I am a big fan of the first books of this saga, those where the books that took me from YA to adult reading in my younger years as reader. They got a very special place in my heart. Starting from there I need admit that after reading this book I am in the conclusion that the Millenium series won't ever have the glory they had when they where under Larsson. When Larsson died in 2009 he left a empty space in the crime fiction, that till this day I couldn’t fill. When the continuation of the saga was publish in 2013 I was disappointed to read the book. My biggest trouble with this book is that it doesn’t feel like a continuation to the saga, it feel like is it own book. I didn’t enjoy the character of lisbet and for me she is one of the best characters in modern literature ever created. I am sure I won’t carry reading the rest of the books in this saga because as I state before they will never have the level that had with Larsson. Overall is a okay book slow paced and yes well written. But a disappointment for the fans of the saga. There are some beautiful things that probably are better left as they are. Big thanks for the access to this ARC to NetGalley and the publisher.

Book 7 following on from the first three written by "Stieg" Larsson the girl in the dragon tattoo series, a great trilogy and one a really enjoyed; I have read book 5 and 6 unfortunately not impressed by new authors and I am sorry to say this didn't make me want to go out and have a tattoo either. I get the feeling it will be a marmite version. I felt that the story didn't continue where we left of with little further character development, was it the translation ? how do I know as I cant read Swedish. Just found it slow going and a tad yawning. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review prior to publication, it was appreciated.

I was really looking forward to reading this having fallen in love with Salander and Blomqvist from the earlier books. Sad to say,it did not live up to my expectations. It started off okay but then took a dip in the middle where not a great deal seemed to happen to progress the story. There were a lot of characters so I kept going back to familiarise myself with them. I persevered though and the story picked up pace but I felt it was a disappointing ending, deliberately left to make way for a potential sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc but I’m afraid it was wasted on me. I was so excited because I loved all the previous books, but I couldn’t get into this one at all. I found the writing style very strange, in fact annoying, and for the life of me I couldn’t work out what was going on after the first few chapters. Nothing was as I’d hoped and expected and it was a relief when I reached the end. Sorry!

Hmm. I have mixed feelings about this one. I was a bit confused initially. It's been many years since I read the first three books and I haven't read the subsequent titles. I struggled initially to work out relationships and past links. I recognised a few names but couldn't recall how they interacted/impacted with the main characters in the original series.

At some point I started to enjoy it although now and again it was a bit hard to follow and I was having to go back to remind myself who was who. Maybe I should revisit the original trilogy and then read the other books in the series.

I'm pretty sure the first three books in the series really grabbed my attention. They were page turners, and hard to put down and I could imagine the characters and the places. I didn't get that with this book. It was okay but not brilliant. I really wanted to like it more.

I got the feeling the ending was slightly unresolved but but perhaps that's for the next book.

Stieg Larsson's death on November 9, 2004, left a hard-to-fill vacuum in the Swedish crime fiction canon and what followed his untimely demise was a conflict soaked in bitterness and accusations between Stieg's soulmate Eva Gabrielsson and the family of the late editor of the infamous political magazine Expo whose members retained the rights of the renowned Millenium saga. Larsson completed three full novels and had begun to write the fourth one when he died due to a severe heart attack, in a series that was originally planned to be completed in 10 installments. Thus, there was a vacancy that was filled by David Lagercrantz, an author mostly known in Sweden for his biography of the football player Zlatan Ibrahimović, who was assigned to the task of writing three more novels (#4,#5,#6) by the publishing house Norstedts. The announcement was made in December 2013 and the new novel was titled The Girl in the Spider's Web, eventually published in August 2015 (UK). It should be noted that Gabrielsson, Stieg's life partner for three decades, harshly criticized Lagercrantz's project as the latter didn't use any of Larsson's notes, something that was deemed profoundly offensive. Lagercrantz walked a literary tightrope as he attempted to infuse his own style into a well-established recipe, and the result made many think that the Millenium series won't ever acquire the glory and prestige of the Larsson's era.

