Scandinavian sensations
Hands up who here has read the Millennium Trilogy by the Swedish author Stieg Larsson? You may know them better as the novels featuring the spunky and spike heroine Lisbeth Salander – the girl who not only had a dragon tattoo, but who also played with fire and kicked the hornet’s nest. I feel that I’m probably alone in not having read any of these publishing sensations; though they are neatly piled on my “to read” shelf, along with a hundred other charity shop bargains, birthday presents and new releases that I just couldn’t resist.
The fact is that Scandinavian fiction, writers like Norway’s Jo Nesbo and the creator of the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries Arnaldur Indridasson, have seen a real upturn in fortunes in recent years, thanks to the success of Larsson’s books and the subsequent movies. Industry market research shows that each of the books that make up the trilogy have been at the top of the best selling lists since they were first published in the early 2000s. What must be kind of annoying for Nesbo and Indridasson (who now have “The next Stieg Larsson” stickers covering their books) is that they both started writing in the 1990s, long before anyone had even heard of Lisbeth or Larsson or his tragic early death and the conspiracy theorists'view that he didn’t even write the novels in the first place…
So if you liked Larsson’s nooks, why not try out something by one of his Scandinavian compatriots next time you’re looking for a holiday page-turner. Just do me a favour and remove the “Stieg Larsson” comparison sticker from the front cover before you start?
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