Kingdom of Bones

Kingdom of Bones by James Rollins is an action-packed, heart-stopping, un-put-downable thriller and the sixteenth addition to the Sigma Force Series. This one's a winner!

A UN relief team in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been overrun by nature running amok when floods send refugees to the camp who swiftly reach a catatonic state. Quickly following this, the camp is then overrun by violent attacking ants. After being bitten people can rapidly notice the effects. Because something is changing in the evolution of insects and animals the fear is that it could be the start of a pandemic so members of the Sigma Force team (Gray, Monk, Kowalski) are sent in along with former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and Kane, his dog. Before they even show more reach the camp to rescue them from the ant armies, it is attacked on several different fronts, human and animal, and doctors are taken as prisoners. Quickly a mission for information and support becomes a rescue mission fraught with danger. It is discovered that part of the answer may lie in the legendary Kingdom of Bones.

Kingdom of Bones starts at a gallop and this fast pace is nonstop until the end. Once you start reading it is impossible to put down. The new characters introduced for this adventure are all wonderfully interesting and capable or decidedly evil. The writing, as expected, is extraordinary, both in structure and execution. The plot is entertaining and frightening while the threats against the team are non-stop. This is one of my new favorite Sigma Force novels. I've read almost everything Rollins has written, however this is the first time he had me sobbing so hard I couldn't see and had to concentrate to pull myself together because I could not stop reading. When you read Kingdom of Bones you'll know when this scene happens. (I silently cursed him for this part.)

Rollins has had viruses and threatened pandemics in his plots before so this should be nothing new for long time readers, although it is understandable why he had second thoughts about it this time. I am thrilled that he continued to write the novel because it is incredible and everything anyone could want in a Sigma Force novel. As expected he has an informative Author's Note to Readers: Truth or Fiction section at the end of the novel, which I always appreciate and find informative.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via Edelweiss.
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4660097708 show less

As the latest entry in James Rollins’s long-running Sigma Force series, Kingdom of Bones promises high-stakes adventure, exotic settings, and the signature blend of science, history, and action the author is known for. The premise is undeniably gripping—set deep in the Congo, a mysterious phenomenon is reversing the natural order, dulling human minds while accelerating the evolution of plants and animals into cunning, deadly predators. The threat spreads outward, and Commander Gray Pierce and his team must race to uncover the truth before it consumes the world.
The opening chapters set the stage for an intriguing mystery, with an eerie atmosphere and the promise of dangerous exploration. Rollins’s research is evident on every page; show more he dives deep into science, history, and African ecology, weaving fascinating facts into the story. For some readers, this meticulous attention to detail will be a strength, grounding the more fantastical elements in believable science.
Unfortunately, the novel’s pacing doesn’t always match its premise. While there are moments of genuine action and tension, large portions of the book are bogged down by dense exposition and sudden bursts of information that feel more like lectures than revelations. This slows the momentum, especially for those expecting a tight, pulse-pounding thriller. The balance between storytelling and research leans heavily toward the latter, sometimes at the expense of character development and emotional stakes.
For longtime Sigma Force fans, Kingdom of Bones offers familiar faces and the comfort of returning to a beloved cast, but it also shows signs of fatigue. With so many installments in the series, the spark of originality feels dimmer here, and the urgency that once defined these adventures is harder to sustain.
Overall, Kingdom of Bones has flashes of the adventurous spirit that made the Sigma Force series a bestseller, but it struggles under the weight of its own ambition and over-explanation. show less

This book was a bit different from the previous Sigma Force novels. There was still plenty of action, with the Sigma Team running around all over. However, there seemed to be almost too much action and not enough character development. Because there was so much going on, with the team pulled in so many different directions, there seemed to be no time for Rollins to take a breath and give us a peek inside the personal lives of the characters. Despite the fact that the book was a whopping 426 pages long. The backgrounds and personal lives of the characters are only mentioned in passing - as if to just remind the reader of who they were - and that really was a shame, because getting to know these characters across the previous 15 books was show more really enjoyable. I want to keep getting to know them better.

Also, I very much missed Seichan. She was left out completely, only barely mentioned. How can there be so much action without her and her inner demons? She is the most complex character of them all and always brought an uneasy undercurrent to the Sigma Force novels, and I really liked that unsettling feeling that I'd get whenever she popped into the scene. She gave more depth to the series.

I was very happy to see Tucker and Kane make their way into this book. It's always fun when an author has characters from one series mix with characters from another series, and I had been waiting interminably for a new Tucker and Kane story. So it's like I got that and a Sigma story rolled into one. Yay!

Despite the weaknesses of this book, I still enjoyed it quite a bit because Rollins really knows how to write an action thriller. I have always loved the Sigma Force series, and I eagerly await book #17. show less

Thank you William Morrow and Goodreads for an advanced copy!

"Kingdom of Bones" is the latest in the Sigma Force series. In all honesty, this is the first in the series that I have read. As some other reviewers mentioned, I too was a bit leery about another pandemic(ish) novel. However, after reading the summary, it felt just interesting enough for me to give it a try. I have to say, that I LOVED it! At the beginning of the novel, James Rollins explains in his "Notes From The Scientific Record", that he "pitched the idea for this novel long before the Coronavirus pandemic". In my opinion this made the novel just that more interesting.

As mentioned, I had not read any of the previous Sigma Force series. However, the plot, characters and show more setting of this novel stood on its own. "Kingdom of Bones" was easy to follow and a "page turner" read.

If you are looking for an action packed, science fiction novel, I would highly recommend "Kingdom of Bones"

I look forward to reading previous and upcoming novels in the Sigma Force series! show less

Kingdom of Bones is the 16th Sigma Force thriller from James Rollins. The story began with a United Nations relief team in a small Congo village making an alarming discovery. An unknown virus is leveling the evolutionary playing field. Men, women, and children have been reduced to a dull, catatonic state while plants and animals have grown more cunning and predatory, evolving at an exponential pace. This phenomena is spreading from a cursed site in the jungle, known to locals as the Kingdom of Bones, and sweeping across Africa, threatening the rest of the world. What made the biosphere run amok; a natural event or did someone engineer it? Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force have kept the world safe for years. However, even these show more highly trained scientists do not understand what is unfolding in Africa or know how to stop it. In order to head off a global catastrophe, the Sigma Force crew must once again risk their lives to uncover the shattering secret at the heart of the African continent.

I usually love a James Rollins novel. I liked this one but I cannot say I loved it. It was highly technical concerning the biology of viruses which was way over my ability to understand. Also, the plot premise was a little too fantastical. Just because something could be possible doesn't mean that it's probable. The virus that the Sigma Force crew was investigating would mutate in the offspring of infected creatures. The DNA of the new creatures was sufficiently altered to make them more dangerous to humans but also too different from the species that they originated from. One other issue I had was why a military dog was taken along for this jungle adventure. Is it likely that a combat veteran would bring his dog?

This was an OK novel. show less

Compelling as always. Our guys and gals go into the Congo to discover the origin of a terrifying new disease, and discover far more than they expected.

Not one of his better stories, IMHO.