John Shirley

A prequel to the video-game franchise explains how the technologically advanced undersea city called Rapture came to be and how it eventually devolved into a chaotic dystopia.

BioShock: Rapture

It's the end of World War II. FDR's New Deal has redefined American politics. Taxes are at an all-time high. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has brought a fear of total annihilation. The rise of secret government agencies and sanctions on business has many watching their backs. America's sense of freedom is diminishing . . . and many are desperate to take there freedom back. Among them is a great dreamer, an immigrant who pulled himself from the depths of poverty to become one of the wealthiest and admired men in the world. That man is Andrew Ryan, and he believed that great men and women deserve better. And so he set out to create the impossible, a utopia free from government, censorship, and moral restrictions on science--where what you give is what you get. He created Rapture---the shining city below the sea. But as we all know, this utopia suffered a great tragedy. This is the story of how it all came to be . . .and how it all ended.

Kirsten Simkiss

I went into this one with an open mind. I'm not usually one to read books about videogames I've played. However, I had enjoyed the books from Mass Effect enough to give this one a fair shot. Reviews on this book were mixed, with people unhappy at one star and people completely thrilled with five. I give it 3, personally. It was a fun read, but nothing you wouldn't get from playing the games.

This book's major draw was, of course, the already existing audience of people who loved the games. However, the games liked to give you bits of the world in audio clips scattered around the game, out of time and context. Sure, you could sit there and order them a bit, but ultimately it's not something most people will sit down and dissect. We all knew how it would end: the first Bioshock game and the events therein. The books major duty was to show a direct timeline of how exactly things came about and what order those were in. Let's just put it this way: eccentric billionaires are not the best judge of character. If they ever invite you to a nearly anarchist society with all their other eccentric friends, I would definitely advise you against it.

However, there's nothing really shocking about this book if you played the videogames. Sure, you get a little bit more background about the characters that left those audio clips behind for you while you played, but none of the characters were particularly remarkable aside from Bill McDonough. (view spoiler)[RIP man. You were the best of these assholes. (hide spoiler)]

If you like books about sci-fi utopian societies devolving into chaos, you will enjoy this book. Otherwise, I think I'd just invite you to play the games.