Do you enjoy a side of complicated social questions with your fiction? Do you have an opinion on the ongoing issues of the anti-vaccination movement? Are you a reader of medical thrillers? Have I got the book for you!
Kingdom of Needle and Bone (2018)
Written by: Mira Grant
Genre: Sci-fi/thriller/horror (don’t look at me like that, they all apply)
Pages: 128 (Kindle)
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.
Why I Chose It: I don’t even read the premise before I pick up a book by Grant (or Seanan McGuire, who plays Grant in the sci-fi industry). When I saw the ARC available on NetGalley, I had to throw my hat in for it.
The premise:
We live in an age of wonders. Modern medicine has conquered or contained many of the diseases that used to carry children away before their time, reducing mortality and improving health. Vaccination and treatment are widely available, not held in reserve for the chosen few. There are still monsters left to fight, but the old ones, the simple ones, trouble us no more. Or so we thought. For with the reduction in danger comes the erosion of memory, as pandemics fade from memory into story into fairy tale. Those old diseases can’t have been so bad, people say, or we wouldn’t be here to talk about them. They don’t matter. They’re never coming back. How wrong we could be. It begins with a fever. By the time the spots appear, it’s too late: Morris’s disease is loose on the world, and the bodies of the dead begin to pile high in the streets. When its terrible side consequences for the survivors become clear, something must be done, or the dying will never stop. For Dr. Isabella Gauley, whose niece was the first confirmed victim, the route forward is neither clear nor strictly ethical, but it may be the only way to save a world already in crisis. It may be the only way to atone for her part in everything that’s happened. She will never be forgiven, not by herself, and not by anyone else. But she can, perhaps, do the right thing. We live in an age of monsters.
No spoilers
Discussion: Novellas, when done well, are complete little nuggets of story. Oh, you sometimes wish that they were longer, but these stories are, generally, perfectly fine on their own. Grant’s short fiction frequently leaves the reader craving more. Rather than a luscious chocolate truffle, think of Grant’s novellas as hits of the perfect drug. The highs are glorious, but when you come down, you’re craving the next hit. This is the case with Kingdom of Needle and Bone.
The story, at first, seems straightforward enough. An outbreak happens; mass death follows. One doctor has an idea that’s just insane enough to possibly save humanity from extinction. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that. This is a Grant story, after all.
One theme in the story is the idea of what it means to have body autonomy, and the complicated issues that accompany it. Such issues are, of course, never simple; if one is free to do what one wishes with one’s body, are there any limits? If a woman is free to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy, should one also be free to avoid scientifically sound vaccinations that have been proven to lessen or even completely eliminate the chance that one will become infected with a potentially deadly disease? It’s a problem without a clear answer. It’s also a timely social problem: diseases that had become rare seem to have made a roaring comeback in the last few years. Measles cases are on the rise. Should vaccinations be mandatory? Is the greater good worth more than personal freedom? These are sticky, complicated questions that are explored in Kingdom of Needle and Bone.
I promised no spoilers, but it is so damned hard to avoid them right now. The novella’s ending floored me. I had to go back and re-read the last few pages a couple of times. A little voice in my mind was whispering, over and over, “Does this mean what I think it means?? Did she…? And did SHE…? OH. EM. GEE.” Imagine that I am hopping up and down and flailing helplessly at you right now, because that’s essentially what my brain is doing as I do my best to avoid spoiling anything for you. And Grant’s a sly one — she hints, strongly, at the circumstances that set the entire story in motion, and the reader must be astute, but it is so, so worth it. It is equal parts terrifying and heartbreaking.
In Conclusion: If you’re a fan of medical thrillers, and a fan of Grant’s work, you should head over to Subterranean and pre-order the hardcover. If you’re not a hardcore Grant/McGuire collector, the ebook version may be pre-ordered for a modest 4.99. It’s a great read with a shocking ending that I honestly never saw coming. Please, somebody, read this book so that I have somebody to flail with.
I just finished it yesterday! And yeah, the last line of the novella? I absolutely want more. *grabby hands*