Some leverage, please.

Time for another war story. It's a short one.

It was about three years ago when I joined a company as an in-house web developer. I was reporting to a younger guy, who was my manager. The CEO invited us out for lunch, and we all engaged in some small talk. The CEO asked if we were married, with kids. My manager was. I wasn't, and informed him as such.

Perhaps I was being oversensitive, but I detected a certain change in the CEO's expression, and sensed that he was displeased with what he heard. This brought to mind some dialogue I had heard once, in the movie Hercules, starring the electrifying one, Dwayne Johnson.

Hercules: I wanted nothing!
King Eurystheus: Precisely! Your sin, Hercules, was that you had no ambition! I can deal with an ambitious man! He can be bought! But a man who wants nothing has no price!

In here, King Eurystheus explains to a chained Hercules why he murdered his family and set him up for those murders.  

A man who wants nothing has no price.

I had no wife, no kids. Accountable to no one but myself. The fact that I was willing to take orders from someone younger and less experienced, showed that I had no ambition to speak of. None that lay in his company, anyway. I could not be bought, not with the currency he had. And since I could not be bought, I could not be controlled. This made me a far more risky prospect than my manager.

Can't be strung along.

My CEO's mental gears were probably busy turning, calculating just how far I could be counted on. Later on, the relationship between the CEO and I deteriorated somewhat. There were other factors involved, but this was probably the first crack.

Many bosses want a certain amount of leverage over their employees. For some, it's friendship. For others, it's money. Or the promise of a promotion. This makes employees easier to motivate, or more cynically, to manipulate. I call this the Chinese Towkay Syndrome. They pay you, and therefore they want to own you.

There was nothing this particular boss could do to make me stay on if I decided I was tired of his crap, nothing he could do to squeeze that last ounce of productivity from my old bones. To some extent, people become bosses because they like being in control. I was that wild card. That one random variable.

The Wild Card.

I understood this principle. And my concession to this was, from then on, whenever questions of this nature were asked, I would take great pains to mention that I am currently in debt servicing a huge thirty-year loan for my apartment's mortgage. That should be leverage enough for the average boss. It changes nothing - if I want to leave, I'm confident enough in my ability to land another job. But perception is everything, and if this gives my employers the impression that I can be controlled, I'm more than willing to play along.

It's been three years. But better late than lever. (hur hur)
T___T

Web Tutorial: Year of the Rooster Song and Dance

A blessed and fortune-filled Chinese New Year to all! It's the Year of the Rooster and to mark the occasion, I'd like to walk you through a little fun assignment - a QBasic animation and song.

Sound in QBasic is pretty much a function of supplying different tones at different frequencies. For me, it was a whole mess of trial and error, but once you hit the right first few notes, the rest just sort of fall into place.

In fact, we're going to start off with this...

DIM basetune$
basetune$ = "C-6 C+6 D6 E6 G3 F+4 F+6 B6 B6 F+6 F+3 F-4 F-6 G6 G-6 E6 E3 D4 D6 C+6 C-6 <B-6 >C-3 C-4 E4 G-8 D4 G-8 D-6 G-8 C-6 G-8 E4 G-8 D4 G-8 D-6 G-8 C-6"

PLAY basetune$

When you compile and run, your computer should emit that lovely Chinese New Year song.

Now make the following changes, creating bgtune as a new string variable. This plays the previous tune, then replays it in a higher pitch courtesy of the ">" symbol.

DIM basetune$
basetune$ = "C-6 C+6 D6 E6 G3 F+4 F+6 B6 B6 F+6 F+3 F-4 F-6 G6 G-6 E6 E3 D4 D6 C+6 C-6 <B-6 >C-3 C-4 E4 G-8 D4 G-8 D-6 G-8 C-6 G-8 E4 G-8 D4 G-8 D-6 G-8 C-6"

DIM bgtune$
bgtune$ = basetune$ + " > " + basetune$

PLAY bgtune$

And again!

DIM basetune$
basetune$ = "C-6 C+6 D6 E6 G3 F+4 F+6 B6 B6 F+6 F+3 F-4 F-6 G6 G-6 E6 E3 D4 D6 C+6 C-6 <B-6 >C-3 C-4 E4 G-8 D4 G-8 D-6 G-8 C-6 G-8 E4 G-8 D4 G-8 D-6 G-8 C-6"

DIM bgtune$
bgtune$ = basetune$ + " > " + basetune$ + " >> " + basetune$

PLAY bgtune$

It may all be a little too high pitched, so just add this to the beginning...

bgtune$ = "<<<" + basetune$ + " > " + basetune$ + " >> " + basetune$

PLAY bgtune$

But what's music without a little dance, right? Let's make a rooster dance right here, on screen. To do that, we'll need to draw a rooster on screen. We'll draw different parts of the rooster and animate those parts separately. And, to make our life easier, we'll rely on some good old-fashioned abstraction.

First, we'll need a delay subroutine. Let's create one, and call it, very imaginatively, delay(). A variable Value is passed in, and that is the number of milliseconds you want the function to delay by.

bgtune$ = "<<<" + basetune$ + " > " + basetune$ + " >> " + basetune$

PLAY bgtune$

SUB delay (Value!)

END SUB

The variable T is set to the number of milliseconds since midnight.

SUB delay (Value!)
    T! = TIMER
END SUB

And after that, we use a DO: LOOP UNTIL loop that does nothing until the T subtracted from the current number of milliseconds since midnight, equals or exceeds the value of parameter Value.

SUB delay (Value!)
    T! = TIMER
    DO: LOOP UNTIL (TIMER - T!) >= Value!
END SUB

Then we'll need another subroutine, drawstr(). Here, we pass in the parameters row, col, fg, bg and text. text is the string you want to print, while the rest are integers.

SUB delay (Value!)
    T! = TIMER
    DO: LOOP UNTIL (TIMER - T!) >= Value!
END SUB

SUB drawstr (row, col, fg, bg, text$)
    PRINT text$
END SUB

row and col define where your cursor is going to start drawing.

SUB drawstr (row, col, fg, bg, text$)
    LOCATE row, col
    PRINT text$
END SUB

fg is the foreground color of your string, and bg is the background color.

SUB drawstr (row, col, fg, bg, text$)
    COLOR fg, bg
    LOCATE row, col
    PRINT text$
END SUB

Now we begin drawing the head of the rooster. It's the subroutine draw_head1(), and here you pass in a variable bg which will be used as the background color. Then it's a simple matter of using the drawstr()  subroutine to draw each line of the rooster's head.

SUB drawstr (row, col, fg, bg, text$)
    COLOR fg, bg
    LOCATE row, col
    PRINT text$
END SUB

SUB draw_head1 (bg)
    CALL drawstr(2, 29, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(2, 30, 0, 4, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(2, 34, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 29, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 30, 0, 15, " o  ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 34, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 35, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 28, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 29, 14, bg, "<")
    CALL drawstr(4, 30, 0, 15, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 34, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 35, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 29, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 30, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 31, 0, 15, "   ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 34, 0, bg, " ")
END SUB

Let's test this subroutine out. declare a variable, bg, in the main body. We'll set bg to 6, which is a lovely orange. Then we cover the entire screen in this color using the CLS function.

PLAY bgtune$

DIM bg
bg = 6

COLOR 0, bg
CLS

Then call the draw_head1() subroutine passing in the 2 as a test argument, which is green.

PLAY bgtune$

DIM bg
bg = 6

COLOR 0, bg
CLS

CALL draw_head1(2)

This is what you have! Don't worry about the jarring green background. This is a test, remember?

But you'll notice that the song has to finish playing before your code will run. Add this to your bgtune variable. Now your tune runs in the background!

bgtune$ = "mb <<<" + basetune$ + " > " + basetune$ + " >> " + basetune$

Write the draw_head2() subroutine. It's almost a mirror of the draw_head1() subroutine, with a few differences.

SUB draw_head1 (bg)
    CALL drawstr(2, 29, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(2, 30, 0, 4, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(2, 34, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 29, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 30, 0, 15, " o  ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 34, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 35, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 28, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 29, 14, bg, "<")
    CALL drawstr(4, 30, 0, 15, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 34, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 35, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 29, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 30, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 31, 0, 15, "   ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 34, 0, bg, " ")
END SUB

SUB draw_head2 (bg)
    CALL drawstr(2, 28, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(2, 29, 0, 4, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(2, 33, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 28, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 29, 0, 15, " u  ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 33, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 34, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 27, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 28, 14, bg, "<")
    CALL drawstr(4, 29, 0, 15, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 33, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 34, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 28, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 29, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 30, 0, 15, "   ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 33, 0, bg, " ")
END SUB

Now test using a FOR loop and the delay() subroutine. Does the head move?

