Kingdom of Bones

CW: pandemic, virus affected animals, violence, pet injury, destruction of nature.

It's always fun getting back to a new installment in this series and while I couldn't read it immediately upon release, I'm glad I caught up soon.

I usually never even bother reading the summary of a Sigma Force because I will read it anyway, so imagine my surprise when I open it and realize it has a pandemic. I'm actually pretty astonished that this is my third or fourth book with a pandemic and it's aftermath premise since Covid started and I'm willingly reading them. I didn't think I had it in me. But this is also not the first pandemic story in this series, so I somehow felt it easier to read because I can kind of guess the beats of this story.

I'm not gonna talk much about the writing or action because they are always fun to read when written by Rollins and this is no different. I however, liked that the author brought his veterinarian experience into this book which features many many different creatures, both real and genetically different, and it was all quite terrifying to read. The author also throws light on the colonization of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the two wars which devastated it, and how even now, other countries and corporations try to exploit the country for its rich natural resources while its people suffer under the atrocities of warlords, poachers, militias and many more.

But the one thing I will take away from this book is how the author manages to describe Mother Nature as a sentient force who won't always remain silent in the wake of unfathomable destruction, deforestation, pollution and exploitation of natural resources conducted by human beings. We as a species have only been part of this world for a tiny amount of time and when we tip the balance too far, it won't be surprising if Mother Nature decides to retaliate and wipe us off. It's undeniable that we are seeing some forms of her indignation in how climate change is ravaging the world, maybe only in its nascent stages with more devastation to come; and how the havoc Covid caused across the world, helped along by incompetent governments and illogical responses by people, has wiped off millions of people in just a couple of years.

We have many scientists and intellectuals warning us that things will get worse in the future unless we do something and I feel this book is one among many fictional stories urging us to consider the same. If we continue with the take, take, take attitude, we'll have nothing but ourselves to give up in the future.