Bioshock: Rapture is a novel by John Shirely that, as a prequel to the blockbuster game series, introduces us to the various characters whose audio diaries relate the tale of the ill-fated underwater city known as Rapture. The book primarily follows Bill McDonagh through the 1940s and '50s as he goes from fixing toilets in Andrew Ryan's penthouse to fixing leaky bulkheads in Rapture. Ryan (whose name is apparently an allusion to Ayn Rand's similar socioeconomic viewpoints), an immigrant from Russia who has amassed a vast fortune, fears what he sees as a coming apocalypse of both the nuclear and the socialist variety. In the time of FDR's New Deal, all Ryan sees are parasites looking for a handout. He respects men like Bill who only want an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. He spends vast amounts of money to build and keep secret his underwater city of Rapture, where he intends to let the invisible hand of the free market (here known as the Great Chain) reign supreme. Every man who wishes can ply a trade, can work his way up and make something of himself in Rapture, but can never leave, and can have no contact with the outside world. There is virtually no regulation in Ryan's city, as he sees regulation as a hindrance of progress. This gives the reader a peek into what life might be like in a truly free market society. Cocaine stores open up, medical ethics go out the window, the rich get richer, the poor are forced to live in crowded squalor, and in one of the book's most poignant examples, a grocer who also happens to own the area trash removal services offers to pickup trash at a competing grocery store...for 10 times the normal price. When the struggling grocer complains about his inability to afford pickup of the ever growing piles of trash, he's told by Ryan that he, the grocer, should solve the problem himself, like a man, and stop complaining that he's not getting a fair shake because the fellow (literally) across the street is running a successful business. The grocer takes Ryan's advice and proceeds to shoot and kill the grocer/trash collector before taking his own life, one of the first of many lives lost in Rapture.
Meanwhile, the underwater city has been infiltrated by Frank Fontaine, a man who killed the name's original owner in order to find out what Rapture was and potentially come away with a good chunk of Andrew Ryan's money. Thinking possibly of blackmail, Fontaine soon discovers that in Ryan's new utopia, there's nothing to stop him from becoming top dog and usurping Ryan's control over the city entirely. With the creation of Plasmids, injectables that give the user special abilities, and ADAM and EVE, the two components necessary to use Plasmids, Fontaine gets one gigantic step closer to taking over Rapture. And the fact that the Plasmids are highly addictive keeps him supplied with all the money and resources he needs to enact his master plan to both bring down Ryan and place himself at the top of the heap.
As Plasmid use grows and conditions in Rapture worsen, Ryan begins to take drastic measures that force those around him to face the sad truth that utopia's days are numbered and ultimately lead to the shattered conditions found at the beginning of the Bioshock video game.
If you've played and enjoyed the game Bioshock, I'd definitely recommend giving this book a read. I will say this: you really should play the game before reading the book. You'd only really need to play Bioshock. I don't recall anything that would ruin Bioshock 2, although there is a mention of the events that occur at the beginning of Bioshock 2. I'm guessing the book was written with the reader being familiar with the events of the game in mind. The book pretty much gives away several of the major plot twists that made the game so interesting to play.
It's kind of neat to see the path that leads Andrew Ryan to Rapture, as well as the life and times of Rapture's occupants as they deal with pretty much living inside a glass bubble, separated from the rest of the world. They're cut off from new music, new trends, as well as family and friends. You're given a sort of behind the scenes look at how the convergence of the game's primary antagonists (Ryan, Fontaine, and a psychiatrist named Sofia Lamb) lead to the undoing of Rapture. The book presents the events that occurred when several of the audio diaries found throughout the game were recorded, so there's a very slick tie-in with the game. The book is well written and evenly paced, but as stated, will definitely spoil a lot of the plot points of the game. So if you enjoyed Bioshock, were drawn in by the characters and story, and are ready to take another trip to Rapture, head back to where it all began (to fall apart) with Bioshock: Rapture. And be sure to keep an eye out for Bioshock: Infinite, the next game in the Bioshock franchise.
Chris
| From My Playlist |
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Artist: | Pendulum |
| Song: | The Vulture | |
| Album: | Immersion | |
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