![Image](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/37nztu055d5b77ssxbxgs/BioShock_Rapture.jpg?rlkey=goz55dgux8b0nvb9kjh6v9c6c&raw=1)
BioShock: Rapture by John Shirley (paperback): Although I didn’t enjoy playing them much, I think the BioShock games tell one of the finest stories in gaming. This prequel novel goes into how industry tycoon Andrew Ryan built the underwater city of Rapture as a haven from government regulation and nuclear war, and what the first decade there was like.
The first half is a little too slow with all its details about the construction and engineering of Rapture. (Occasionally it actually reads like Atlas Shrugged, though I don’t know whether this is intentional.) Once characters like Lamb and Tennenbaum start making their moves, the book becomes more interesting and we see more of the grotesque violence that characterized the games. The second half is a bit too hurried to establish what we'll see in the games, although it doesn't leave us right at the beginning of BioShock 1 like I hoped it would.
The book makes me appreciate the games’ story even more. It shows how unregulated, unmitigated capitalism quickly leads to social stratification and breakdown. It made me realize that the economic principle of supply and demand is being taken to a wretched, inhumane excess everywhere in the real world.
Though it's a prequel, it should not be read before playing BioShock 1 and 2, as it reveals the plot twists of those games. The author, John Shirley, played BioShock before writing the book and it shows. I'd like to read more by him; he's apparently an unsung pioneer in cyberpunk and splatterpunk. 6 out of 8 bathyspheres.