COLOR 0, bg
CLS

FOR i = 0 TO 10 STEP 1
    CALL draw_head1(2)
    CALL delay(0.5)
    CALL draw_head2(2)
    CALL delay(0.5)
NEXT i

Change the code by passing in the actual background color, bg. Compile and run again. Is the animation right?

FOR i = 0 TO 10 STEP 1
    CALL draw_head1(bg)
    CALL delay(0.5)
    CALL draw_head2(bg)
    CALL delay(0.5)
NEXT i

In the same vein, write the subroutines draw_legs1(), draw_legs2(), draw_body1(), draw_body2(), draw_tail1() and draw_tail2(). You may notice that the draw_body1() and draw_body2() subroutines do not require parameters. That's because the animation does not change the shape of the body at all.

SUB draw_head2 (bg)
    CALL drawstr(2, 28, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(2, 29, 0, 4, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(2, 33, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 28, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 29, 0, 15, " u  ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 33, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(3, 34, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 27, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 28, 14, bg, "<")
    CALL drawstr(4, 29, 0, 15, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 33, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(4, 34, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 28, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 29, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 30, 0, 15, "   ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 33, 0, bg, " ")
END SUB

SUB draw_tail1 (bg)
    CALL drawstr(5, 45, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 46, 0, 4, "      ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 52, 0, bg, "  ")
    CALL drawstr(6, 44, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(6, 45, 0, 4, "     ")
    CALL drawstr(6, 50, 0, bg, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(7, 44, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(7, 45, 0, 4, "  ")
    CALL drawstr(7, 47, 0, bg, "       ")
    CALL drawstr(8, 44, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(8, 45, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(8, 46, 0, bg, "        ")
    CALL drawstr(9, 44, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(9, 45, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(9, 46, 0, bg, "        ")
END SUB

SUB draw_tail2 (bg)
    CALL drawstr(5, 46, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 47, 0, 4, "     ")
    CALL drawstr(5, 52, 0, bg, "  ")
    CALL drawstr(6, 45, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(6, 46, 0, 4, "     ")
    CALL drawstr(6, 51, 0, bg, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(7, 44, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(7, 45, 0, 4, "  ")
    CALL drawstr(7, 47, 0, bg, "       ")
    CALL drawstr(8, 44, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(8, 45, 0, 4, "  ")
    CALL drawstr(8, 47, 0, bg, "        ")
    CALL drawstr(9, 44, 0, bg, " ")
    CALL drawstr(9, 45, 0, 4, " ")
    CALL drawstr(9, 46, 0, bg, "        ")
END SUB

SUB draw_body1 ()
    CALL drawstr(6, 30, 0, 15, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(7, 29, 0, 15, "     ")
    CALL drawstr(8, 28, 0, 15, "      ")
    CALL drawstr(9, 27, 0, 15, "       ")
    CALL drawstr(10, 27, 4, 15, "                   ")
    CALL drawstr(11, 28, 4, 15, "   .    .  )      ")
    CALL drawstr(12, 29, 4, 15, "  .    . )      ")
    CALL drawstr(13, 30, 4, 15, "   ..   )    ")
    CALL drawstr(14, 31, 4, 15, "           ")
END SUB

SUB draw_body2 ()
    CALL drawstr(6, 30, 0, 15, "    ")
    CALL drawstr(7, 29, 0, 15, "     ")
    CALL drawstr(8, 28, 0, 15, "      ")
    CALL drawstr(9, 27, 0, 15, "       ")
    CALL drawstr(10, 27, 4, 15, "                   ")
    CALL drawstr(11, 28, 4, 15, "         .    )   ")
    CALL drawstr(12, 29, 4, 15, "    .  ..    )  ")
    CALL drawstr(13, 30, 4, 15, "   .   .   ) ")
    CALL drawstr(14, 31, 4, 15, "           ")
END SUB

SUB draw_legs1 (bg)
    CALL drawstr(15, 1, 14, bg, "                                  |   |")
    CALL drawstr(16, 1, 14, bg, "                                  |   |")
    CALL drawstr(17, 1, 14, bg, "                                  |   |")
    CALL drawstr(18, 1, 14, bg, "                                  |   |")
    CALL drawstr(19, 1, 14, bg, "                                  ^   ^")
END SUB

SUB draw_legs2 (bg)
    CALL drawstr(15, 1, 14, bg, "                                  |   |")
    CALL drawstr(16, 1, 14, bg, "                             >----|   |")
    CALL drawstr(17, 1, 14, bg, "                                      |")
    CALL drawstr(18, 1, 14, bg, "                                      |")
    CALL drawstr(19, 1, 14, bg, "                                      ^")
END SUB

Now, we'll use the first FOR loop we wrote as a test, and expand by adding calls to the subroutines for the rest of the rooster. Also, you may want to initialize the drawing of the rooster first.

DIM bg
bg = 6

COLOR 0, bg
CLS

CALL draw_head1(bg)
CALL draw_body1
CALL draw_legs1(bg)
CALL draw_tail1(bg)

FOR i = 0 TO 10 STEP 1
    CALL draw_head1(bg)
    CALL draw_body1
    CALL delay(0.5)
    CALL draw_head2(bg)
    CALL draw_body2
    CALL delay(0.5)
NEXT i

We have a dancing rooster!

Vary it up. Make different parts move using different FOR loops.

FOR i = 0 TO 10 STEP 1
    CALL draw_head1(bg)
    CALL draw_body1
    CALL delay(0.5)
    CALL draw_head2(bg)
    CALL draw_body2
    CALL delay(0.5)
NEXT i

FOR i = 0 TO 10 STEP 1
    CALL draw_legs1(bg)
    CALL draw_body1
    CALL delay(0.5)
    CALL draw_legs2(bg)
    CALL draw_body2
    CALL delay(0.5)
NEXT i

FOR i = 0 TO 10 STEP 1
    CALL draw_tail1(bg)
    CALL draw_body1
    CALL delay(0.5)
    CALL draw_tail2(bg)
    CALL draw_body2
    CALL delay(0.5)
NEXT i

FOR i = 0 TO 10 STEP 1
    CALL draw_head1(bg)
    CALL draw_legs1(bg)
    CALL draw_tail1(bg)
    CALL draw_body1
    CALL delay(0.5)
    CALL draw_head2(bg)
    CALL draw_legs2(bg)
    CALL draw_tail2(bg)
    CALL draw_body2
    CALL delay(0.5)
NEXT i

And there you go...

Dancing rooster. Clunky graphics, very retro. But still awesome McCool.

Once again, Gong Ji Fa Cai!
T___T

Fiction Review: The Millennium Series (Part 4/4)

And now we come to the final (so far) book in the series. This struck me as an unnecessary continuation of what was already a series with a satisfying conclusion, but given that Larsson actually had more novels planned out, this may not be a bad thing.

I didn't like this newest addition very much, but this is my opinion and I may be biased here. There are plenty of things to like about it, though for me, the cons far outweigh the pros.

The Premise

Lisbeth Salander, Ronald Neidermann and Alexander Zalachenko are not the only badasses in the family - there's also Lisbeth's twin Camilla Salander and she turns out to be every bit the villain their father was. She sets up The Spider Society which has illegal dealings with the NSA, and only the team of Lisbeth and Mikael are able to stop them.

The entire novel begins with Frans Balder reclaiming his autistic child August from his estranged wife. Chapters later, Frans is murdered and Mikael, who is at the scene of the crime, begins to do what he does best - investigate and report.

Along the way, he discovers that Lisbeth has had dealings with certain associates of Frans.

Meanwhile, August has seen the murderer's face, and the Spider Society is determined to stop the boy before he can give the murderer away to the police. Lisbeth steps in to save the day, and it's a desperate race to keep August alive and unharmed until he can finally put a face to the hitman.

The Characters

These characters play a major role.

August Balder. A strangely gifted child. The story revolves around him and his gifts. Lisbeth sees in him a kindred spirit, mostly because for most of the first three novels she was pretty awkward herself due to her abilities.

Camilla Salander. Lisbeth's twin, and possibly the most evil foe she's had to face to date. While their father Zalachenko was also an evil bastard, he was mostly ruthless and pragmatic. Camilla seems to inflict torture for the sheer pleasure of it, psychologically tormenting her victims through seduction and emotional manipulation.

