Customer Reviews

Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy Deluxe Boxed Set: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Plus On Stieg Larsson

5 star:		(131)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I got into the "Millenium Trilogy" kind of late, so having this boxset was perfect for catching up on Stieg Larsson's literary phenomenon. I enjoyed the characters(how can you NOT love Lisbeth Salander?!), and the plot was intriguing and challenging too.

Now, on to the 'deluxe boxed set' itself. The three books(plus one collection of essays,etc.) are housed in a sturdy cardboard case. The case itself is very well made and over the glossy black color there are three golden symbols(a dragon, a hornet, and a fire). You have to see the boxset in person to appreciate how cool it looks.

The books themselves are different from the previous hardcover releases. First of all, the dust jacket covers are gone now. Instead you get them in clothbound form, with cool designs stamped in red(book 1), black(book 2), and dark blue(book 3). It all looks very cool, and I honestly prefer it over the previous releases. The books have the uneven 'deckle' edges, even the fourth volume.

So, if you have all previous hardcovers, there might not be enough here to 'upgrade' your collection. But if all you have are the softcover books(or even if you're an uninitiated newbie to Stieg Larsson's work and haven't read a single word of the "Millenium Trilogy"), then this box set is the thing to get.

I'm a great fan of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy and already own his works in hardcover. When I saw this set though, I knew I had to have it because I'm also a collector of books, and this set seemed worth having with all the special features.

The set consists of four books in a beautiful slip-case. The four books are The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, and On Stieg Larsson. The three novels are cloth bound (no dust jacket) and have beautiful, unique engravings on each. There are also unique features such as maps and full-color endpapers. The book titled On Stieg Larsson consists of essays which have never been published before as well as correspondence with Larsson who died in 2004.

Just a note: There is another collector's set which is not to be confused with this. The publisher is Maclehose Press, London (2010). It is a more expensive edition than this (also contains 4 volumes), and the major difference between this set and the other set is that the other set has a poster of 16 different dustjackets of the trilogy published around the world. Each book in the other slipcased set has gilt titles on the spine, and a gilt dragon on the front boards. I knew of this set because my friend (an avid fan of Larsson's works) owns it (purchased online).

However, I decided to purchase this set instead as the other set is much more expensive. I think this set, for the price, offers good value for collectors and fans of great crime fiction.

I love the Millennium Trilogy of books which is why I chose to purchase this box set despite owning all three books already in UK/International paperback publications. Unfortunately the manufacturer's packaging on this set is severely deficient. I received 2 copies of this from Amazon, the decorative boxes for both copies were ruined by the manufacturer's packaging techniques. The decorative box is oversized for the books (about 1/8-1/4 inch wider inside than the book covers) and the manufacturer shrink-wraps the books into the box, crushing the corners of the box where they are pulled in against empty space. Simply removing the shrink wrap from one of sets revealed several tears in the box, including a 2-3" long tear on the top left corner. Both sets (the original purchase and the replacement Amazon sent when I reported the damage) are on their way back to Amazon and I will be waiting for them to resolve this issue, as the sets in my local bookstores (Amazon, Barnes & Noble) do not seem to have this problem. I would advise holding off on purchasing this set until Amazon can sort out their problems with the publisher's packing methods.

Authors who are only published posthumously rarely get the attention they deserve', or any attention at all. Fortunately, such is not the case with the late Stieg Larsson's bestselling Millennium trilogy -- it starts off slow, and soon winds itself into a tight knot of tautly-written thriller and mystery elements. It's raw, bleak, intensely disturbing noir.

In "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," take-no-prisoners journalist Mikael Blomkvist has just lost his reputation, his savings and his freedom (hello, jail sentence!) after a nasty libel suit from an executive named Wennerström.

Then he's unexpectedly contacted by aged industrialist Henrik Vanger, to discover what happened to the guy's grandniece. He's offering evidence on Wennerström, so Mikael has no choice but to accept -- and as he investigates the sinister Vanger family, he joins forces with Lisbeth Salander, an eccentric, abused computer hacker. And as Mikael unearths the clues to Harriet's disappearance, he also finds some skeletons long kept buried.

