Reviews

Always oddly curious by the Millenium series, I devoured the first few books. This led to a limping along while David Lagercrantz offered tepid novels to the series once Stieg Larsson passed away. Now, Karin Smirnoff is at the helm to lead Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander on their next adventure. A great move in a positive direction, Smirnoff dazzles and creates new life for the two protagonists, while adding a strong story that is sure to impress readers.

While no one can deny political and social change in Sweden, it is a push to tap into the country’s natural resources that has made headlines of late. While this could mean great things for the country, criminal enterprises have also made moves to ensure a monopoly over its control, ensuring their coffers will be full.

While this may be true, when Lisbeth Salander arrives in the northern community of Gasskas, windmills are their last thing on her mind. Lisbeth has been summoned to serve as guardian over her niece, Svala. Lisbeth had an awkward connection with Svala’s father and while she keeps this silent, Lisbeth tries anything in her power to brush off the task. With no mother to be found and a grandmother who has passed on, Lisbeth is the only person Svala has left.

Vowing not to send her niece to foster care, Lisbeth agrees to help, but knows that this will mean a significant hampering to her nomadic ways. Svala is gifted, but also has some childish tendencies, which distracts Lisbeth from being as sharp as she ought to be. It would seem they are both being watched from the shadows in Gasskas.

Mikael Blomkvist also has business in the north, though nothing directly to do with Lisbeth. With his life waning and Millennium into its final print edition in a podcast move, Blomkvist finds himself worrying more about his daughter. She has been a great addition to his life, but she is in trouble. Whispers lead Blomkvist to believe that a man who may soon be his son-in-law has a secret that could cause chaos for the new couple.

Blomkvist refuses to stand idly by and tries his best to investigate, which leads to a brutal attack at the couple’s nuptials. Blomkvist is injured but determined and will need Lisbeth’s assistance to reveal everything before long. Blomkvist and Salander must work together in Gasskas to save the community and their respective family units. A great return to strong stories by Karin Smirnoff.

To call this book a refreshing return to strong Millennium writing would be an understatement. Karin Smirnoff pushes away the cobwebs of past lesser writing and leaves the reader feeling excited and eager to forge onwards. A solid narrative foundation is able to push the story along, adding depth to the ever-building momentum to this series that appears to take so many odd meanderings. Smirnoff has great ideas and is sure to impress the reader with ease.

Character development proves harder to formulate this far into the series, though SmirnoffL provides an opportunity for Lisbeth Salander and Michael Blomkvist. Salander has a new angle introduced in this piece, serving as guardian, which is surely a position few readers would have pictured the gritty woman undertaking. However, she fits the job well and proves herself throughout the piece. Blomkvist is waning, father and grandfather trying to piece his place in Sweden now that work is shelved. His investigative muscle is again flexed and protective nature is on point. Smirnoff has done well to breathe some new life into the characters, adding depth and flavour by peppering strong secondary and supporting characters throughout the piece.

Plot development is key to the series, which has been hyped a great deal over the years. Scandinavian noir books have a way of pulling the reader in with strong plots and twists that never seem to dissipate. Smirnoff has done well to weave them into the larger story and build on one another with ease. Be it Lisbeth Salander dodging some of the more pig-headed people in Gasskas or Mikael Blomkvist trying to investigate how best to handle a potential familiarity mistake, the story relies on these character developments. I am eager to see where things are headed and whether Karin Smirnoff will be back with another novel, or if things are finally coming to an end, with Millennium and Stockholm in the rearview mirror.

Kudos, Madam Smirnoff, for helping pull the book back into something worth reading.

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crystalnv's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I loved it! I wasn't sure if I'd remember enough from the previous books to follow along, but the witty, loveable characters quickly refreshed in my memory. I absolutely flew through this book! I can't wait for another one in the series!

thebookishlass's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

emziesreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

kagakusha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

chaosofcold's review against another edition

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1.0

A toothless dragon and a bumbling Blomkvist. I’m not fully sure what went wrong but The Girl in the Eagles talons just simply doesn’t go anywhere.

It introduces far too many characters and gives them nothing to do, adds threats that go nowhere and a mysterious villain who makes 70s Bond villains seem hammy. Add the a precocious teen and you’ve got a sequel by numbers.

This was a struggle to finish unfortunately and I did nearly give in at several points. I hope this is just a new author finding their feet in an established world as the fundamental strengths of these characters are currently awol.

sjkuzma's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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