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The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

by Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the third and final novel in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, first published in Sweden in 2007 as Luftslottet som spraengdes. The story picks up immediately where its predecessor… more

First published 2007 · 563 pages · English

29 quotes ★ 4.25 (785,151) Fiction

Quotes from the Book

Nobody can avoid falling in love. They might want to deny it, but friendship is probably the most common form of love.
I'm not going to apologize for the way I've led my life.
I'm unhappy. I don't want to fall in love with you. It'll hurt far too much when it's over
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
But if you want to win, you're going to have to fight.
If love is liking someone an awful lot, then I suppose I'm in love with several people.
What an excellent tool the internet is for freaks.
I don't know how much you understand about what is happening outside your locked room, but strangely enough (despite your personality), you have a number of loyal idiots working on your behalf. I have already established an elite body called The Knights of the Idiotic Table. We will be holding an annual dinner at which we'll have fun talking crap about you. (No, you're not invited).
When their love was not reciprocated, it could quickly turn to violent hatred.
It was troubling that one of the few people she trusted was a man she spent so much time avoiding
I don't know if I want a steady relationship, but I'm terrified of losing you.
Don't call me crazy.I'm a survivor. I do what I have to do to survive.
Salander leaned back against the pillow and followed the conversation with a smile. She wondered why she, who had such difficulty talking about herself with people of flesh and blood, could blithely reveal her most intimate secrets to a bunch of completely unknown freaks on the Internet.
She wondered what she thought of herself, and came to the realization that she felt mostly indifference towards her entire life.
And I guess that in some way I'm falling for you because you are who you are. It's easy to sleep with you because there's no bullshit and you make me feel safe. But this all started because I gave in to a crazy impulse. It doesn't happen very often, and I hadn't planned it.
Men who just call to say hello generally have ulterior motives.
13 NOTES She hesitated. For two years she had kept as far away from Mikael Blomkvist as she could. And yet he kept sticking to her life like gum on the sole of her shoe, either on the Net or in real life. On the Net it was O.K. There he was no more than electrons and words. In real life, standing on her doorstep, he was still fucking attractive. And he knew her secrets just as she knew all of his. She looked at him for a moment and realized that she now had no feelings for him. At least not those kinds of feelings. He had in fact been a good friend to her over the past year. She trusted him. Maybe. It was troubling that one of the few people she trusted was a man she spent so much time avoiding. Then she made up her mind. It was absurd to pretend that he did not exist. It no longer hurt her to see him. She opened the door wide and let him into her life again.
Salander was afraid of no-one and nothing. She realized that she lacked the necessary imagination - and that was evidence enough that there was something wrong with her brain.
I don't give a damn what you do with your money. Just sign here that you received it and you can get drunk in peace.
Somehow she managed to survive and dig herself out and—“ “And somehow get back to the farm and swing an axe into Zalachenko’s skull,” Blomkvist finished for him. “She can be a moody bitch.
I don't want any inheritance from my father. Do whatever the hell you want with it." "Wrong. You can do what you want with the inheritance. My job is to see to it that you have the opportunity to do so." "I don't want a single ore from that pig." "Then give the money to the Greenpeace or something." "I don't give a shit about whales.
I have already established an elite body called The Knights of the Idiotic Table. We will be holding an annual dinner at which we'll have fun talking crap about you. No, you're not invited.
Only a woman who had killed a man in battle was allowed to give up her virginity.
You were difficult enough to catch,” Faste said. Salander gave him a long look, satisfied herself that he was an idiot, and decided that she would not waste too many seconds concerning herself with his existence.
What irritated her most was that they kept brushing off her arguments with patronizing smiles, making her feel like a teenager being quizzed on her homework. Without actually uttering a single inappropriate word, they displayed towards her an attitude that was so antediluvian it was almost comical. You shouldn't worry your pretty head over complex matters, little girl.
I don't think I'm the type who falls in love. She was a friend. And we had good sex.
She was afraid that it was a moral issue, and that was one of his weaknesses. He was Salander’s friend. She knew her brother. She knew that he was loyal to the point of foolhardiness once he had made someone a friend, even if the friend was impossible and obviously flawed. She also the friend was impossible and obviously flawed. She also knew that he could accept any number of idiocies from his friends, but that there was a boundary and it could not be infringed. Where exactly this boundary was seemed to vary from one person to another, but she knew he had broken completely with people who had previously been close friends because they had done something that he regarded as beyond the pale. And he was inflexible. The break was for ever.
Then she made up her mind.It was absurd to pretend that he did not exist.It no longer hurt her to see him. She opened the door wide and let him into her life again.
As the situation developed, the futility of attempting suicide in the middle of a hospital became apparent.