Edwin Needham, or "Ed the Ned". Started life as a young thug but became a computer genius later on in life and took on the role as NSA's chief cyber-security tech. Aggressive, loud and a bully, but undeniably good at what he does, and admirably dedicated to his craft.

Frans Balder. A socially awkward computer nerd who also happens to be the genius who invents some artificial intelligence that someone wants to steal. He's also portrayed as an anxious father who's somewhat clumsy with his affections.

Jan Holtser. The hitman. Ex-military. Deeply conflicted. While he's a stone-cold killer, he struggles with his conscience when ordered to kill August Baldur.

Lisbeth Salander. She is somehow more action figure than super-hacker in this tale, though plenty is mentioned about her computer wizardry and cyber coups. Just as awesome as ever.

Mikael Blomkvist. Our ever-intrepid journalist who finds himself in the thick of things once more. At the start of the novel, he's in the midst of a professional crisis, having run out of compelling material and finding himself up against the challenges of emerging technology. What he needs is some motivation... and unexpectedly he's handed a huge chunk of it after witnessing Frans Balder's murder.

List of supporting characters...

Andrei Zander. A young, handsome aspiring journalist with the soul of a poet. Earnest and geeky, which endears him to the staff at The Millennium despite his lack of journalistic experience. Meets a tragic end at the hands of the Spider Society.

Gabriella Grane. Analyst at the Security Police. Pretty and wholesome. Faces some misogyny at work but lets her performance speak for itself.

Hanna Westman. Actress and Frans Balder's ex-wife, mother of August. An abused woman who has long lost the courage to break away from her abuser. Tries to cover it up with glamor, but one gets the distinct impression that her life is both hollow and miserable.

Lasse Westman. An bullying abusive drunk, rather dim and prone to fits of impulse. An actor who portrays, rather fittingly, dangerous and violent characters on-screen. Gets his ass pounded by Lisbeth in a carthatic moment near the end.

Ove Levin. A corporate stooge who used to be an aspiring journalist just like Mikael - except Mikael made it while Ove sold out. Now Ove desperately tries to convince himself that he's happy and wouldn't give up what he has for whatever Mikael's got, but the truth is that he's terrible jealous and insecure. When he fails to gain Mikael's approval, he resorts to trying to destroy him by making moves on The Millennium.

Supporting characters who play  a less prominent role.

Arvis Wrange. One of Frans Baldur's proteges. He betrays Frans Baldur for money, and this leads to Balder's death. His guilty conscience catches up to him in the form of Lisbeth Salander, who first gives his ego a severe beating by trashing him soundly at chess.  A deeply insecure man who masks it through misogyny and excessive pride.

Farah Sharif. She serves to provide some insight as to what Baldur had been working on. And also serves as a love interest for Bublanski, which was cute. Described as an elderly but very attractive woman, which made me afraid that she'd end up having sex with Mikael.

Jan Bublanski. One of my favorite characters in the series makes it to this novel! Here, he's good ol' crusading Officer Bubble, and he does a good bit of poking around. Near the end of the novel, there's even an endearing bit about a blossoming relationship between him and Farah Sharif. "It's just a date". Hah!

Jurij Bogdanov. Street punk and drug addict turned computer genius. A hard luck turnaround story except that he still works for the bad guys and loves it, the little sociopath.

Linus Brandell. He is Blomkvist's initial contact and provides the first inkling that Lisbeth is involved. Comes off as nerdy and awkward, which really hits home after he describes his initial meeting with Lisbeth.

Sonja Modig. Little part in the story, except to argue with Mikael on matters of police procedure. And be the good cop to Officer Bubble's bad cop. Sort of.

Here are the characters who play a very minor role or likely did not even need to be in this novel.

Alona Casales. A middle-aged temptress with a seductive voice and an attraction towards Gabriella Grane. Great buddies with Needham because she sees him as a kindred spirit.

Professor Charles Edelman. A Hungarian authority on the subject of  neurology.

Dan Flinck. Police Officer sent to watch over Frans and August. A divorcee experiencing the good bachelor life again. Does not come off as particularly competent.

Einar Forsberg. At Oden's, taking care of August. Infatuated with Hanna Westman.

Erik Zetterlund. Leader of the investigating team on duty from the Violent Crimes Division on the night of Frans Balder's murder. Not particularly self-assured and seems rather harried at the situation.

Erika Berger. Has little more than a bit part to play. She passes the odd message and runs The Millennium. That's about it.

Helena Kraft. Gabriella's boss. Well-starched, not a hair out of place. Gabriella first suspects her of being a mole, but this turns out to be a red herring. Not much of a personality, all in all.

Holger Palmgren. Has little to do in this story but act as exposition for more of Lisbeth Salander's backround. He and Mikael seemed to have formed some kind of bond in this novel, possibly through the harrowing experiences of The Millennium series. Much as I love this character, his presence was really superfluous.

Plague. More tales of how he and Lisbeth break into computer systems and hack their way to awesomeness.

Jacob Charro. A football player for Syrian FC. He is the driver of the car that Lisbeth hijacks to get August to safety, and later gives an accounting of the tale to the authorities. His description of Jan Holtser is particularly interesting.

Margereta Dalhgren. A woman who has endured a tragic past thanks to Camille. Her story is heartbreaking and really underlines how psychotically evil Camille is.

Obinze. Boxing gym owner. Flirts with Lisbeth shamelessly and is even a little in awe of her single-minded focus and determination.

Peter Blom. Police Officer sent to watch over Frans and August. Almost identical to Flinck, except that he's portrayed with very human fear.

Richard Ekström. As self-centered and pragmatic as ever. Dreads having to deal with Blomkvist again after the events of the previous two novels,

Roger Winter. Another small-time actor who physically abuses August with Lasse Westman's encouragement. Also gets his ass kicked by Lisbeth.

Torkel Linden. At Oden's. Short and prissy. Pugnacious when dealing with Jan Bublanski. And very uncooperative until Sonia Modig does the negotiating.

The Mood

Mostly surreal and disquieting. Even the moments where blood gets spilled just seem to happen in slow motion. At the end of it, one gets the sense that very little has significantly changed - Baldur's murderer is brought to justice, but Lisbeth's evil twin and The Spider Society escape, presumably to wreak more havoc another day.

The mood rarely changes. The pace of the story remains somewhat constant throughout.

What I liked

Tech elements. They're simply more pronounced in this novel, with a few computer nerds among the characters that don't come from Hacker Republic. Lagencratz actually does a far better job in this department than Larsson.

Mikael's studliness. I know this is something I complained about in the previous novels, and I'm glad it's been toned down.

We finally meet Lisbeth's evil twin. Right on! She tries to seduce Mikael but fails. That's pretty awesome in itself.

I liked seeing August's abusive stepfather get his arse kicked by Lisbeth. Very satisfying.

The plot's pretty lean - some might say too lean, but I see this as a good thing. Less pointless subplots, more focus.

What I didn't

Mikael's studliness. Not only was it toned down, it was removed from the story. David Lagencratz himself confessed that it never made sense to him to have beautiful women falling for Mikael out of nowhere (for the record, I agree), and so he just never wrote it into the story. Now, this is where I disagree. For better or worse, this is part of the character of Mikael Blomkvist now and has been established over the course of three novels. I could accept it if the new, non-womanizing Mikael was a result of character growth, but no - that aspect of the character was simply retconned. If Lagencratz found that he was unable to bring himself to write the character the way the original character wrote him, why the hell did he even agree to do this novel? Was the money that good?

Established facts in the previous novels just got written off with no explanation whatsoever. Whatever happened to Monica Figuerola? Wasn't she and Mikael in a serious relationship? What about Sonja Modig? Since when was Modig a single parent? This is just sloppy and disrespectful.

Character overload. There was a somewhat plausible excuse for this in The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, as characters accumulated from the first two novels and many were vital to the events conclusion, though, in my opinion, it was still overdone. Here, it's a fresh new storyline and very little baggage from previous novels. However, David Lagercrantz seems determined to match the character count from The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, for no discernible reason. Characters are introduced seemingly on a whim and have effects on the plot that could easily be carried out by an existing character. Take Einar Forsberg and Torkel Linden, for example. Was it necessary to introduce two characters at Oden's just to provide obstacles to Officle Bubble and Sonja Modig? Or Dan Flinck and Peter Blom. It was over-indulgent. What is this, some kind of pissing contest to see who can come up with more characters?

