Man who's playing with fire: David Lagercrantz on continuing Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series

David Lagercrantz  was acclaimed as one of Sweden’s bestselling authors long before he was contracted to write the fourth  instalment in the Millennium  series about Lisbeth Salander, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Created by his fellow countryman and journalist Stieg Larsson,  the series became a global publishing phenomenon after Larsson’s death in 2004,  selling in excess of 80 million copies. Lagercrantz began his career as a crime reporter and was chosen by Swedish publisher Norstedts  – with the blessing of Larsson’s father and brother, inheritors of Larsson’s estate – to write The Girl in the Spider’s Web,  because of his habit of writing about “complex geniuses”. He talks to Bron Sibree

You’ve won accolades for nine previous bestselling works, including your ghost-writing of the international bestselling memoir of slum-kid turned soccer virtuoso Zlatan Ibrahimovic, I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic. So why take on the risky and controversial task of extending the life of the Millennium universe?

My rule in life is to always follow my passion and that was what I felt for this. I felt a passion that I haven’t felt in years. I wrote it in a sort of fever. I would wake up at 4am and work because I knew that I had to have a complex intrigue. Part of the brilliance of Stieg Larsson’s books is that they are so complex, so many different facets coming together.  When I got this assignment, I just thought “this is important, the whole world wants to read it, and so it’s important that I write a good book, otherwise people will kill me”.  I knew  I would regret it  if I said  no.

What was it specifically about the series that ignited your passion?

Every century creates a couple of characters that really live. Back in the 19th century we had Sherlock Holmes who we’re going back to over and over. And now we have the  superheroes of Hollywood – and Lisbeth Salander  is one of them. She’s unique. She was a brilliant invention of Stieg Larsson. She is just so interesting, her mythology, her background, her character – she is a new kind of female heroine. I’ve tried to make people understand her more in The Girl in the Spider’s Web, but she has to remain a riddle. All great characters, great icons, in literature are a bit of a riddle, and that’s the reason we go back to them over and over. So I think  the characters are the most interesting thing, not only Lisbeth but also Mikael Blomkvist,  the passionate reporter, who I could easily identify with and who, in a way, is her Dr Watson.

Extreme secrecy has shrouded the writing of this book. Although you still cannot discuss the plot, can you tell us how it came about?