T-Post is a Swedish-based wearable magazine. Around the time of its creation, there was much talk about print media being dead, and digital being the new default distribution chain. All of this talk made Peter more adamant that the genre needed innovation. Why not make the magazine more appealing by having it be wearable? A T-Shirt lets users express themselves much more than a standard magazine. This is the philosophy behind T-Post.

T-Post is a subscription-based project that sends out a new T-Shirt to subscribers every month. Your T-Shirt comes in a neat cardboard package that you open much like a real magazine. The shirt will be folded inside out. This is because that month’s story will be printed on the inside of the T-Shirt, and a unique design relating to the story’s theme will be printed on the wearable side of the T-Shirt.

The idea here is that you’ll read the story or interview first, then turn the T-Shirt inside out to be met with the cool design on the front. Because every story needs some kickass artwork to go with it. And when your friend asks you what your shirt represents, you’ll have an interesting story to go along with it.

T-Post sent me a free edition of their product. I received the Ace Potato (175) issue, which includes a story written by Jonas Pekkari about the desires of wanting to escape the stressful urban life and settle into the countryside. The article demonstrates how this dream of a peaceful country living repeats itself every generation since the beginning of industrialization.

The artwork side of the T-Shirt is designed by Peter Lundgren himself, and it has streetwear-style lettering, with the words The Ace Potato Company on the back, complete with an illustrated potato. The chest side of the T-Shirt has a smaller potato illustration.

I’m in love with the idea of T-Post because one can never have too many T-Shirts. And as someone who loves literature and art, the idea that every T-Shirt literally has a story behind it is fascinating.

You can head over to the official T-Post website to subscribe for your monthly T-Shirt. Subscribers are also awarded a 75% discount on any previous editions of their T-Shirts. Which is a pretty generous discount for an item of clothing. One with a strong message at that.

T-Post has an incredible idea here. They are already collaborating with other brands on stories and art, an approach that leads to endless possibilities. Maybe we’ll see collaborations with popular writers and artists all over the globe. What writer wouldn’t want a story printed on a T-Shirt?

T-Post gives their subscribers a creative form of expression that they can look forward to every month.

An Stack Magazines interview with the T-Post founder and Editor-in-chief, Peter Lundgren

Due to some legal complications with his significant other after his passing, she was unable to continue the series for Larsson, despite her knowing everything there was to know about his plans for Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. After Larsson’s untimely death, the rights stayed with the publisher and they decided appoint a new author to Stieg Larsson’s hit series.

When I learned of this, I planned to not continue the series—at least not for a very long time—as I feared it wouldn’t be the same. But then I began to miss the characters. There were distinct characteristics that I enjoyed reading about when it came to Lisbeth and Mikael. So, I decided it was time to see what The Girl in the Spider’s Web was all about.

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This addition to the series is authored by Swedish journalist, David Lagercrantz. His impressive credentials make him a worthy successor to this series and I feel he did a good job. Although, at times it seems like David plays it real safe with these characters as not to ruffle feathers of fans. I don’t mind this approach too much because if there was a radical shift in the characterization of Lisbeth or Mikael, readers would have been furious. The Girl in the Spider’s Web feels very much toned down compared to the previous book in this series, but I feel this direction was necessary to gain the trust of loyal readers such as myself.

By the end of the book, I ended up admiring Lagercrantz’s efforts, given the pressure he must have been under to live up to such a legacy that was left behind by Larsson.

The story in this book is pretty simple, so I will summarise it without giving away too much that will ruin the outcome. The crux of the story is that a genius programmer by the name of Frans Balder hires Lisbeth Salander (code name: Wasp) to recover a dangerous program that he developed for the N.S.A, capable of accessing the world’s nuclear codes. Balder believes it’s too dangerous in the N.S.A’s hands because he has knowledge that they’ve been infiltrated by criminals.

Frans Balder also has a son named August who is autistic. August cannot speak but he can write out advance mathematical equations, and he can illustrate scenes from his memory vividly.

A mercenary is hired to murder Frans Balder and steal his computer. But while doing so, the killer realizes that August is with his father. This is the point when the story really kicks off, and as you can imagine, it weaves both Lisbeth and Mikael into the heart of the events.