Some parts, from the NSA's spying on civilians to the loud bullying Needham, seem distinctively borrowed from Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. Ran out of ideas, Lagercrantz?

Conclusion

I'm sure David Lagercrantz is a fine author in his own right, perhaps an even better novelist than Steig Larsson. I'm just not sure he was the correct choice to carry on Larsson's legacy. The contrast in style was jarring in places. The Millennium Series was far from perfect, but despite its eccentricities, or more probably because of them, they had their distinct charm. This charm is missing from The Girl in the Spider's Web.

Part of the problem could be the fact that Larsson's characters were not created by Lagercrantz, and it shows. Apart from Lisbeth and arguably Jan Bublanski (who was a supporting character anyway), he can't seem to grasp the essence of most of the existing characters, but does considerably better when describing new characters.

Oh well, this was always going to be a thankless task.

My Rating

6 / 10

What a story. What a girl-minator.
T___T

Fiction Review: The Millennium Series (Part 3/4)

This is the final novel that Larsson wrote before his death, and it wraps up the story arc while elaborating on certain plot points from the previous novel, such as Zalachenko's beginnings and Lisbeth's incarceration in a mental facility as a child. There's a lot of detail to add more substance to the background, not that it was lacking to begin with - the previous novel certainly had a fair bit of exposition.

The Premise

We carry on with the events from the last novel, with Lisbeth Salander's life hanging in the balance. We learn how a secret division (known as "The Section") within Sweden's Secret Police (Säpo) was behind Zalachenko and the mastermind behind Lisbeth's misfortunes since childhood. The plot mostly centers around them trying to get rid of the evidence of their existence, and the people who know too much - namely Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander.

Here, Mikael and Lisbeth truly shine as they each best The Section in their own way - Mikael with devious cunning and Lisbeth with more of her computer wizardry.

Lisbeth, on the other hand, gets justice at last as her case makes it to Court, and the nefarious details are exposed.

The Characters

The main players around whom the story revolves.

Alexander Zalachenko. A sinister presence, albeit heavily injured. Comes across as tough as nails, and ruthless to boot. There's an interesting segment where he's being interviewed by Bublanski's team, and is far more agreeable to Holmberg than he is towards Modig. Ultimately, his overconfidence does him in as his former allies kill him off in a bid to cover things up.

Annika Giannini. Blomkvist's younger sister has been confined to bit parts so far in this series. Not in this novel. She is Lisbeth's defence counsel, and boy, does she deliver. Not only does she successfully ward off an assassination attempt midway through the novel by Evert Gullberg, she also successfully takes Teleborian apart in court and thoroughly defeats Ekström, after lulling them into complacency and allowing them to underestimate her.

Erika Berger. A strong woman who is faced with a chauvinistic work culture. She handles office politics like a pro, but finds herself severely tested by an obsessed stalker. The main storyline doesn't involve her all that much, but she's certainly the main player in one of the tangential story arcs.

Evert Gullberg. A Säpo veteran who sacrifices his own life in a bid to silence Zalachenko and bury the entire story. A semi-tragic figure who does a lot of fucked-up shit in service to his country.

Fredrik Clinton. Shrewed and ruthless. Decisive and pragmatic. Gullberg's successor, who retired due to health complications. The situation is dire enough that Gullberg decides Clinton needs to be brought back, and Clinton wastes no time grabbing the situation by the horns.

Lisbeth Salander. We get more naunced insights into Lisbeth's character - her awkwardness when forced to interact like a normal human being, her vulnerability and the sheet strength it must take for her to have endured so much up to this point, but still continue fighting.

Still ever the badass, but with many more layers and a certain vulnerability. We see a lot of that in her interaction with Annika.

Mikael Blomkvist. In this novel, Mikael exhibits an unprcedented amount of cunning - way more than the last two novels suggested he was capable of. I mean, we already knew he was smart and resourceful, but here, he hatches a plot to outsmart the Section and generally shows the outstanding nerve and boldness to pull off something like that. The best thing? He does it out of friendship, and a desire to see justice done.

Here we have the characters who don't play as prominent a role, but nevertheless are pretty damn important to the storyline.

Dr Anders Jonasson. A conscientious doctor who describes himself as a goalkeeper standing between emergency victims and the funeral home. Drew comparisons to Dr Sivarnardan in the previous novel. Larsson must have run out of names.

Dragan Armansky. He is quite instrumental in this story. Not only does he use the resources at his disposal to ensure that Milton Security's protection is extended to Team Salander, his friendship with Edklinth is how Team Salander obtains enough evidence against The Section. He also turns out to be a fair boss despite his reputation for being a stickler for the rules, giving Suzanne Linder a mild ticking off after she grossly violated the rules in order to protect Erika.

At the end of the novel, he admits to Blomkvist that he was jealous of the easy friendship between him and Lisbeth.

Holger Palmgren. He gets an expanded role here as part of Lisbeth's defence team during the trial and the parts in which he does get to speak are brilliant, considering he only just recovered from a stroke.

Inspector Monica Figuerola. An amazon of a government agent, she is an exercise freak and has a body to match. She's also pretty upfront about her sexuality and is the aggressor when her sexual relationship with Mikael begins. Near the end of the novel, she is portrayed with emotional vulnerability as she (gasp!) falls in love with Mikael, losing her cool on a few occasions (jealousy when meeting Erika, franticness when Mikael's life is in danger, etc)

Jan Bublanski. The good inspector here is fair and just as in the last book. He has been taken off the investigation but he doesn't intend to let that keep him from pursuing the truth and obtaining justice for Lisbeth, whom he's now convinced is innocent.

Even after he and his team have been bumped off the case, he continues to work on it, putting his career on the line in pursuit of truth and justice.

Dr Peter Teleborian. Utterly corrupt and evil, and being a paedophile is just the icing on top of a thoroughly rotten cake. He's the man who The Section got to put Lisbeth away in a mental facility and falsify her psychiatric evaluation. In short, he's directly responsible for a large portion of Lisbeth's misfortunes growing up. Gets his comeuppance in the end, in a sweet turn of karmic justice, when Lisbeth hacks into his computer and turns over all the child porn within, to the police.

Richard Ekström. More is revealed about the prosecutor. He's portrayed as an egomaniac and gloryhound who is susceptible to flattery and too convinced of his own importance. This leads to him being manipulated by The Section.

I liked the character here. He's one of the few character who is an utter asshole, and yet his fatal flaw isn't a hatred of women, but rather that of vanity.

Sofia Modig. The only woman on Bublanski's team. More of her personality is revealed in this novel as a compassionate cop who is willing to flout the legal obligations of her role in order to uphold justice.

A list of minor supporting characters, of which there are many.

Birger Wadensjoo. In contrast with Clinton, he is weak and indecisive. More of a bureaucrat than a leader. The old guard consider him a brilliant and talented accountant, but "a warrior who needs a fair wind". Becomes increasingly disillusioned with The Section as the novel progresses. Finally caves in at the end and sings like a bird when arrested.

Curt Andersson. A towering cop with a reputation for excessive violence. He gets his moment in the sun when he rescues Mikael from a hitman, ironically breaking Mikael's finger in the process.

He praises Sonja midway through the novel, and this surprises her, leading one to think that Curt is very sparing with this sort of thing.

Gunnar Bjorcke. This novel reveals him to be part of the team that kept Zalachenko's existence under wraps. He is killed off midway through the story as the team starts tying off loose ends.

Hans Faste. We see more of him, and this time he comes off as bumbling and ham-fisted in addition to being a misogynist.

Henry Cortez. A young enthusiastic reporter who sniffs out a very interesting story which ultimately plays into Erika's drama at the SMP.

Judge Jörgen Iversen. He's a senior judge who has been round the block a few times. This case, however, takes him by surprise and it takes every ounce of impartiality, fair-mindedness and expertise to see it through to a satisfying conclusion. To his credit, he's visibly appalled at all the things Lisbeth has been put through, but does not allow it to interfere with due process.

Jonas Sandberg. Described derisively by both Zalachenko and Gullberg as wet behind the years. Certainly does not seem forceful enough as a member of a very covert section of the government. Appears to find his feet after assisting with some killings, and even gets a little too eager about it. Gets put in his place by Monica Figuerola near the end of the novel.

Jerker Holmberg. Gets to do something useful in this novel, that actually moves the plot along. He just happens to know the ex-Prime Minister who could shed light on the case.

