Of course, I had to order this from the UK the minute that it became available, and it was definitely worth the money spent to read it months before its US publication. It was pure pleasure, and a fitting conclusion to the Salander/Blomkvist saga. Another intelligently written roller coaster ride with an unending cast of characters, but none as electrifying as Lisbeth Salander. The trilogy begs rereading and is definitely a keeper. The author's untimely death is a tragedy. Sadly, there will be no more books from this unbelievably talented writer. Very, very highly recommend.

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An amazing ending to the Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest leaves readers feeling like Larsson hit his mark. Although it's saddening that there won't be other adventures with Blomkvist, Larsson intended the trilogy to be just that, a trilogy. It was a great read, couldn't put it down, in fact, and I found that I didn't need to refer to the other two books to remember what happened to lead up to the finale. Larsson reiterated the sequence of events in a creative way, weaving the plot through new eyes in Hornet's Nest. It didn't feel like a recap, more like an unveiling of past events in a new light.

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I absolutely loved this series and an beyond sad that it is over. Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomqvist are amazing characters. Though most of their actions are implausible as hell, still entertaining and great fun to read about. Though I liked Erika Berger in the first two novels, she and her situation with SMP had absolutely nothing to do with the story line in this installment. It seemed like filler but with a book of this size, who the hell needs filler. It should definitely have been completely edited out. I also thought the in depth information on the Swedish government and Sapo were unnecessary to the plot. Simply mentioning that a secret section of the government without oversight (think black ops) was in charge of the Zalachenko affair would have been sufficient to explain the situation and easily cut 100 pages from this novel.

There were several factions for and against Salander doing this and that to prove or disprove her guilt or innocence. I loved the way everything came together at the end. Of course, you knew up front that Mikael's plan would be successful but I was dying to know exactly how they were going to strike and I loved Giannini's attack on Teleborian. These pricks had it coming to them and I laughed out loud at their shock when naive Giannini pulled out the big guns and kicked their asses.

I can understand the negative reviews I've seen since Salander didn't really shine in this installment as she did in the previous two. But I must say that the supporting characters, Mikael, Holger Palmgren and Dragan Armansky really came through for Salander. She may be a socially inept genius but her friends are rather loyal and had her back. I hear there might be a fourth book and I would certainly not be upset about that. Maybe we'll finally get some information on Camilla though I'm sure she'll be gunning for Salander.

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This book rocked! I was hooked from the first page till the last and was so sad that this wild ride and story had come to an end. Excellent characters, out of this world plot and lots of payback. Very sad that this author is gone. What a loss for those who love a great read!

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I was disappointed in this book. It seemed more contrived and tiresome than the first two which I really enjoyed. It was an okay read, but not nearly as good.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Where will she go? What will she do?, November 2, 2010
By
Denise Crawford "DC" (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Hardcover)
I almost cried when I finished the last page of this trilogy. I slowed down my reading to a snail's pace to drag out the last few paragraphs knowing that I'd never read another word about Lisbeth or the rest of the wonderful cast of characters created by Stieg Larsson in three fantastic novels that captivated and enthralled me. I was left thinking that there was unfinished business here and that I would always wonder what happened after...

This book, the third in the Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy Bundle: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest takes up immediately where The Girl Who Played with Fire (Vintage) ended -- Lisbeth is mortally wounded and about to undergo surgery for the gunshot into her brain. Her eventual recovery and days spent in hospital are not wasted -- she is always planning her revenge and will accept no compromises in her quest for justice, finally, after years of being a persecuted victim. The reader is drawn into the story quickly and roots for Lisbeth's triumph over her oppressors and wishes her to overcome all the obstacles that have been placed in front of her. No capitulation. She's one of the most interesting heroines in suspense fiction, or perhaps such a finely developed idiosyncratic character has not previously been found in any genre lately! I was at times annoyed by her stoic and total refusal to engage with those who tried to help her as well as to be moved with pity or admiration for the way she dealt with the injustice served her.

I highly recommend this series and wish I could have the pleasure of reading yet another story involving Lisbeth Salander. This final novel in the trilogy brought some closure to her story, but there were still some unanswered questions that I believe I will ponder for some time.

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My only regret upon completing the final installment of this series is that Lisbeth Salander will forever remain within the confines of but three books. Fabulous!

