Book of the Week: The Girl Who Played with Fire

I've been meaning to get around to this one for awhile. I really enjoyed the first of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and I was almost hesitant to read the second, The Girl Who Played with Fire, because with these sorts of things the sequels tend to be disappointing. Not so here. Sure, some of the plot points were a bit far fetched, but I think where Larsson excelled was in the nuances and the characters. I can't recall another protagonist in recent years as compelling and complex as Lisbeth Salander, the girl in the title. I almost wrote heroine and then thought better of it, because I can see Salander hating the word even though she seems pretty adept at saving herself

Rooney Mara - the "American" Lisbeth Salander [via]

I won't spoil this one for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but I thought it was interesting that even though Lisbeth is absent from a lot of the direct action in the book her figure continues to loom large over the story. It was also great to find out more about her past and what makes her tick. Some of it is hard to read, but I commend Larsson for weaving social commentary into a great suspense thriller. Can't wait to start The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and to watch the Swedish movie version of Fire--plus I'm looking forward to the American movie adaptation starring 007 Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

Have you read this one?

What do you think of the Millennium trilogy?