The Girl in The Spider’s Web is Even More Larsson Than Larsson

The same sort of incredulity met the announcement that Larsson’s estate had engaged another writer, David Lagercrantz, to write a fourth book in the Millennium Series. Larsson was many things as a writer, but above all he was unique. He wrote about genius punk hacker Lisbeth Salander and her accomplice and sometime-lover, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, with a specific voice. When The Girl in the Spider’s Web was announced, the main question was whether Lagercrantz could capture that Voice, or whether the novel would be a pale imitation. In fact, what Lagercrantz has achieved is nearly-impossible: he’s written a Lisbeth Salander novel that’s every bit as Larsson as its predecessors.

The tone is spot-on
One of the things that set The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo apart was the horror-movie tone Larsson managed to achieve in a setting—his native Sweden—where murder and other violent crime is actually very rare. Larsson achieved this by suggesting—or, more accurately, clearly demonstrating—that this civility was superficial, that many upstanding members of society hide extremely nasty inner lives. Larsson’s characters generally turn out to be rapists, blackmailers, and sociopaths despite their urbane and civilized exteriors. Lagercrantz has absolutely nailed this aspect of the Larsson universe, introducing characters who are completely respectable on the outside, and absolutely contemptible within.

Lagercrantz gets Lisbeth Salander
Lisbeth Salander is a complex character. What Larsson discovered in the character was a moral core where justice mattered; Lisbeth despises many people and doesn’t hesitate to punish those she sees as deserving it, but she instinctively protects those who are good. In The Girl in the Spider’s Web she punishes both individuals (including one smarmy, arrogant traitor she humiliates in a game of chess in one of the book’s most fun moments) and organizations—including the NSA itself, hacking into the agency’s deepest intranets and exposing information that shakes it to its core.

The side characters
The Millennium Series is about Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, celebrated journalist in a perpetual state of sexy, imminent professional disaster. The two make for a compelling team, an unlikely romance, and brilliant detectives. Lagercrantz captures the peculiar magic of their relationship perfectly, despite making the genius decision to keep Salander and Blomkvist apart during (almost) the entire story. They communicate via phone and secretly shared computer file without sharing space, but the affection and respect between them is obvious thanks to skillful writing.
More importantly, Lagercrantz approaches the supporting characters precisely how Larsson did: With an excess of detail that few other writers bother with. The bit players in Larsson’s—and now, Lagercrantz’s—story have incredible detail and life. A witness describing a thrilling encounter between Salander and some thugs is in the story for perhaps a page, but Lagercrantz offers up a rich description that makes him real. It’s part of Larsson’s legacy that he treats all his characters as important, and Lagercrantz wisely replicates this.

The story
Lagercrantz has crafted a story that feels like Larsson: A genius computer scientist working on a quantum computing breakthrough that could render encryption and privacy impossible realizes his work is being pursued by criminals in league with the NSA. At the same time, he rescues his autistic son from the abusive boyfriend of his ex-wife. While living with his father, the boy, August, demonstrates savant-like drawing and math capabilities, and when his father is brutally murdered in an attempt to steal his research, the boy becomes the sole witness—a witness who can only draw what he’s seen.
Lisbeth Salander eventually saves August from certain death, and takes responsibility for the boy, and in this sequence of the novel we get the series’ most perfect distillation of Lisbeth so far: she is tough, smart, and determined. As the strands of the plot lead back to her own family, she sees herself in August. For all her rough edges, Salander is a good person who risks everything to protect an innocent little boy.
Camilla Salander
Finally, Lagercrantz gets the last piece of the puzzle for the Millennium Series: the Salander family. Mentioned briefly in the original trilogy, Lisbeth’s twin sister, Camilla, emerges in this book as a major force. Beautiful where Lisbeth is rough, monstrous where Lisbeth is fierce, Camilla is a terrifying vision because she is who Lisbeth would be without her moral center. And by the end of the book, with every other enemy vanquished—the NSA, the Russian mob, the various small-time monsters who beat children and manipulate others for their own gain—Camilla is at large, leaving only a haunting text message to Salander (Until next time, sister!) as evidence that she’s now established as the true villain in the Millennium Series.