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This was a great series of books. I really enjoyed the stories as a whole. By the time I got to the third book I was tired of reading about the geography of Sweden and had a hard time keeping up with each of the many characters in these books, but the story line was exciting and engrossing. Some parts of these books were kind of boring but were necessary to tell the story, but I plowed through those as best I could. Overall, I'm happy I read these books, but glad to be done with them.

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This is a tremendous read. A book that once you are 50 pages into it, you want to finish it before sleeping. In other words don't start it after dinner unless you want to stay up all night. It continues the story fron the first two books by Steig Larsson and is his final book. The mystery readers of the world should aknowledge Larsson as a master writer and say a prayer for him on the day of his death-a great loss to us. I give this book 5 stars as the other 2 books as well.

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Though detail ridden with names and places that sound foreign to my ears, and riddled with the baddest of "bad guys", this book did not disappoint! Mr. Larsson has created another brilliant story about the continuing tales of our impossibly hard to kill heroine Lisbeth. I roared through this aware that once I was done, I would be saying goodbye to characters I have grown so close to over the three books in this series. I am added to the list of people who await the eventual relinquish of his final novel.

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Loved the 3rd book in the trilogy series. Definitely a page-turner. Makes me sad that we will get no other books from Steig Larsson. He really was a great writer. If you enjoyed the first two, you certainly can't miss The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest!

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Too bad the author's dead; the trilogy ends in a good place with the loose ends tied up.
Lisbeth has an entirely different battle on her hands this time - with the government. Her enemies are varied and determined to silence her for one reason or another.
Lisbeth, with her "chraming" personality, still has not managed to isolate herself from her friends, though they are exasperated with her.
Death, secret messaging, courtroom battle - will there be vindication?
Very exciting read.

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Sorry, but first and foremost: The last book seemed to go a lot slower than the first two. All-in-all still glad that I read it and finished the series. When finishing the series two phrases come to mind as an overall theme for the trilogy:

1. "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" - Lord Acton (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely.html); and

2. One must do a little evil to do greater good.
- Sybilla (paraphrased; Kingdom of Heaven).

The first phrase is obvious whether one deals with a corporation or a government entity. The second phrase is less prominent, but still fitting since hacking has changed the lives of both Blomkovist, Berger, and Salander for the better.

Other random thoughts...one can suppose that the way Stieg Larsson truly immortalized himself is by (perhaps) subconsciously writing himself into the books. Does anyone else think that Blomkovist could have been Larsson's alter ego? Blomkovist...the man no one can resist falling in love with. Yea, by the end of the book I fell in love with him too - gotta' luv a guy that can laugh at himself and has no fear of letting a woman take the reigns.

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Gripping read. I think it's the longest and most detailed of the trilogy and answers some of what happened to Lizbeth in detail and why she doesn't trust men and wants revenge. People talk a lot about the violence in the series but it's really about all the horrible things men have done to women and girls especially the most vulnerable and how little recourse they have. I recommend the dubbed version of the Swedish films with Noomi Rapace as Lizbeth. She has an edginess that is closer to Lizbeth from the book and those films stay a little closer to the books, too.

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Amazing!!

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A superb ending to the trilogy. Too bad the series had to end, but this was an entertaining and unique way to end it.

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For the ending of this book alone, it is worth reading. However, while I wish I could say that this book was of the same caliber as that of the prior two books, in my opinion it was not. The book picked up right where the last left off, with Salander in the hospital being treated for her injuries. Blomkvist continues to sleuth on her behalf in order to expose those who have made her life hellish and attempted to frame her for all manner of crimes. Of course, in his spare time he also still manages to attract every woman within a 500-yard-radius like a bee to honey, but I digress. All of the other familiar characters from the prior books return.

I don't want to spoil the plot of the book, so I will give a general review. The overall feel of the book to me is that it was the least edited and least considered of the three. This would make sense if Larsson had intended to go back and do some more tweaking and editing before publication, but he was obviously unable to do so after his death. There are entire sections of the book that meander on and on with no apparent purpose with regard to moving the story forward. These sections would have benefited greatly from some serious editorial paring.

To me, the plot did not at all move along at the same clip as the prior books. The suspense just wasn't there to the same degree. I recall that I simply could not put down the previous books, but I was nowhere near as riveted by this one. In addition, there were a number of somewhat annoying grammatical errors, sentence fragments, etc.

