The Millennium series by Stieg Larsson

Here is my first ever review of a whole series, instead of one book out of the series. I chose the Millennium series specifically because it lends itself best to being reviewed as a whole instead of by its individual parts. Often, books in a series can be reviewed individually because they stand alone well, which in this case is only true with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. In fact, the book stands alone so well that American filmmakers didn't bother to make any more movies after the movie based on this book (it could be, however, due to poor revenue generation). It starts out with a very in-depth introduction to Mikael Blomkvist and his legal woes. Honestly, the book progresses a little slowly. Then Lisbeth Salander is introduced, and you start to wonder "what do these two characters have to do with each other?" The characters of Salander and Blomkvist become well-established and develop throughout the first book, which is only deepened through the following two. By the end of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest the characters have changed and grown, which is a mark of a good writer.

Where The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo can easily stand alone as its own story, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest are dependent on each other. In fact, I felt the third book was merely an extension of the second, chopped into its own book. Throughout these two books, we follow Blomkvist and Salander as their paths cross again and intrigues in Sweden. The third book did drag on a bit and got a little political for my tastes, however.

Despite the obvious plot lines in the books (murder, social ruin, corporate corruption) there is an over-arching theme of feminism that I couldn't help but notice and appreciate. Topics of physical and sexual abuse toward women, sexual discrimination/harassment, and sex trafficking weave themselves throughout and become major topics in the main plot lines. Larsson also intersperses quotes and statistics about violence against women throughout the books. The focus on feminist topics lends itself to the development of Lisbeth Salander's character, changing the reader's perspective on a character that is first introduced as somewhat violent and antisocial.

Overall, the Millennium series is an engrossing read. Also, the original Swedish movies are incredibly well done, if lacking a lot of the incredible detail that Larsson packed into his novels (there is a lot of historical background and all of the characters have chapters developed to their own pasts).



Each book individually rated 5 stars on Goodreads

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

I will rarely suggest to anyone to watch a film adaptation prior to reading a novel, but in the case of Battle Royale, I actually think most people would benefit from it, and here's why. There are more than forty-two characters in this novel, and while each character gets some face time in the novel, Japanese names can be very similar and therefore hard to differentiate. I found that having watched the movie first, I was able to remember characters better because I had a visual reference already in place. This also eliminates the need for note-taking (which I find tedious and made novels such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy somewhat unenjoyable for me). There are also certain scenes in the book that (I don't want to give away anything) kind of fell flat but the director of the movie, Kinji Fukasaku really brough to life. Sure, there was tension and high drama in some of the scenes in the book, but being a translation, the impact, the original author's intent, may not come across as effectively. So, my recommendation: watch the movie, it's fantastic. Watch it before reading the book or just after if you just can't bring yourself to watch a movie before reading the book, but watch it. You can stream it on Netflix.

What initially drove me to read Battle Royale (aside from enjoying the movie) were the constant lamentations by people that The Hunger Games was just a ripoff of Battle Royale. I honestly don't find this to be the case. There are similarities. Of course there are. The idea of children fighting each other is actually a pretty common theme in dystopian novels. However, in Battle Royale, the characters are living in a society with a possible shadow-puppet dictator (as theorized by one of the characters) and while the youth population is on the decline, the "games" are still held for purported scientific reasons that hold no social benefit (unlike The Hunger Games, where the objective  was winning food for the district). To say that one is wholly based off the other is really a very shallow comparison at best.

While the primary characters that you follow are Shuya, Noriko, and Shogo, each student (or group of students) gets at least one chapter told from their point of view, which I appreciated. This is not just a book about killing, but rather a book about the human condition, and what shapes us as an individual and how we make the choices we make. The personalization of each chapter also gives the reader more insight into the government and the state of society as it exists in the timeframe of the novel. This type of effective storytelling makes a dauntingly thick novel an easy, enjoyable, and quick read.

Rated 5 stars on Goodreads

Angelfall by Susan Ee

I am a sucker for angelic lore and dystopian novels, but combining the two, I was skeptical. An hour later, I was nearly halfway through the book and forcing myself to put it down and go to bed. Susan Ee has created, in her novel, a protagonist that I actually like, that, in a post-apocalyptic setting has adapted and developed a thick skin in order to survive, a thick skin that has perhaps, been developed by a mentally unstable mother whom we get glimpses of throughout the novel. Ee's characters don't linger on sentiment, they live in the here and now as they struggle to survive, and I can appreciate that so much; I have no time for characters that wax sentimental for pages about the "way things were."