Two more novels were signed by Lagercrantz in the following years (The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye, The Girl Who Lived Twice) that further solidified his unique approach to the story and characters and there is still major controversy regarding how respectful the author should have been towards the initial trilogy that set the standards for the saga as a whole. In November 2021, the publishing house Polaris announced that they acquired the rights to the Millennium series from Larsson's estate and will release three new books in the series, all written by the Swedish crime writer Karin Smirnoff. The third in order, writer of Millenium novels, has stated that "The Millennium books are classics in their genre, where the combination of unforgettable characters and the strong political and societal engagement still fascinates readers. I will continue to build on Stieg Larsson's core themes, such as violence, abuse of power, and contemporary political currents." As a consequence, I was fervently hopeful that the third would turn out to be the charm, even though I haven't read any of Smirnoff's previous works. I have to admit that I was not thoroughly satisfied by The Girl in the Eagle's Talons for reasons that I will explain later in my review, nevertheless I found it to be a far cry compared to the previous novels by Lagercrantz, featuring a dense plot and a good pacing but, sadly, being deficient in characterization and most importantly the outlining of the two iconic characters of Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander.

The story sets off with both Mikael and Lisbeth taking a long trip to Gasskas, a godforsaken little town in the northern parts of Sweden, each for his own reasons. Blomkvist is visiting his daughter, Pernille, who is about to get married to a local municipal bigwig, Henry Salo. The former investigative journalist is not at his best moment as his precious "child", the Millenium magazine has recently printed its last issue and what now remains is a podcast, a medium that Mikael rightfully distrusts. When he meets his soon-to-be son-in-law, some of his journalistic instincts come to the surface as Salo is a shady local politician who is mixed up in an awful lot of businesses, always aiming to achieve more and upgrade his financial situation as well as his status. Lisbeth travels to Gasskas as her niece, Svalla, the daughter of her arch-enemy and half-brother Ronald Niedermann, has been left all alone in the world after her mother's disappearance and her grandmother's death. The antisocial hacker is appointed as Svalla's guardian, a role that she couldn't resent more, as it is completely at odds with her independent spirit. However, as she gets to know better the 13-year-old girl, the two of them begin to forge a sincere bond and Lisbeth starts to feel obligated to protect Svalla.

As far as the wider plot context is concerned, there is an immensely ambitious project brewing in Gasskas where a vast park of wind turbines will be built, guaranteeing the community's wellbeing for the decades to come. However, there are many parties who would like to invest in the project and some of them belong to the world of organized crime, such as Marcus Branco. Branco is a criminal boss in a wheelchair, nevertheless his handicap doesn't deter him from being ruthless and abominable, and he doesn't hesitate to threaten, rape and kill for pleasure or business. He is a fascinating villain and an antagonist worthy of the Millenium tradition which has given us some of the most detestable bad guys, the majority of them belonging to the higher echelons of the Swedish society. However, this well-crafted character comes as a stark contrast to the skimpy character outlining of both Mikael and Lisbeth. Both protagonists seem to have forever lost their magic and mystique as Smirnoff chooses to integrate some fundamental traits to each one, nevertheless, the bigger picture remains exiguous and comes across to the reader as inadequate. There is nothing reminiscent of Mikael's superlative wits and buzzing instincts, while Lisbeth seems to be a shadow of her former self, simply carrying through with her lines in her dialogue bits.

Smirnoff's novel is not hard-to-read and will entertain you, especially if you are not a demanding crime fiction reader, nonetheless the simple fact that it is the seventh installment in the most lauded and discussed book series in the Nordic countries makes me more austere in my assessment(s). The Girl in the Eagle's Talons stands at a higher level than Lagercrantz's novels, but fails to revive the magic of the initial trilogy, mainly due to the deficient characterization of the two protagonists. The novel has other merits, and they should be enough for the average reader of the genre, however the hardcore fans of Stieg's universe will find it rather hard not to feel a bit underwhelmed in the end.

I have read the first two books in the series but nothing since. I was fascinated to know how another author would tackle the sequels
Not a bad story but like another reviewer I kept having to resort to Google to check words/references that I didn't understand which broke the book up a bit too much. It reads like there will be more books and possibly another spin off? Is this a good idea? The jury is out. Glad I read this book

I have read and, for the most part, enjoyed all of the previous instalments in the Millennium saga and was very grateful to receive an ARC from NetGalley. In fact, the opportunity to apply for an ARC of The Girl in the Eagle's Talons was the reason I decided to join NetGalley in the first place which is probably why I feel so underwhelmed by the return to Lisbeth's life and that of Mikael Blomkvist.

The story doesn't really feel like a continuation of the series; rather an attempt to introduce new characters that we are going to see in future books (potentially even a YA spinoff featuring Lisbeth's niece Svala) and precariously tie them in to the Millennium universe.