For the good points of the book, the ending (if that is what we can call the last 150-200 pages) is a very nice, tightly written section that ties everything together beautifully. Again, it struck me that perhaps Larsson had written the ending earlier than the rest of book three, as it appeared to be the best-constructed section of the entire book. For the ending alone, this story is worth reading. I wavered between a 3-and 4- star review for this reason. Ultimately, I considered whether the book, standing alone without the other two, would be a 4-star book, and I don't believe that would be the case.

As an aside, one minor issue is that on the book cover of the copy I picked up while in Belgium, the first blurb says "The Trial", as if the book is mostly about Salander's trial itself, which it is not. The trial itself takes up about the last tenth of the book. Whether this type of advertising will occur with the North American edition I don't know, but I write this warning simply so you might know what to expect.

In summary, anyone who has read the first two books simply will not be able to deny themselves the final installment, nor should they. Although I did not find the book to hold the same level of suspense and I sometimes found it rather dull, the ending of the book makes it very worthwhile reading. It is a great loss that Mr. Larsson passed away before he could really fine-tune the final book, and before he could write another.

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Great book, but you should remember or have recently read book #2 - The girl who played with fire. Otherwise this book might take some time to get into as it picks up directly where the last one left off.

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The best of Larsson's trilogy. Excellant.

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This review covers this whole trilogy, just finished only moments ago. The first 2 books The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire were literally glued to my hands, I simply could not put them down.

I did not like Lisbeth in the beginning, but I do believe its what the author intended as we did not know anything about her past. Maybe it was not so much of a dislike as her being a complete and utter mystery. As her past unfolded I felt a compassion for her which grew to complete and total respect by the end of the 3rd book. I do not think I will ever hold in my hands a series as compelling as this trilogy, (by all means if you know of something please pm me)

The first 2 books were so well organized and the text just flowed. I did not find the 3rd to be quite as organized as the first 2 but it did not alter my opinion of the book, I just had to delve a little deeper and sometimes backtrack and reread portions. As one reviewer said, it was a little slower than the first 2. The author also tied up all loose ends.except for one..the sister, was expecting a storyline to develop about her.

It is so sad that death has robbed us of this master storyteller, that there will be no further adventures with Lisbeth and Mikael. The author succeeded in bringing all of the characters to life, especially these 2 main characters.

Rest in Peace Stieg Larsson..

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Larsson's investigative background takes over in this last episode of the series. I could tell that he did not want to skip steps and wanted to be as accurate as possible in describing the various governmental agencies that would be involved in an unusual case like that of Lisbeth Salander. Thus he painstakingly introduces us to members of the secret police ("Sapo"), different local police agencies, the prime minister, and more. In each of these agencies are several characters and we get to meet them as well as read about their backgrounds.

The result, for much of the first part of the book, is that there is a cast of thousands and it sometimes was confusing to me.

The great majority of this book also focuses on plodding investigation, rather a lot of pencil-pushing and discussion and not a lot of physical action. The various agencies and organizations involved each did their own investigations, which is what you'd expect in the real world, but in a book it tended to slow the movement.

I found that I both appreciated this approach and was at times a little frustrated by it. I love accuracy and with this kind of detail I was able to see how the different parts would work and I could comprehend the restrictions placed on each as well.

The main character, Salander, was in a hospital for the better part of the book. She didn't have much to contribute until she was functioning at some level, thus we are not treated to her prickly character until well into the book. Meanwhile, journalist Mikael Blomqvist is everywhere. He has a primary goal: to see Lisbeth exonerated of all charges against her and removed from guardianship. Secondarily, he is interested in seeing a secret group within Sapo exposed and its members sent to prison. The group had "managed" Russian defector Zalachenko for many years, which meant covering up when he broke laws. The act that most infuriated Blomqvist was their maneuvering to get Salander committed to a psychiatric institution at age 12, after she struck out against her abusive father, Zalachenko.

Interesting to me was the focus on restoring Salander's rights and the outrage that her rights had been violated. I couldn't help but think that in this country there would be less outrage at such action. Every day young persons have their liberties and rights taken from them, supposedly for their own good. Of course in this series of novels there are highly abusive persons who further damaged Salander's trust of other persons. She has become so suspicious and cynical that it is very difficult for her to form and maintain friendships.

