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‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’: The Continuation Of Stieg Larsson’s Series

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 03:16 PST, Aug 28, 2015

The Girl in the Spider’s Web, the latest novel featuring punk hacker Lisbeth Salander, was released in Europe just after midnight on Thursday, August 27.

Stieg Larsson, a journalist responsible for the creation of the heroine, originally delivered a ridiculously long manuscript to his publisher in 2004, the Washington Post reports. Sadly, he died several months later from a heart attack and never got to see how popular his work would become. However, upon reading the manuscript, the publisher realized that he definitely had something worth publishing, and decided to make it into three books, which includes the famous The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Expecting the novels to sell maybe 10,000 copies, the publisher was shocked when over 80 million copies of Larsson’s Millennium trilogy were sold worldwide.

Now, a fourth novel has been added to the series, this time written by fellow Swede David Lagercrantz. The Girl in the Spider’s Web comes more than 10 years after Larsson’s death and resurrects the character that so many people had grown to love. While many readers were excited about the fourth installment, the book does not come without its critics.

Many think the series should have been left as is, and Larsson’s widow, Eva Gabrielsson, thinks it is just a ploy for money, CBC reports. However, because Larsson’s father and brother, his heirs, agreed that this would help his legacy live on, Lagercrantz was given the go-ahead to write the novel.

Despite Gabrielsson’s protest, Lagercrantz thinks the continuation of the series will be good for everyone.

“I don’t believe, I know: This is good for Stieg Larssen’s authorship,” Lagercrantz said. “Now his old books are finding new readers in a new generation. We are again discovering his great life’s work fighting racism, fighting [the] extreme right, fighting for women’s rights.”

He also said that while he respects and has the “deepest sympathy” for Gabrielsson, he is insulted that she would think he would write the novel just for money.

“I have enough,” he said. “I’m not dreaming of Ferraris. This was a passion for me, a passion and a challenge. If I had said no to this book, I would have regretted [it] my whole life.”

Do you think the series should have been left as is? Will you be reading Lagercrantz The Girl in the Spider’s Web? Leave your comments below.

[Photo via Amazon.com]

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