The Girl in the Spider's Web is the fourth book in the Millennium series originally created and written by Stieg Larsson. As Larsson himself passed away in 2004, the popular trilogy, chronicling the adventures of computer hacker Lisbeth Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist, was originally published posthumously. However, there is still a large time gap between the publication of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest in 2007, and the decision to continue the series under a different author. The announcement that there would be a fourth (and eventual fifth and sixth) book was not even announced until early 2015.
This time delay is only logical, as the process of continuing a series of this caliber is a daunting one. Getting the consent and permission from the Larsson's estate alone would have taken much legal negotiating. Even tougher still would be finding an author who could capture and recreate the images and voices of Larsson's characters. An author's writing style is like a painter's brushstrokes--it is possible to recreate something similar to the original work, but the result will always be different from the original.
I think that David Lagercrantz did an admirable job continuing the story of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl in the Spider's Web. He brings the characters to life and brings his own writing style into the narration, while keeping the reader aware of Larsson's style throughout the story. I am very eager to see if the following novels Lagercrantz adds to the Millennium series will hold as true to Larsson's vision as The Girl in the Spider's Web does.
Each book in the Millennium series is available at the Ocean City Free Public Library:
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