There is nothing happy in this book, but it's not depressing. Instead, you're thrust into the story as the protagonist, Penryn and her companion, Raffe, make their way to San Francisco toward their individual goals in a symbiotic-- if terse--  partnership. When resolution is found, even that isn't a "happy ending" as one would expect, and leads perfectly to the next book (oh god when does the next book come out?!). Ee delivers a gritty, suspenseful novel with no fluff.

While I find most young adult novels are primarily aimed at a female audience (most of them have female protagonists, and this is no exception) Angelfall felt, as I read it, like it would appeal to a much broader audience. And frankly, it read a little older than some young adult fiction I have read before. There are some heavy science fiction elements toward the end (and I can't wait to find out more), definite horror and gore violence (which was awesome), political maneuvering (unexpected), and an overall sense of chaos amongst the various sets of characters. It was a veritable buffet of literary genre nuggets for the sampling! Honestly, I couldn't put the book down, and when I finished, I really found myself wishing the second book was out already, but sadly, I haven't seen a publication date yet. I suppose, for a book that came out this year, we shall have to be a little patient for the sequel.

Rated 5 stars on Goodreads

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

I entered into this book with no bias, having never read any of Palahniuk's novels, and not knowing what to expect. A clean slate. I know a lot of people don't care for the writing style, but for me, it's very similar to a stream of consciousness, a sort of disjointed inner monologue interspersed with memories and you know, it kind of works for me. I like a bit of grit in my fiction. I like that Victor has just enough of medical school under his belt that he has a WebMD reaction to every ailment, that he checklists his trysts, that he lies to the elderly with dementia to avoid the horrible reality of the disease. In a way, Choke is every dysfunctional relationship and aberrant behavior anyone has ever has, mixed with mental illness, rolled into one big disgusting, uncomfortable ball, a bitter pill to swallow. It doesn't pull punches about addictive and avoidant personalities, and I appreciate that. It's not the best book ever written, but it should be read. I would absolutely love to see this adapted into film.


Holy crap, apparently it was adapted into film! I'll have to check it out.

Rated 5 stars on Goodreads

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

It is often hard to keep track of the dearth of characters in an epic fantasy series such as this one, but Martin handles this exceptionally well by dedicating individual chapters to the characters themselves, to their points of view, their voice, and story. This makes them memorable and therefore makes it so much easier to follow as the story progresses. I found there was less "who was that again?" and more "ah, hello again!" The characters are well-rounded and carry depth, which is hard to find in a lot of fantasy. It's not wonder this series was chosen to be adapted to film, as the characters practically leap from the page.

This is an immense novel, however, full of intrigue, politics, and varying cultures. Martin has pulled no punches in developing a harsh and unforgiving landscape, even for the youngest of his characters. Sansa, who for me throughout the novel was a contemptible spoiled brat finally has her romantic illusions shattered (I won't spoil it). The eight year-old Bran speaks earnestly to a prisoner about the harshness of life in the North (yeah, kids aren't exactly kids in this book, and rightly so) and barely-pubescent Daenerys learns that to be a female leader, there must be some ruthlessness involved. I can appreciate this in his writing, as far too often authors try to give their characters happy endings, coddling them and making everything happy and shiny.

There is nothing happy and shiny in Game of Thrones. Far from it. And I love it for that. Every dirty, nasty, incestuous, grasping, violent, back-stabbing, beheading moment of it. A fairy tale this is not.

While this book originally came out when I was a teenager (why oh why did I never notice it then?) and I could have read it, one book at a time as they were published, I have the entire series at hand now, however, I must say, having finished the book, Martin wrapped it up neatly enough that I am not clamoring desperately for the next in the series, which is unique also in fantasy. As a fan of the genre, often I would wait a year between books with a massive cliffhanger, leaving me empty and unresolved, but not so with Game of Thrones. Martin was so much more courteous and wrote a complete novel as part of a series, rather than something that felt like part one of a massive book to be assembled, like green stamp dictionaries from the super market. I tip my hat, sir. You do your craft a service.

Rated 5 stars on Goodreads