"The Girl Who Played With Fire" finds Mikael investigating sex trafficking in his own country, and young girls who are sold into it. Unknown to him, Lisbeth is keeping very close tabs on his work -- especially since she was abused as a child, and now plots revenge on the sex traffickers. But when she's accused of murder and ends up on the run, Mikael must discover what lies at the core of these crimes...

"The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest" takes place directly after the second book. Lisbeth has been shot in the head, her malevolent dad Zalachenko is in the same hospital, and some nasty government forces want her locked away, as she was as a child. Her only hope lies in Mikael, who must unravel a government conspiracy formed around the young hacker...

Finally, "On Stieg Larsson" is a solid accompaniment to this trilogy -- it's a nonfiction book that compiles four essays about him along with his email exchanges with his editor. Reading his own viewpoints on his characters and books really shines a spotlight on different facets of their stories, and why he wrote them the way he did.

Larsson's books are a unique blend of old and new -- he takes the usual mystery/thriller tropes (locked room mystery, government conspiracies) and enfolds it in a ruthless, blistering look at modern Swedish society and sexual aggression. It's a dark, dangerous, unfair world where the truth is quashed, powerful forces conspire against individuals, and women are treated horribly -- usually shown via the eccentric, punky "girl with the dragon tattoo."

His prose is rather bleak and often quite gritty, and a certain brand of understated passion shines through -- the kind that feels the need to express itself even though it takes place in fiction. And while most of the first book focuses in Mikael, in the second and third Larssen's style splits in half -- one half is the more staid, ordinary perspective of Mikael and others, and the other half is the wild nihilism of Lisbeth ("If death was the black emptiness from which she had just woken up, then death was nothing to worry about. She would hardly notice the difference").

Mikael and Salander make an intriguing odd couple. He starts world-weary and demoralized that he seems to care about nothing, but regains his passion for the truth; the only downside is that he's a bit Marty Stuish, since all women seem to adore him. And Salander is a mass of hurts and quirks -- she's a vibrant, wild genius who lashes out at those who hurt women, and has been constantly tortured by those around her since childhood (even as an adult, she's forced to have a legal guardian).

Take your average thriller/mysteries, smother them in disillusioned, morally-bankrupt noir... and you'll have something like the Millennium Trilogy. A hard read, but worth the journey.

I received my order - here in Australia - within 5-6 working days. Very fast. And even paying for postage - cheaper than what I can buy it for here.

I was very dubious as to what condition if any, my books would turn up in. I'm very happy to say they arrived in absolutely pristine condition and MUCH earlier than predicted. Very happy!

Like a lot of Americans, I was unfamiliar with Stieg Larsson as an author until I read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". It was so well written that I didn't want to put it down.....just had to see how it ended! Afterwards, when I saw the boxed set for sale at Amazon, I ordered without a second thought and thoroughly enjoyed the remainder of the trilogy. I'm just sorry that he died before his time. Such a wasted talent....so many more stories he could have told.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo I usually lose interest if the first chapter doesn't grab me. After the first two chapters, I was ready to give up - but continued because of previous favorable reviews I had read. I am glad i did! Once I got to the fourth chapter, I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

This box set was a Christmas gift. It came quickly and the books are all gorgeous. The books themselves as literature are also amazing. MUST READ!!!!! Then go see the first movie, it was also phenomenal.

I am an advid reader who prefers biographies and nonfictional books, but discovered that Stieg Larsson was one of the best authors I've read. On the last book, I read it slowly because I wanted to savor it knowing there would not be future books written by Mr. Larsson (death). The tight control he has on his characters, the unbearable tension, the puzzling clues and the human reaction between characters kept me reading way into the night. Larsson's books do focus on dark subject matters but as a way to educate the public. Thomas Harris was a favorite author but felt he betrayed his loyal fans by writing a silly sequel "Hannible" In "Hannible" Clarice Starling's beliefs and values were compromised. I have not read any more books by Thomas Harris. When author's writings become too formula driven, I lose interest (e.g./Danielle Steel. Furthmore I felt the best Thomas Harris book written is "Red Dragon" and not (Silence of the "Lamb"). Be sure to read the Larsson books in their sequential order.

This Larsson trilogy of books has my highest praise and recommendation for a thrilling and chilly read.