There are many side plots surrounding the main one, including the new ownership of Millennium magazine and August’s abusive step-father. And I must admit that all of the segments that deviate from the main plot threads feel relevant. This is a positive considering that The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest seemed to go too far with the irrelevant side plots; even though I still greatly enjoyed that book.

Longtime fans of the series will be happy to know that there is a huge payoff in The Girl in the Spider’s Web for those familiar with the lore. An important figure from Salander’s past is revealed and it leaves many possibilities open for the books that come next.

The Millennium book series is perhaps the biggest literary offering coming from Sweden. This book is translated by George Goulding who did an amazing job. The text is clear and easy to consume, even if lacking in artistic prose here and there.

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Verdict

After being worried that I would hate this book, David Lagercrantz has shown that he is considerate towards the work Larsson left behind. He has advanced this gripping universe of espionage and conspiracy in a responsible way that leaves me wanting more. With The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Langercrantz did exactly what he needed to do and now I’m keen to see how he progresses these lingering plot threads from here.

As with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, everything wraps up nicely at the end of this book, to the point you could end the series here if you wanted to. But there’s one elephant in the room left standing that will leave you aching for the next book, which is The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye.

If you’ve put off reading this book for similar reasons to my own, I urge you to give it a chance. It’s not Larsson work, but it’s something worthy of continuing his legacy.

While the first book was more centered around Mikael Blomkvist, The Girl Who Played With Fire aims to flesh out Lisbeth Salander and expand on her personal story. Blomkvist is still a major part in the story’s progression, but if we consider the first book to be 60% Blomkvist and 40% Lisbeth, then The Girl Who Played With Fire flips that ratio completely.

The first half of this book is almost entirely dedicated to Lisbeth’s character progression. We get to learn more about her psychology, and the logic behind her actions. We begin to understand her more as a person, along with the situations that had an impact on her. But most importantly, we also get a build up to the incredible turn of events that occur around the half-way mark.

After breaking the Wennerström scandal wide open at the end of the first book, Blomkvist is working on another huge story that promises to expose key players in the sex-trafficking trade. But what we think is just a sub-plot ends up tying directly into another ongoing plot that involves Lisbeth Salander. And the way in which these plots connect is pulled off masterfully.

One thing about this book that may irk some, is that the first half focuses heavily on Lisbeth’s narrative. But after a plot twist halfway through the book that has everyone viewing her in a different light, it takes a while before we see her own narrative play out again. This may have some people thinking that it’s a cheap way to build tension, but personally, I enjoyed how Larsson was able to plant seeds of curiosity in the reader’s mind throughout the book.

If there’s one nitpick I have, it’s that I feel there are a couple mundane scenes that make this beast of a book even longer to get through. There are entire scenes focused around characters deciding how to spend their evening and what to eat. While it’s not a huge complaint, I do feel that scenes like this may turn off some readers who are eager to get through the story with no filler.

For a while, The Girl Who Played With Fire did seem like a book that was never ending. It took me an entire month to get through it at my pace. But despite its length, never can I say that there was a moment when I considered shelving the book. The book did enough in it’s first half to sell me on Lisbeth’s character so that I actually cared about her enough to see the story all the way through.

Even some of the book’s antagonists are given excellent attention to detail. And a few of the character introductions help build towards an interesting finale.

Some may question the plausibility of this book’s ending as it makes certain characters come off as somewhat superhuman. Readers who bank on their thrillers being grounded in reality, might begin to think they’re reading about characters with comic book attributes. But I personally believe these moments added an extra flare and gave the climax more edge.

After being told that The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest go hand in hand, I’m more excited to read the final book that came from author Stieg Larsson before his unfortunate death. But being that the third book is even bigger in size than the second, I’ll be holding off for a few months before I pick it up.

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All in all, I believe that The Girl Who Played With Fire deserves to be read by anyone who enjoyed the first book. While I feel like the first book was a more complete story, this sequel is more ambitious in its story telling. And it turns Lisbeth Salander from a cool sidekick into a captivating main character that you’ll want to see more of.