Peter Fredriksson. SMP employee. He turns out to be Erika's stalker and it's due to an irrational feeling of being ostracized by her during their school years. A sad, sad man who needs help.

Plague. Does more work for Lisbeth during her stay at the hospital. Their work dynamic is interesting and it's a pity he was not featured in a more prominent role.

The current Prime Minister. Calm, collected, and disturbed at all the occurrences of abuse of power under his watch. In his words, they have been "caught napping". Portrayed as having an uncanny political mind, enough to realize that the government's hands are tied regarding Salander. According to the law, she has to be acquitted by court.

Superintendent Torsten Edklinth. Of Säpo, director of the Constitution Protection Unit. An old friend of Armansky's and Monica Figuerola's superior at work. The character himself is rather colorless, coming off as an experienced veteran with a soon-to-retire vibe. Later, we find out that his cautious attitude is due to this being a potentially very politically sensitive case.

Suzanne Linder. An employee of Milton Security. There's some fascinating backstory about how she decided to stop being a cop and work for Milton Security instead, out of a strong sense of justice. She takes matters into her own hands to protect Erika, above and beyond the call of duty, resulting in a total takedown of Erika's tormentor.

Here's the overwhelming list of bit-part players in the novel who are mentioned a few times. I've also included characters who I feel were unnecessary to the plot, or pretty much just made up the numbers. I may have missed out a few.

Anders Holm. A news editor at the SMP who resents Erika's presence and does everything in his power to defy her. Portrayed as extraordinarily competent but egoistic and rather immature. Seems to have gained a lot of respect for Erika by the time she leaves SMP. (Yes, another Anders).

Anita Kaspersson. A nurse who gets captured by Neidermann and only after a lot of suffering, manages to get away.

Carl-Magnus Lundin. President of the Svavelsjö MC. Everything comes crashing down around him when he finds out that Ronald Neidermann stole the club's money and murdered the accountant.

Bertil Janeryd. Swedish Ambassador. He supplies information about Zalachenko and The Section, upon a written request from the former Prime Minister.

Assistant County Police Chief  Carina Spångberg. Featured near the start of the novel as a competent leader, but never mentioned again.

Prof Frank Ellis. A brain specialist whom Jonasson enlists to help with his surgery on Lisbeth. Affable and laid-back.

Frank Jenssen. A temp reporter who gets his news from Hans Faste. He gets a lesson in journalistic integrity by Erika, but seems far more amenable to taking instructions than most other men at SMP.

Georg Nyström. A member of The Section, and his role seems to primarily be someone for Clinton to bounce ideas off of, after Gullberg is killed off.

Idris Ghidi. Other than some backstory, he's given little of importance to do in the tale except help facilitate Lisbeth's Internet access.

Jeremy MacMillan Stuart. He is Lisbeth's lawyer, a divorcee and gay man recently out of the closet. According to Lisbeth, he's brilliant but acts in stupid ways that fuck up his life. She gives him a second chance at life, allowing him to be the caretaker and investor for all the money she stole in the first novel. At the end of it, he even offers her some advice regarding Miriam Wu.

Kurdo Baksi. Editor of Black/White Publishing an an old friend of Blomkvist. He's the one who introduces Idris Ghidi to Blomkvist, and plays no further part in the tale.

Magnus Borgsjö. Erika reports to him at SMP. She's put in a difficult position when she uncovers some evidence of wrongdoing on his part. He comes across as magnanimous and benevolent at first, but rapidly turns into an arrogant and haughty bastard when confronted with evidence on his misbehavior.

Criminal Inspector Marcus Erlander. While he's not Jewish, his description and calm and fair-minded demeanor resemble Jan Bublanski. Apparently, they are friends.

The Minister of Justice. Advises the Prime Minister regarding matters of law, but otherwise his presence seems superfluous.

Miriam Wu. She is briefly reunited with Lisbeth at the end of the story and it's implicated that they have some make up sex (of course).

Miro and Timo Nikolich. Fugitives frm the law and assassins hired to off Blomkvist. Timo gets arrested by Figuerola and Miro gets the snot kicked out of him by Andersson in a very thrilling sequence.

Sonny Nieminen. Member of the Svavelsjö MC. After his humiliating defeat at Lisbeth's hands, he is obsessed with vengeance. As far as this story goes, he never gets it.

Inspector Thomas Paulsson. A bumbling idiot who makes very questionable decisions. The story later reveals that he has some kind of drug habit.

The Mood

Tense. Really tense. We get the impression that everything's on an extremely tight schedule and the slightest misstep could cost everything. It all comes to a head in the courtroom.

The heavy action in the previous novel has been somewhat toned down to make way for political intrigue and courtroom drama. The plotting and machinations of The Section are laid bare to the reader, and there is a fair amount of flashback time as we explore the motivations of the villains.

What I liked

I felt a minor moment of awesome when Officer Bubble stood up to Ekstrom early in the novel, declaring that Lisbeth appeared to have suffered numerous violations to her civil rights since her childhood, and he's not about to let that continue - not on his watch.

I expected to hate the entire Mikael-Monica affair as yet another cringe-worthy testament to Mikael's sexual prowess, but funnily enough, I kind of liked it. Added some soft touches to what might otherwise been an overly tense thriller.

The meetings with the Prime Minister were great, showcasing Mikael's slickness at negotiation.

I really loved the parts where Lisbeth logs in to Hacker Republic (and the awesome login sequence! Damn!) and interacts with her fellow hackers, even engaging some of them for assistance.

The entire courtroom scene. Here Anna Gianninni displays the steel under the velvety exterior and fights Lisbeth's case superbly. And after that, the interaction between her and Lisbeth is touching in the extreme. Lisbeth has come to trust Annika and feel grateful for her support, but can't quite bring herself to express it.

Lisbeth facing off against her murderous half-brother and playing off the MC against him to a bloody finale. This is one hell of a scrapper.

Even the villains are somewhat admirable - focused and resolute, and sacrificing their lives for a cause they truly believe in. Unlike Martin Vanger who's an evil rapist and murderer, or Zalachenko, who's just a horrible asshole.

What I didn't

The character overload - holy shit, what was up with that? This was the hardest novel in the series to read, simply because of the sheer amount of characters interacting with each other. More than half of the characters from the first and second novel make an appearance, along with a whole host of new ones.

Erika's sideplot involving SMP and her stalker weren't too bad, but they had absolutely nothing to do with the main plot and added a bunch of extraneous characters to the already overbrimming cast. Still, this has something to do with The Millennium, and I guess the series is called The Millennium Series, not The Lisbeth Salander Show.

Also, what's with these little asides about Amazon culture and history? They sure didn't do anything but confuse me.

Conclusion

This is the exciting finale to Lisbeth Salander's story. It's been building up the past two novels, and the final one which Larsson released before his death, definitely lives up to its billing. It's not my favorite in the series - that honor belongs to its predecessor, The Girl Who Played With Fire - but it is a fitting conclusion to the arc.

My Rating

8 / 10

Next

The Girl In The Spider's Web

Fiction Review: The Millennium Series (Part 2/4)

The Girl Who Played with Fire focuses greatly on Lisbeth Salander's childhood and establishes that she was just as badass when she was a kid. This is not a standalone piece of fiction, as it references facts from its predecessor The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and ends in a cliffhanger. Mikael Blomkvist has a prominent part to play here as well.

Lisbeth and Mikael spend roughly 90% of the novel physically apart - one on the run from the law, the other trying desperately to prove the former's innocence.

Interestingly, the theme of violence and abuse against women continues, with The Millennium's new project about sex trafficking in Sweden the glue that holds everything together. Lisbeth's biological father, Alexander Zalachenko, is the main villain in this one and he's exactly as cold a bastard as one would expect.

The number of characters has increased from the previous novel. While some are not heard of again or mentioned only in passing, characters that previously had a minor to negligible part to play in the story suddenly get a speaking role or something important to do, and more backstory - such as Greger Beckman, Holger Palmgren and Mikael's sister Annika. New characters are introduced, such as Jan Bublanski and his team.

The Premise

The Millennium has a new project - release a publication to blow the lid off Sweden's sex trafficking problem. To that end, two new people are involved - Dag Svensson and Mia Johansson.

Meanwhile, after the events from the last book, Nils Bjurman is out to remove Lisbeth Salander from his life... permanently. In doing so, he uncovers a deadly enemy of Lisbeth's and enlists his help. This leads to Dag and Mia, and Nils Bjurman, being murdered, and Lisbeth being blamed for all three murders. Mikael Blomkvist sets out to clear Lisbeth's name.

