i loved the girl with the dragon tattoo series. i agree that the first was the hardest to get into - different sort of writing style, lots of names to get your head around etc. whereas the 2nd & 3rd books had the same characters & you already knew the background. i definitely thought they were worth persisting with.
Yep, lapping up the Millenium Trilogy here, too. What a shame Stieg passed away - I feel he was laying the groundwork for some incredible sequels - such as, what about Lisbeth's sister?

It is really refreshing to read a book in which women are actually *people*, really people. Not side-kicks, assistants, decorations, love-interests-only-there-to enhance-the-macho-hero, whore/madonna stereotypes or tokenist. Or ridiculously Lara Croft. But real, well-rounded, complex people (you know ... like women actually are.) Larsson came under intense attack in Sweden from right-wingers who absolutely hated his egalitarian views.