Bioshock: Rapture

Bioshock, Book 1

By: John Shirley

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

It was the end of World War II. FDR's New Deal had redefined American politics. Taxes were at an all-time high. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had created a fear of total annihilation. The rise of secret government agencies and sanctions on business had many watching their backs. America's sense of freedom was diminishing... and many were desperate to take that freedom back.

Among them was a great dreamer, an immigrant who'd pulled himself from the depths of poverty to become one of the wealthiest and most admired men in the world. That man was Andrew Ryan, and he believed that great men and women deserved better. So he set out to create the impossible: a utopia free from government, from censorship, and from moral restrictions on science, where what you gave was what you got. He created Rapture - the shining city below the sea. But this utopia suffered a great tragedy. This is the story of how it all came to be... and how it all ended.

©2011 Take-Two Interactive Software, Incorporated (P)2012 Tantor

great for fans of BioShock

I love Bioshock 1 and 2 and this book filled in some of the plot holes and questions I always had about rapture there is fun to hear the audio tapes from the game once in awhile in this book organically told through the story one of the better video game books I've read

Great Story and Narration

You know it's a good book when it pains you when it ends. You just wanna keep listening for what happens next. Thankfully I played the games book was based on so I know what happens.

A Fantastic Prequel!

Definitely listen to before playing the game. This book successfully sets up the story and establishes the universe for both BioShock 1 & 2. Its is not only a riveting story but thoroughly explains how Rapture came to be and everything it went through in the ten years from when it was built to not long before the first game begins. It entails a lot of information not provided by the games and anything you wanted to know about Rapture prior to the first game will be in here. Narrator was perfect for this book.

Great Story, Poor Narration

I really wish the Narrator had made an attempt to view the source material before reading this. You don't have to play the game, there are enough "Game Movies" and Let's Plays online that you can watch to see the game in it's entirety. Some poor guy even went to the trouble to make a documentary on it with a complete timeline combining all 3 games. You could easily spend an entire year on Bioshock/Rapture lore. His impression of Cohen was the first thing that irked me, but his impression of Sinclair was a huge let down, as well as many others.

However, the Story is a remarkable one and I still enjoy it despite the bad narration. Perhaps they should reconsider doing an audio book version of this game with the original voice actors, or at least as many as they can get to agree to it.

Best book ever!!! I would recommend this!

I love this book!!! everything about this is perfect!! Everything was so descriptive! A dark story but keeps you wanting to finish this.

true lost city of Atlantis

As someone who still has yet to play the full game of the same name I can tell you right now that the performance by the narrator and the excellent writing by the author made for an amazing team while I have been pressure washing my house and garage and cleaning things and it's nice to escape to a totally different world especially since I don't actually have to be Bill McDunna (sorry if I spelled that wrong). tlThe different perspectives in the starting ambitions of rapture are truly realized from a world that was not so insane but more ambitious and slightly of course xenophobic of the East. Rapture really captures the soul of what made the original games so dark and atmospheric and captivating. just about anything you can imagine is realized in this book and I'm thinking about getting it on paperback as well just so I can sit and get lost in the pages late at night. from the perspective of Bill to the iron vision of Andrew Ryan to the sternness of karloski and the sad fate that awaited the ambitious and adventurous citizens of rapture. The rise of the splicers and the tantamount abuse of plasmids and the desire to be something more than human and something more free than those that live on the surface. Rapture is a near perfect example of how overambition combined with xenophobia and self-assuredness to a fault can lead to not only hell for yourself but for hell for others as well. This was an excellent read, not too long and not too short, and I can't wait to see what others are available hopefully by the same narrator.

For the game lovers, is it worth it?

Honestly as someone who played and loved the game I must say I am sad to see that it didn't continue on with the story. But I was happy to hear more on the beginning and how rapture all started. Personally I'd say it's worth a listen having more life put into the characters we know and love. I will say it's weird hearing the the book play out entire scenes that were just small tape recordings you'd find in the game.

Almost precisely what a fan of the series wanted.

Admirable accent work for such an eclectic collection of characters, although, I did struggle with a few, namely Tenenbaum XD And aside from an unfortunate number of audio clips being cut off at the very beginning, a very well produced audio book.

I will admit the writing seemed...less than professional, but that just allowed me to more easily envision my goal to write a novel.

Overall, John Shirley did a great job at staying true to Bioshock while fleshing out more backstory the fans so desperately craved, like a splicer for ADAM.

Interesting premise, not interesting narration

Considering that I am a fan of the BioShock games, starting with the second one and later getting the first, I had some solid views of what I found regarding the lore of the franchise that this world had been given in 2007. With the mighty power of Capitalism taking a serious form in the name of Rapture, with the usage of allowing total freedom for people to do whatever they wanted, showing that there's a clear sign between the rich and the poor, it really gave a lot of what the games have implied through the audio diaries that you could listen to throughout the game, only making it more apparent in the flesh.


When one wants to pop open this book or listen to it as they get somewhere they need to go, they listen to the ways of Ryan's thought process worked, from his origin of Rapture as a means to escape both the West and the East of the surface, to continuing the market without any regulations that could possibly ensure things don't go overboard. Other characters like Bill McDonaugh and Frank Fontaine and several others that are noticeable in the games get some more time to develop as well, such as some of the thought process when Jack was being worked on. The book takes its time to give the reader enough detail as to what could be going on, or perhaps if there are doubts of loyalty and what led to the downfall of the sacred underwater city. It really tries to drive home how Rapture ended up falling apart even before the first game, and you can clearly tell that things would be going bad quickly, a good sign of execution being brought directly inside.

I liked the way the story kept itself going and retaining multiple audio diaries despite having a few changes with the words and adequately adapting to what the player finds in the first game as well as a few connections in the second such as the mention of Sofia Lamb. You can tell the presence of Fontaine and Lamb are closing in as you get deeper into the second and third acts of the book, not sparing any fears that someone could hold for the future.

My least favorite part of the book has to be the narration. John Shirley tries his best with the job he's given as he has to voice numerous characters and deal with the one he was born with. And while he does give more than just one voice per character, I feel like they should have replaced him since his voice for certain characters just seems off like these are the substitutional versions of the characters you can hear in the game, with Andrew Ryan and Fontaine being examples of that. Shirley is decent enough where you won't get annoyed with him, as I found myself sitting through the book, but his job of giving each character a voice feels more could have been desired.

Generally, although there was some retcons from the games, BioShock: Rapture makes a compelling case for the history of the underwater city and makes it well-deserved of a setup for the games to what those who've played the game can connect the dots to. There are some aspects I felt should have been done better since it sticks very heavily with Andrew Ryan and starts feeling like its only purpose by Act III is just completing a checklist of what they need to have before it ties up any loose ends with the beginning of the first game, especially with the stressing of the civil war and Bill's death. Despite this, I liked the first two acts and how they lead to the formation of the city and how it quickly began to fall as quickly as it came, showing capitalism with how it can be handled will lead to major deaths and horrible tragedy to come by. I recommend this for both fans and those interested in regular literature, just know that it may feel like a checklist when the third act kicks in. 4/5.

I never played the game

This is a fantastic stick in the eye of Atlas Shrugged. Good pacing, good story.