Many of the references to Swedish culture, places, songs and products have been lost in translation and are not explained to readers from other regions which I found off putting as I was either resorting to texting a Swedish friend or searching Google for the answers which all distracted me from the events that were unfolding and the picture that was being painted. I had the same issue with many aspects of the combat with technical terms being used that not even Google could help me with.

Overall I am not unhappy that I have read the book but it has made me wonder if I am going to continue with the series, especially if Lisbeth is featured so little in future novels and the relationship between her and Mikael continues to stall out.

Having read other novels by Stig Larson starting with the Girl with the Dragon tattoo I was intrigued to know how the story of Lisbeth Sanders and Mikel Blomquist could continue.
Libeth gets a call from social services to help her niece whom she has never met as no other family members are able to look after her when her grandmother dies.
Svala, the niece's mother has gone missing .
Blomquist is attending the wedding of his daughter in the same town. She is marring a local councellor involved in shady dealings and a land grab to build a large wind farm.
Third parties try to apply pressure including an old enemy of Libeth's, a motor bike gang from Stockholm.
Anyone who has read Stig's books will enjoy this.
After the first chapter which was a bit difficult to follow at first, I really enjoyed the book and it was true to the style. I think I enjoyed it even more than the others in the series.

Lisbeth Salandar is back. Yet I had to wait a long time for her to appear, as the story line was set up. It’s a complicated one, and only the surface is scratched in this book (but that means more to come). The main new character is Lisbeth’s young relative, an interesting teenager - as flawed as Lisbeth? Read and find out. Lisbeth doesn’t know her, yet they have a connected past, and that may lead to trouble for everyone. Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

I didn’t enjoy this book. I’m a huge fan of the Lisabeth Salander character and this didn’t sit right. I should think this is just because the writer is getting settled in with the character and look forward to the next outing.

I have to say I was a huge fan of the first trilogy in this series and then also the books that followed after.
Lisbeth is one of my favourite characters and in this book she has had to take on guardianship of her niece Svala who has lost both her parents. Anyone who is familiar with the books will know that this is a very new avenue of life for Lisbeth. The whole idea threw her for six, but she also knows what is like to be on your own trying to navigate this thing called life.

Svala is quite gifted but she is also grieving after losing her grandmother and life is about to throw curve balls at her that may require some help from Lisbeth. There is big money in the installation of windmills and Henry Salo, head of the municpality in Gasskas, has the job of trying to get land owners to give up their land so more windmills can be installed. There are a couple of owners who do not want any part of this but others are about to make their lives very difficult if they do not agree. Events then occur that see Lisbeth doing what she does best to counter the outcomes of others actions and also protect Svala on the way.

Did I enjoy this book? it was just ok for me, I did not find the subject matter that exciting and I Lisbeth could have played a much bigger part in the story. Still worth the read but I am not sure if I will carry on with any future books. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book, all opinions are my own.

What a treat it is to be returning to Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist! Karin Smirnoff, and her translator Sarah Death, do an excellent job in this continuation. Stieg Larsson’s distinctive characters and interest in social justice are both preserved and built upon - this is an up-to-date outing, complete with TikTok - and I prefer this revival of the Millennium series over previous efforts.

A toothless dragon and a bumbling Blomkvist. I’m not fully sure what went wrong but The Girl in the Eagles talons just simply doesn’t go anywhere.

It introduces far too many characters and gives them nothing to do, adds threats that go nowhere and a mysterious villain who makes 70s Bond villains seem hammy. Add the a precocious teen and you’ve got a sequel by numbers.

This was a struggle to finish unfortunately and I did nearly give in at several points. I hope this is just a new author finding their feet in an established world as the fundamental strengths of these characters are currently awol.

This was an action packed, page turner with a bit of scary suspense. It was a page turner with interesting characters. Each character had some unique characteristics that made them fun to read about and try to visualize. There was a bit of graphic steam. I especially liked the ending

It was good to get the gang back together, though maybe some of them could have shown up a bit earlier.
I consider this the Salander series, yet she barely appears in first part of book.
There's a lot going on, and it's all connected. I had to pay very close attention to how at times.
I feel we've moved on with the characters, added more to their stories, but not much more than that.
Enjoyable to read the latest in the series, but it's not one to read if you've not read the rest.