to go after, following a certain set of situations. This "hunting someone" trope often seen in thrillers wasn't badly done, especially because readers got to know the genius guy, Fans, and he became likable. The more technical situations related how he can be found, how and why he is an important person to hunt were well done I guess but it's not a detail that I get distracted by while reading these novels. I was more concerned by the human side of things although in this new age of so much progress in technology and information sharing, things made relative sense.

What I was mostly looking for here was so see Mikael and Lisbeth interacting again, especially after how the last book in the original trilogy ended. I must say in this regard, the lack of focus on them and on their personal thoughts (except the basics and only in Mikael's case) have left me a little down. Of course it wouldn't fit them to be more extroverted, that's not what I mean. But they were apart during the whole story, they only shared necessary conversation... yes, it was fun to read some things between the lines but only the very last scene made me curious about what they could be thinking of.

Some details about their lives and choices felt a little off even though I can't explain. 

The main villain in this book has also designed a complex web for things to develop and it just seems weird why this person is only now getting more focus and how some things pre determined could be accomplished. This person's existence also puts in motion a path to follow and I'm not certain it can go well... let's see.

There were some plot moves I think were avoidable. The first part of the story had too much setting up and it was a little boring here and there.

I'm going to read the next book because I'm curious to see where the goes... but I also hope it can be a more fascinating read than this one.

Grade: 6/10