It also struck me that in this novel Larsson wrote out some wishful thinking. He carefully crafted a complex series of events and interchanges designed to bring about a good result. So many things could have gone wrong and so many different persons could have misread the facts, yet ultimately the agencies all worked to the same end, with a few bad apples thrown in here and there to complicate the situation. More than once characters would read forensic reports and other information and come, almost by magic, to the right conclusions.

I could sense the passion of Larsson's quest for justice against corruption. This passion drives the books more than anything else. However, ultimately it is the characters that kept me reading. Blomqvist, Salander, Berger, and several new characters are challenged in their personal as well as professional lives. Salander has to face her feelings for Blomqvist. Blomqvist has to face his tendency to fly from relationship to relationship. And Salander has to find a way to "be" in the world.

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Third and (final?) installment of the Lizbeth Salander Saga. It begins with Lizbeth being rushed to a hospital, following the events of The Girl Who Played With Fire. Lizbeth is in alot of trouble, medically and legally. Fortunately for her, she has inadvertantly made loyal friends: Blomqvist, Armansky and Palmgren, not to mention Plague and Trinity. This book is exciting, action-packed and addictive. Love it. The Bad Guys don't know what hit them. The question is, did the now deceased author really have most of a fourth book on his computer? I hope so - we still haven't met Lizbeth's sister. If you have nothing to do for a week, go out and buy this Trilogy.

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The final installment of the Millennium trilogy by the late Stieg Larsson.

The story continues with Lisbeth Salander being treated in a Swedish hospital for a bullet in the brain (which was successfully removed and without any apparent brain damage.) She has two fights on her hands her recovery from the gun shot and other injuries and the fight to prove her innocence of killing three people in Stockholm.

While hospitalized, her father, who shot her in the last book, and still wants her dead, is hospitalized a couple rooms down.

Mikael Blomkvist is working behind the scenes to help Lisbeth. Knowing full well that she will not be as cooperative as she could be but he knows she is innocent and its his mission to prove her innocence. He also wants the Swedish government to acknowledge the crimes it committed against her by having her declared incompetent.

The story is full of twists and turns and, once again, very riveting.

The one gripe that I have with this book, as well as the rest of the books in this series, is that there is quite a bit that could have been edited out of the stories. I dont know that knowing Mikaels attorney sister wore a white blouse, black skirt and gray jacket did a lot to move the story forward or a blow by blow of walking home from work down this street then that street and stopping at a restaurant for a dinner of fish, steamed vegetables with a sorbet dessert washed down with a glass of beer. Or, for that matter, the 7-10 pages of background on the Sapo officers from the secret agency. Im not sure how many pages eliminating these kinds of details would have eliminated, but some of it was just too detailed.

Despite that, I found myself drawn into the story and having a hard time putting the book down.

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Loved this book. It is one of the all time great stories.

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This was the last book in an amazing series that I didnt want to end. Each book kept my interest with great plots, well developed characters and lots of action. The Lizbeth Salander character was well developed throughout each book - which made me feel like I finally understood the way her mind worked. I got my step dad addicted as well as my daughter, they all loved the books. I am sad that this is the last one!

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Great book, stayed up all night reading it. Good memorable characters, enough conflict to keep you turning the page, involved plot.

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A good ending to the trilogy, but it took a lot longer for me to read than the first two. I'm not sure if I just had grander expectations for this. Overall a good read, though.

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Tired of the series at this point

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Fast moving finale to the series.

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The exhilarating conclusion to bestseller Larsson's Millennium trilogy (after The Girl Who Played with Fire) finds Lisbeth Salander, the brilliant computer hacker who was shot in the head in the final pages of Fire, alive, though still the prime suspect in three murders in Stockholm. While she convalesces under armed guard, journalist Mikael Blomkvist works to unravel the decades-old coverup surrounding the man who shot Salander: her father, Alexander Zalachenko, a Soviet intelligence defector and longtime secret asset to Säpo, Sweden's security police. Estranged throughout Fire, Blomkvist and Salander communicate primarily online, but their lack of physical interaction in no way diminishes the intensity of their unconventional relationship.

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This saga is the best set of books I've read since The Hobbit. The plot is always changing, exciting & takes unexpected turns. I read them last yr at the beach, I'm doing a repeat this summer.

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great!

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