That girl who played with fire

The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson's second part of his Millennium Trilogy, is lighting up the blogosphere, the media and readers everywhere with its exciting, involving plotlines - something for everyone, dare I say?

Iain from Quercus, the publisher, has drawn my attention to The Girl Who Played with Fire website, complete with information about the book, the series and the author, as well as competitions, reviews and more. 

Norman Price would like Lisbeth Salander on his side- with her taser gun, computer hacking skills, her mace canister and her determination, what argument could possibly be lost?

Dorte H., on the other hand, comments: "Stieg Larsson´s characters are inspired by Astrid Lindgren´s characters "Kalle Blomkvist" (boy-scout-detective hero) and "Pippi Longstocking", hereby adding a touch of ´magic realism´:) Another point concerning Lisbeth Salander is that even though many readers are fascinated by her, others see her as too fantastic. She may be, but as a mother of an autist I see her amazing computer skills as a not uncommon symptom of autism."

Bookwitch plays with the "male fantasy figure" fire, and "the national secret on how to stuff yourself with junk food and still remain beautifully slim." Reg Keeland, the superb translator, says: "Wait till you read the description of her tattoo in book 2! It’s huge, swooping from her shoulder down to her thigh...." (He adds, excitingly: "Hope to see y’all in Bristol if we can find an affordable flight…")

Ali Karim's take is on The Rap Sheet. Ali is probably the most enthusiastic reader of Stieg Larsson I've yet come across.  "I warn you, this story is not pretty. Not in the least. But it does pulse with insight and compassion, and it will haunt you for many weeks after you’ve put it down. If I read a finer book this year than The Girl Who Played with Fire, I shall consider myself extraordinarily lucky."

The Times said: "The novel is complex in plot and characterisation, perhaps unnecessarily so. But the urgency of Larsson's prose prevents boredom in reading a book that would otherwise be regarded as over-long and over-crammed. Somehow, Larsson has managed to write a riveting read."

Of course, the last word is in my own review of this book, which you can read on Euro Crime......"this book is truly powerful. The criminal investigation turns out to be directly related to the events in Lisbeth's horrific past, and the way in which old events are gradually revealed in order to explain how the crimes occurred is very cleverly done, with a stunning, emotionally draining climax."

Comments

[Norm]

Thanks for the mention Maxine and the links. The Quercus website for The Girl Who Played With Fire looks very good but I see their workforce has voluntarily taken a 10% salary cut.

[Norm]

I see a blurb was taken form your Euro Crime review. Well done!

[Maxine]

Thanks for the tip, Norman, I hadn't spotted that. Nice of them to quote my review - pity they spelt my name wrong! (Happens a lot.)

[Iain]

We haven't have we? Oh God - I'll get that sorted. Humblest apologies (and cheers for the linky)...

[Maxine]

Thanks Iain. Very kind of you (I see it is updated now). I am delighted you quoted my review, thanks. I hope the book is doing well, I think it is much stronger than the first. Glad to see from your website that we don't have to wait until next January for the third installment. I am so much looking forward to it. (And the next Peter Temple.)

[Lourdes]

Thanks for putting all these reviews together. Very informative. I'm looking forward to reading book 2.