All this culminates in a showdown between Lisbeth and the real murderers in a remote farmhouse, and ends with a cliffhanger. Lisbeth survives, but only by a thread.

The Characters

The main players in this novel are the following...

Alexander Zalachenko. The main villain of the book. A defected Russian spy who enjoys the protection of the Swedish authorities and literally gets away with murder. Got his ass handed to him by Lisbeth years ago when he brutalized her mother one too many times, and has held a grudge since. While he's confined to a wheelchair and severely maimed thanks to nine-year old Lisbeth, he remains cruel and calculating, a truly sinister figure.

Also comes across as incredibly hard to kill, just like his daughter. Survives being set on fire by young Lisbeth, then takes an axe to the head by adult Lisbeth and is still alive at the end of the novel. 

Lisbeth Salander. We get more of the scarily intelligent badass who has no qualms about inflicting physical violence to punish the wicked and save the innocent. There are more excerpts about how she utilizes security loopholes (in Milton Security, of all places) to gain access to information.

Mikael Blomkvist. Idealistic and determined. He enjoys some of the limelight in the novel, in his bid to find Lisbeth and prove her innocence. Even Lisbeth thinks that this makes him naive. Dragan Armansky seems to have a better handle on Lisbeth's character - Mikael thinks Lisbeth incapable of murder, but Armansky somehow understands that that Lisbeth, when pushed, has great capacity for violence.

Ronald Neidermann. Zalachenko's son from another woman, and Lisbeth's half-brother. A huge hulk of a man, cold and remorseless. He has a genetic defect that deadens him to pain, making him very dangerous in a fight. Add the fact that he's cold and ruthless just like his father, and you have a bona fide monster. His weakness - superstition and a crippling fear of the supernatural.

The following characters play a supporting role. Some of them are killed off midway but their presence in the novel is nevertheless fairly prominent.

Dag Sevensson. Author of the proposed expose on sex trafficking that The Millennium is about to publish upon completion. Mikael sees him as a kindred spirit, the kind of investigating reporting mind that mirrors his own.

Dragan Armansky. Like Mikael, he believes there's more than meets the eye regarding the triple murders. Unlike Mikael, he doesn't believe in Lisbeth's innocence, but believes she must have had a compelling reason to murder these people. Actually goes to the extent of  setting up his own team to investigate.

While Mikael happens to be correct in this case - Lisbeth is innocent of these particular murders - his belief is based on emotion and faith in his friend. Dragan, who has known Lisbeth far longer, knows that Lisbeth is perfectly capable of murder if the reasons are compelling enough.

Erika Berger. Doesn't have all that much to do in this book (other than have sex with Mikael, of course), but there's a sideplot about her departure from The Millennium that will carry on into the next novel.

Mia Johansson. Dag's fiancee. A really smart woman who's doing a dissertation on how prostitutes are treated by the Swedish government.

Miriam Wu. A dominatrix and Lisbeth's lover. Takes no shit, even from a huge guy like Neidermann. Sure, she got slapped down easily, but she stood up to him in a physical fight - that's either awesomely ballsy or utterly stupid. Probably both.

When interviewed by Bublanski's team, she takes no shit from them either, and actually returns Hans Faste's hostility with her own. However, she is proven perfectly capable of being reasonable when she meets the more even-handed Bublanski and Modig.

Nils Bjurman. The same sadistic rapist from the last novel. He's obsessed with getting Lisbeth out of his life and this ultimately results in his death.

Paolo Roberto. Described as a "cocky devil". Certainly has enough cred in the boxing industry to justify that swagger. In the book, he's described as having a chivalrous streak a mile wide. Gets a very nail-biting action sequence when he rescues Miriam Wu from Ronald Neidermann.

Despite the prominence of his role in the novel, it's pretty much an unnecessary one. Not that I didn't enjoy it!

Here's a list of characters with minor supporting roles...

Hans Faste. Detective on Bublanski's team. A closet misogynist and chauvinist pig. Spends the entire book convinced that Lisbeth is guilty and trying find evidence to prove it, in the process antangonizing Sonja and Bublanski. Especially Sonja, whom he considers an unfit police officer.

Holder Palmgren. His part in the story has been upgraded. He actually has a speaking role in this one (well, sort of, his speech is mostly slurred due to having just survived a stroke). His presence serves to humanize Lisbeth somewhat, and their scenes together turn out both touching and funny.

Jan Bublanski. "Officer Bubble" is a Jewish detective who comes across as competent and fair-minded. He's in charge of the task force put together to investigate the murders of Dag and Mia, and Bjurman. Initially thinks it is a foregone conclusion that Lisbeth is the murderer, but has the intellectual humility to challenge his own assumptions during the course of the investigation.

Per-Ǻke Sandström. A journalist who samples the wares of the sex trafficking group... repeatedly. Gets a "gentle" interrogation from Lisbeth.

Plague. Lisbeth's hacker friend has a greater role in this novel, if not a physical presence. His online interaction with Lisbeth is filled with snarky banter.

Richard Ekström. The public prosecutor who's a little too obsessed with public perception and favorable press. Spends the entire novel trying to sew up the case, and seems to get really exasperated when the facts start to contradict the hypothesis that Lisbeth committed the murders. He appears to find it all a huge inconvenience in what otherwise appears to be an open-and-shut case.

Sonja Modig. The only woman on Bublanski's team, portrayed sympathetically and with compassion. This makes her weak and unprofessional in the eyes of the chauvinistic Hans Faste, and indeed she does fly off the handle in one glorious moment of temper.

But it's also worth noting that of all the officers Bublanski has recruited for this investigative team, he seems to trust Sonja's judgment the most.

And of course, the characters with only bit parts to play, or cameos. There are tons of them.

Dr Anders Sivanardan. The physician in charge of Holger Palmgren's case. Seems to be a conscientious doctor who is endlessly surprised by Lisbeth's seemingly deep pockets.

Annika Blomkvist Gianninni. Mikael's sister. They appear close, and she gives him a stern talking-to about keeping her in the dark when he's in trouble.

Carl-Magnus Lundin. President of the Svavelsjö MC. Appears as a menacing figure, battering Mikael the first time they meet, with very little effort. However, he comes into contact with Lisbeth twice in the novel and comes off worse each time.

Christer Malm. Always fun to watch. We also get a glimpse of his personal life during a short scene with his boyfriend.

Cilla Norén. Feisty and snappy, she's the frontwoman for an all-girl rock band. She also happens to have studied law for three years and has a lawyer for a father.

Curt Andersson. Detective on Bublanski's team. Backstory has him being investigated for excessive use of violence on criminals.

Ella Carmichael. A perceptive and discreet woman, owner of the cafe Lisbeth frequents at the beginning of the novel. We hear no more from her after the first third of the book; indeed for the rest of the series.

Harriet Vanger. Has joined the board of The Millennium and appears to be having fun. Her appearances in the novel are sporadic and serve mostly as a tie-in to the previous novel. And also, to have sex with Mikael (groan).

George Bland. A shy math student whom Lisbeth seduces, then saves from hurricane Miranda. The last name seems unfortunately apt.

Greger Beckman. In the first book, he's painted as a cuckolded husband. This is given more depth here, when it's revealed that he's the man Erika Berger truly loves despite her ongoing affair with Blomkvist. In fact, letting Erika roam free is part of their very kinky sex life (he's got strong bisexual tendencies). In fact, as a husband he appears emotionally supportive and even a soul mate to Erika.

Gunnar Björk. A patron of the sex trafficking group and Zalachenko's main contact with Säpo. Gets grilled and coerced by Mikael. The book made him sound too similar to Sandström and I ended up confusing the two of them most of the time.

Jerker Holmberg. Detective on Bublanski's team. We don't get much on him other than the fact that Bublanski considers him a good investigator.

Johan Fraklünd. He's a member of Milton Security and one of the guys Armansky tasks to investigate the case. Like most, his impression of Lisbeth isn't exactly stellar, but he discharges his duty as best he can.

Malin Eriksson. An intern in The Millennium. This book shows more of her warming up to Mikael as they begin working together. And thankfully, she's one of the few women in the series who doesn't fall for Mikael. Though I was almost certain that given enough time, Larsson would have written that in.

Niklas Hedström. One of the guys Armansky tasks to investigate Lisbeth's case. Has a personal grudge against Lisbeth and comes off as a conniving weasel and corrupt to boot. Does everything in his power to gain revenge, including leaking sensitive details about Salander to reporter Tony Scala.

