The Millenium Trilogy is at its best an enthralling read. The books in the series are by turns a murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie, an expose on Sweden’s criminal underworld and concludes by delving into the rot of government institutions and how their influence can run unchecked over the rights of individual citizens. Things are tied up a little too neatly for my liking, and characterization can be wanting especially when it comes to the numerous suits that populate the third book. Larsson has a tendency to go into meticulous academic tangents on certain subjects such as complex mathematics or the bureaucratic history of Sweden’s police force. It does have the satisfying conclusion of the individual triumphantly overcoming the broken systems of society. If only we could all have highly skilled computer hackers with photographic memories on our side.

Larsson should have the last word.

"When it comes down to it, this story is not primarily about spies and secret government agencies; it’s about violence against women, and the men who enable it."

Well worth reading for everyone.

– Many, many mentions of making and drinking coffee. Seems to be a very Swedish custom.

– Precise timekeeping of every single event that takes place. Characters sleep very little then sleep for over half a day to compensate.

– Larsson living vicariously through Blomkvist: good-looking ladies man, brilliant journalist, completely ethical, comes to the correct conclusion every time even with the barest amount of circumstantial evidence. Every time Mikael comes across a woman who is described as attractive, odds are good that she will sleep with him. The journalist’s James Bond.

A Dance with Dragons – July 12, 2011 release date! So pumped. I hope it will actually happen this time; the last ASOIAF book came out when I was a sophomore in college, which is scary.