Did you know?

  • It was originally published in Sweden in 2007 under the title 'Luftslottet som spraengdes.'
  • It is the third and final book in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy.
  • The English translation was done by Steven T. Murray under the pen name Reg Keeland.
  • Stieg Larsson died in 2004, before any of the trilogy's novels were published.
  • The novel won the Glass Key Award from the Crime Writers of Scandinavia in 2008.
  • The Millennium trilogy has sold tens of millions of copies in more than 50 countries.

About Stieg Larsson

Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) was a Swedish journalist and editor-in-chief of the anti-racist magazine Expo, and a leading expert on right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations. He died in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for the three Millennium novels, and did not live to see their worldwide success.

More about the author →

About the book

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the third and final novel in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, first published in Sweden in 2007 as Luftslottet som spraengdes. The story picks up immediately where its predecessor ended: hacker Lisbeth Salander lies in critical condition in a Swedish hospital with a bullet in her head, recovering just doors away from her father, the former Soviet defector Alexander Zalachenko, whom she attacked. As Lisbeth faces trial on charges tied to her past, journalist Mikael Blomkvist races to prepare an expose that will lay bare the secret government faction that spent years covering up crimes against her.

At its heart the novel is about clearing Lisbeth Salander's name and exposing the institutions that failed and abused her. Blomkvist and his colleagues at Millennium magazine work to reveal 'the Section,' a covert branch of the security police, while Lisbeth pursues her own agenda from her hospital bed and, later, the courtroom. Its themes echo across the trilogy: institutional corruption, violence against women, the power of independent journalism, and one outsider's fight for justice against a system built to silence her.

Larsson, a Swedish journalist and expert on right-wing extremism, died in 2004 before any of the three books were published, and never witnessed their global success. The trilogy went on to sell tens of millions of copies worldwide and turned Lisbeth Salander into one of contemporary crime fiction's most recognizable characters. This concluding volume won the Glass Key Award from the Crime Writers of Scandinavia in 2008 and was adapted for the screen, cementing the trilogy's place in the modern Nordic-noir canon.

Key characters

  • Lisbeth SalanderBrilliant hacker recovering from a gunshot wound and fighting to clear her name
  • Mikael BlomkvistInvestigative journalist at Millennium magazine working to expose the conspiracy
  • Alexander ZalachenkoLisbeth's father, a former Soviet defector protected by the security police
  • Erika BergerEditor and Blomkvist's colleague at Millennium magazine
  • Dragan ArmanskyHead of Milton Security who aids the effort to help Lisbeth
  • Ronald NiedermannLisbeth's fugitive half-brother, a violent enforcer on the run

Book details

First published
2007
Length
563 pages
Reading time
10 hours
Genre
Fiction
Goodreads rating
4.25 (785k ratings)

Series & reading order

  1. 1 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  2. 2 The Girl Who Played with Fire
  3. 3 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Movie & TV adaptations

  • IMDb
    The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (film) 2009

    Swedish film adaptation directed by Daniel Alfredson.

  • IMDb
    Millennium (miniseries) 2010

    Swedish television miniseries adapting the trilogy.

If you liked this, read…

  1. 1
    The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe novel that opens the same Millennium trilogy and introduces Salander and Blomkvist.
  2. 2
    The Girl Who Played with FireThe trilogy's second book, leading directly into this finale.
  3. 3
    The SnowmanJo Nesbo's dark, twist-driven Nordic-noir crime thriller in a similar vein.

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