A “new sequel” for the saga Millennium : after the phenomenon of the first posthumous trilogy of Stieg Larsson, then a second trilogy signed by a best-selling author, the goose that lays the golden eggs of Swedish thrillers will continue with three new opus.
Swedish publisher Polaris announced Monday that it had secured the rights to three new books about the adventures of investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist and hacker Lisbeth Salander.
“Carrying out further this deeply loved story is not only exhilarating and honoring, but also demanding,” said its managing editor Jonas Axelsson.
The name of the author who will take up the torch is not yet known, but a woman would be well placed.
“I hope it will be a woman, I obviously know a little more, but I will have to make everyone wait,” Larsson family representative Magdalena Hedlund told AFP. .
With more than 100 million copies sold, published in more than 50 countries around the world and adapted several times to the cinema, the Millennium saga was one of the greatest publishing boxes of the 21st century, combined with a tragic fate.
An investigative journalist specializing in far-right movements, Stieg Larsson died of a heart attack in 2004 just after handing in his first three manuscripts – Men who didn’t like women (published in 2005), The girl who dreamed of a gas can and a match (2006) and The queen in the drafty palace (2007).
Controversial
He will therefore never have known fortune or seen the success of his work, just like his companion Eva Gabrielsson, excluded from the succession because the couple was not married.
The inheritance controversy had aroused years later when the decision of a first sequel to be entrusted to bestselling author David Lagercrantz, with the agreement of the brother and father of Stieg Larsson, legatees of his work. .
In vain, Eva Gabrielsson had insurged that this son of an intellectual from the upscale neighborhoods resume the series imagined by a militant journalist of provincial origin, very committed to the left and who disdained the socialites.
The second trilogy – What doesn’t kill me in 2015, The girl who hit back two years later and The girl who must die in 2019 – had been published as the top three by Swedish publisher Nordstedts.
David Lagercrantz, also known for having co-signed the biography of the Swedish footballer with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has already indicated that he does not intend to continue the series, despite the millions of copies sold.
Polaris praised his “fantastic work” and displayed his joy in giving a “new sequel” to an “incomparable epic”.
“We are grateful for the confidence of the Larsson family and will do our best, with the proper author and respect for the origins, to maintain the luster of Millennium », Swore the new editor.
No financial details were released.
“We’ve had quite a few editors interested. We had long evaluated the different aspects of a cooperation and (Polaris) turned out to be the best in many ways, ”said Magdalena Hedlund.
Beyond the captivating scenarios of any good Nordic thriller with its inevitable family secrets, Millénium is also hailed as a fascinating social critique of contemporary Sweden, of the threats of technological progress and of the far right on freedoms via the violence against women or the role of the media.