Dr Peter Teleborian. In the beginning of the novel, we see him as a sinister and unnamed presence. Later, we find out that he's the one who Gunnar Björk hired to put Lisbeth away by falsifying her psychiatric analysis.

Sonny Bohman. One of the guys Armansky tasks to investigate Lisbeth's case.

Sonny Nieminen. Member of the Svavelsjö MC. A tough guy who gets totally owned by Lisbeth.

Tony Scala. A sleazy reporter who unethically prints salacious stories about Lisbeth, Miriam Wu and The Evil Fingers.

The Mood

Action, action, action, all the way. A ridiculous shit-ton of ass-kickery.

Other than a bit of a laid-back prelude early on, once the action starts, it rarely lets up. This novel was almost all about breaking faces and kicking copious amounts of ass. Quiet time is spent in reflection and investigation, and even the investigative part is deliciously violent at times.

All in all, less research, more fighting.

What I liked

The premise is interesting in itself - The Millennium investigates sex trafficking in Sweden.

Early in the novel, there's a short segment where Lisbeth attempts to buy an apartment but ends up being patronized by the manager. In retaliation, she exploits a security leak she finds (just by being there!) and sends incriminating evidence of tax fraud by the manager, to the police. This is amusing, but also highlights two things - Larsson's understanding of the human factor in cyber-security, and how vindictive Lisbeth is when provoked.

The scene where The Millennium editorial team bought Harriet Vanger out and let her back in, in almost the same breath, was both amusing and heartwarming.

Speaking of heartwarming, we get a nice tour of Lisbeth's human side when she finds out that Holger Palmgren is still alive after two years and tearfully rushes down to visit him. How this stone-cold badass practically grovels for Holger's forgiveness for her unintended neglect is touching and amusing at the same time, and firmly underlines their surrogate father-daughter relationship.

Having a real-life celebrity, Paolo Roberto, written into the novel and taking an active part and getting his ass kicked, is nothing short of awesome even if you don't follow boxing.

As mentioned previously, Mikael and Lisbeth spend the majority of the novel physically apart, only coming together briefly at the beginning and end. But their interaction via his computer is striking in its earnestness.

Lisbeth handing two members of the Motorcycle Club their asses is awe-inspiring if a little over-the-top. Definitely one of my favorite moments. Lisbeth normally comes out on top due to a lot of planning, but this time it was down to being prepared and sheer nerve.

Cilla Norén giving Hans Faste a tongue lashing. A golden moment.

What I didn't

Lisbeth's new deal with math. It seems a little pointless. We already get that she's scarily intelligent. And I was expecting something to come out of it, like a Chekov's Gun, maybe? I was disappointed on that score. Come to think of it, the entire beginning of the novel where Lisbeth spends her vacation doing math, bedding a student and rescuing a woman from her abusive husband, just seem like so much filler. Very little of it is pertinent to later events. The story was interesting enough. It just felt irrelevant. All it shows us is that Lisbeth is both smart and ruthless, and let's face it - we know that already.

Harriet and Mikael's sexual relationship. This served no purpose at all. Yes yes, we geddit, Mikael's a God in the sack. Now lay off already.

Is Ronald Neidermann supposed to be unaffected by the taser? Yes, he's immune to pain. That should not cancel out the effects of being zapped by several thousand watts of electricity. I mean, he probably didn't feel the kick in the balls by Miriam Wu, but it stopped him all the same. That's not only scientifically suspect, it's inconsistent.

Conclusion

There's more to like than dislike about this novel. Ties in the first and third novel superbly, and slowly grows the characters while adding to their existing depth by way of backstory. The characters who had little to do in the previous novel, such as Palmgren and Miriam Wu, get their moment in the sun. It could very well be my favorite among all three of Larsson's work so far.

My Rating

9.5 / 10

Next

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest

Fiction Review: The Millennium Series (Part 1/4)

The Millennium Series is a best-selling series of novels - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - written by Stieg Larsson, a Swedish writer who died in 2004. The most recent addition, The Girl In The Spider's Web, was written by David Lagercrantz.

The storyline revolves around the adventures of two people - a journalist and a computer hacker. The computer hacker, also the titular "girl" in the series titles, has since captured the imagination of readers worldwide and taken on, through sheer force of personality, a life of her own. And it's this hacker who so defines and drives the plot of The Millennium Series so much that I feel justified in adding a review in a tech blog. The Millennium Series, on the other hand, is actually named after a publication of which one of the lead characters, Mikael Blomkvist, is part owner. This publication stays in the background of the story, playing a significant role in several plot points - not just in this novel but in all of them.

Warning: Many spoilers ahead, possibly incorrect spelling and a lot of violence.

The books have been around for a while and the ending won't be much of a surprise. Still, how the books approach the ending is just as important, and I'll avoid giving too much away in that regard.

Since this series is set in Sweden, the names of people and places inevitably include accented characters. I might get some of those wrong, so bear with me.

Also, be warned. There's a whole lot of rape in this novel. Copious amounts of violence, sexual or otherwise, visited upon the characters. A lot of it is in the backstory and forms the basis of the investigation that characterizes this book, but there's plenty of rape outside of the main storyline as well.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in the series, and arguably the one with the most stand-alone plot. There are a few references that will become relevant in the overarching storyline that spans the sequels, such as obscure mentions of "All The Evil" and the fact that Lisbeth has a twin.

The storyline is intriguing and detailed. Sometimes too detailed - the descriptions tend to descend into minutia such as depictions of life in Sweden and explanations of certain laws and ordinances which made my eyes glaze over, contributing to the occasionally plodding pace of the plot. But this also seems to serve as a contrast to the parts where the story suddenly picks up the pace and something dramatic happens.

There's not a lot of detailed tech mentioned in this first book - most of the juicier tech stuff is in the other novels. Still, when it does happen, it's usually through Lisbeth's perspective and comes off as friggin' awesome no matter how minor the moment is.

The Premise

Henrik Vanger's granddaughter Harriet has been missing for many years and presumed dead. Henrik is convinced that she has been murdered and hires Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist, to find the murderer. While investigating the case, Blomkvist enlists the help of Lisbeth Salander, a world-class hacker. Together, they blow the lid off a decades-old series of unsolved murder cases.

The Characters

The main players in the storyline...

Erika Berger. Part-owner/Editor-in-chief of The Millenium. An ultra-competent woman who has a deep friendship (platonic and sexual, but not romantic) with Blomkvist, an open relationship with her husband and has been described as having a way around older gentlemen when she is first introduced to Henrik Vanger. Most of the time, we see her as a company leader in crisis management mode, enduring huge amounts of stress due to the fallout over the lawsuit at the beginning of the novel.

Henrik Vanger. Former CEO of Vanger Corporation, he is retired. A rather tragic figure; an old man who's built an industrial empire but seems destined to grow old and alone. He despises most of his relatives (with good reason, they're pretty horrible people) but appears to be a man who inspires loyalty from his employees.

Lisbeth Salander. An investigation specialist with world-class hacking skills and a photographic memory. She suffers from trust issues and Asperger's Syndrome. Has no compunction against killing and torture in self-defence. She exhibits a violent streak a mile wide and can be chillingly detached when plotting someone's death. When the story begins, she's in her mid-twenties, but due to a boyish figure and her height, she appears to be in her teens. Has been described as an ultra-violent version of Pippi Longstocking.

If Mikael could be considered sexually promiscuous, Lisbeth is equally so, if not doubly (due to the fact that she's bisexual). This actually becomes relevant early on when it's used against her as part of her negative image, which makes her reluctant to depend on the authorities when she is being victimized.

Martin Vanger. The current CEO of Vanger Corporation. Portrayed as a chunky, mild-mannered and pleasant, if slightly in over his head in his position. He's also one of the few family members that Henrik thinks well of. It's only near the end of the novel where it's revealed what an utterly depraved monster he truly is.

Mikael Blomkvist. One of the lead characters in the story, he is part-owner of The Millennium and is painted as a conscientious and passionate journalist with ironclad ethics. A natural charmer and ladies' man, albeit a middle-aged one. He is also mentioned to be one of the few people that Lisbeth actually feels at ease with.

Mikael is also portrayed as something of a man-slut who doesn't really believe in monogamy. This will become somewhat more relevant as the series progresses.

Nils Bjurman. An attorney who is appointed as Lisbeth's legal guardian after her first guardian, Holger, collapses from a stroke. At first, he is depicted as an oily and creepy fellow with a superiority complex. As the story progresses, the truth is far more horrifying - beneath that condescending demeanor, he is a violent sadist on a power trip, with dark sexual urges.

The following characters play an extensive supporting role.

Cecilia Vanger. A schoolteacher in her mid-fifties, she is described as attractive (Erika refers to her as "Miss Big Tits" at one point). She is Henrik's niece and Harald's daughter. There's a nice little bit of backstory in the novel describing her relationship with her father and brother. Has a brief but passionate affair with Mikael during the course of his investigation.

Dirche Frode. Henrik's lawyer, and his right-hand man. One gets the sense that there's very little Frode dowan't handle for Henrik, which speaks volumes of the tremendous amount of trust and respect between these two men. Seems to dismiss Lisbeth upon meeting her for the first time, but recovers quickly and re-evaluates her without bias. Even recommends her to Mikael later on.

Dragan Armansky. Directory of Milton Security, he is Lisbeth's boss, having accepted a recommendation by Holger Palmgren. Described as diligent and competent, but somewhat old-fashioned and autocratic. He learns early on that Lisbeth will take none of his shit, but is open-minded enough to realize that he has vastly underestimated her abilities and she could possibly be the best investigator on his payroll. Finds himself attracted to Lisbeth and is astonished to learn from Lisbeth that the feeling is mutual - but because Lisbeth has certain rules against sleeping with colleagues, it will never be acted on. Gets insanely jealous of Mikael when introduced to him later on, because Mikael seems to get along with Lisbeth so effortlessly.

These characters either have very brief mentions or appear mostly toward the tail end of the story.

Agneta Salander. Mother to Lisbeth. Lisbeth obviously loves her mother, but tragically, she keeps mistaking Lisbeth for her twin sister Camilla. Tragically dies midway through the novel.

Anita Vanger. Cecilia's sister. bears a striking resemblance to Harriet, and it is revealed near the end of the novel how she aided Harriet in her escape.

Birger Vanger. A pompous ass, brother of Cecilia and Anita Vanger. Identifies with his father's chauvinism.

Christer Malm. Part-owner of The Millennium. Openly gay, artist and designer. He was fun to read as the third part-owner who routinely leaves major decisions up to Mikael and Erika.

Detective Gustaf Morell. Retired policeman. I felt a certain amount of sympathy for this character. Looking back on a fruitful career, he is nevertheless bothered by the one case that he has never solved - that of Harriet Vanger's disappearance. In the story, he's an obliging source of information for Mikael.

Hans-Erik Wennerström. A ruthless and corrupt businessman who ruins Mikael with a lawsuit in the beginning but gets his comeuppance at the end of the novel courtesy of an elaborate piece of hacking by Lisbeth.

Harald Vanger. Henrik's brother. A horrid and misogynistic old man, and a Nazi. Father to Birger, Cecilia and Anita.

Harriet Vanger. The subject of the investigation that was the main plot point of this novel. Had a very close relationship with grand-uncle Henrik, but endured horrific abuse at the hands of her father and brother. She eventually escaped with the help of Anita, and settled down in Australia, making a nice life for herself. She is reunited with Henrik at the end.

Holger Palmgren. He plays no active part in the novel; but in the backstory, his relationship with Lisbeth is detailed as one of mutual trust and respect. He is the guardian to Lisbeth, appointed by the State; indeed seems to be the only person willing to undertake such an intimidating task at first, speaking volumes about his character and compassion. Also, comes across as a cool old guy.

Isabella Vanger. Martin and Harriet Vanger's mother. A vile and shrewish, self-centered old woman who firmly refuses to take responsibility or even acknowledge that anything is seriously wrong even after her daughter disappears for decades, after her husband has been sexually abusing her children for years.

Janne Dahlman. A mole planted within The Millennium, ultimately tricked by Mikael near the end of the novel with the help of the staff.

Pernilla. Mikael's teenage daughter from his former marriage. She is at the age where Mikael is finding it difficult to relate to her, providing a few somewhat amusing moments when they meet up. Other than helping us see another side of Mikael, however, she also has a small but important part in this novel to play - her newfound religious fervor provides Mikael a significant piece of the puzzle.

Plague. An overweight hacker with serious hygiene and social problems, who yet manages to look absolutely cool (I may be biased here). Lisbeth enlists his help on occasion, and he was the one who taught Lisbeth her computer skills. Also, his email id is wicked. (plague_xyz_666).

The Mood

It begins on a very serious and somber note, with Mikael facing libel charges in court. This carries on all through the first quarter of the book when Henrik Vanger hires Blomkvist. Lisbeth Salander's story is interwoven here and there, detailing her trials with Nils Bjurman. It gets really dark halfway through when Salander gets brutally raped by Bjurman and plots her revenge. After that, the plot slows to a crawl as we get back to Blomkvist and his investigation, and things don't really pick up again until Lisbeth joins the investigation. At this point, one gets the warm fuzzy feeling of a good buddy-cop routine, with things getting increasingly sinister as the investigation progresses.

Near the end, the action comes thick and fast, but after that the author elects to spend a chapter or two tying up some loose ends; namely the reappearance of Harriet Vanger and the long-awaited retribution of Hans-Erik Wennerström. Interesting enough, but a bit anti-climatic.

What I liked

Lisbeth. What's not to love? A computer genius, badass goth chick and dark angel of justice. Her part of the story was an absolute delight to read. More interesting than the character of Mikael Blomkvist, at least. To counter-balance all that awesomeness, she actually has some debilitating weaknesses, such as a very low EQ and an inability to trust people.

There's a chapter that follows Lisbeth as she does some investigative work for Milton Securities. She follows some woman and takes advantage of the obvious security flaws she finds, gaining access easily. What was neat was that the loopholes she discovered were all-too-human foibles that people in real life are all too capable of.

Mikael barging into Lisbeth's apartment and rendering her speechless. This was funny as hell, because up to then, we have seen only the hard-ass side of Lisbeth (barring a couple tender moments with her mother, Holger and Dragan) - the side that promises terrible retribution to all those who cross her. Mikael not only invades her comfort zone, he does it with good humor and easy charm. And she's so flabbergasted that she lets him.

Mikael and Lisbeth's comparison of their respective moral and ethical codes. It was a very short segment, but so utterly significant based on what we've seen so far. Also, after they start working together, it's interesting to see what a great team Mikael and Lisbeth make, complementing each other. Lisbeth, being the computer expert, does most of the stuff that requires tech-savviness. Mikael, being more people-oriented, digs up information using his charm. As the investigation progresses, they are mutually impressed by each other's quick thinking.

Martin's capture of Mikael. It's a thrilling dialogue where the scene is fraught with danger and one truly gets the sense that we're dealing with a psychopath. More deliciously disturbing when he seems to be trying to molest Mikael while choking him to death.

Some of the supporting characters have very nicely written expositions that flesh them out well to complement, rather than interfere with, with the main plot. Notably Cecilia Vanger, Dragan Armansky, Detective Morell and Christer Malm.

The program which Lisbeth uses to hack into Wennerström's computer is lovingly described, and sounds very much like malware based on BitTorrent-like transfer coupled with VMWare functionality.

What I didn't

Mikael. I know he's supposed to be the hero of the story and all, and that's exactly the problem. He appears to be Larsson's blue-eyed boy, the noble dude who puts himself on the line for the truth, and gets all the girls. Even Lisbeth falls in love with him at the end of the novel. This guy has no major flaws, unless you count being irresistible to women as a flaw. This smacks of wish-fulfillment on the author's part.

The depiction of men in general. People generally tend to take a dim view of rapists, but Larsson seems to take this to the extreme. This novel appears to divide men into two categories - those who abuse women, and those who don't. The former are always painted as horrific human beings (Martin Vanger and Nils Bjurman are not only rapists, but also perverts and sadists), while the latter are painted in a positive light (there are minor exceptions, such as the pugnacious Birger, the disagreeable Harald and the weaselly Janne; but these men play a very minor part in the novel), something that strikes me as rather one-dimensional and binary.

Lisbeth's harrowing rape scene was perhaps a little more graphic than I would have liked. Necessary to the plot, perhaps, but still.

Some parts of the book really hold no interest for me at all. Why would I want to know so many details about regulatory laws in Sweden?

Conclusion

This novel is a good fascinating read, either on its own or as a precursor to the other books in the series. If you like a good whodunit with a technological twist, you could do worse than The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

My Rating

8.5 / 10

Next

The Girl Who Played With Fire