BioShock: Rapture



BioShock (series): Rapture is a tie-in Prequel to the video games BioShock (series) and BioShock 2. It was written by John Shirley and released by Tor Books.

The novel goes into detail about everything mentioned in the games' Apocalyptic Logs. After World War II Andrew Ryan designs the underwater city of Rapture to escape from the various people he percieves as parasites who want to take from the common man, and invites the best and brightest to live with him. But several problems soon arise: an increase in population leads to a need for more housing; a less educated group of people are brought in to build new housing but are then left to defend themselves, creating a large underclass. Resources run short when the initial residents do not feel like being totally self-sufficent.

All this creates unrest among the populace, which is made worse with the dscovery and widespread distribution of ADAM. Eventually Rapture erupts into civil war and the city falls apart.

"Andrew Ryan: I'm going to show you a marvel taking shape southwest of Ireland. And I promise you that you will be...enraptured."
 * Call Forward: Pretty much every character except Andrew Ryan makes a comment about some flaw in Rapture that will eventually make it the mess Jack finds it to be in by the time of the game.
 * When Bill McDonagh first meets Sander Cohen, Cohen invites Ryan to a gallery show specializing in tableau vivant art that he is holding in Greenwich Village.
 * Dead Person Impersonation:
 * Decoy Leader:
 * Doomed by Canon:
 * Establishing Character Moment: Andrew Ryan is first introduced railing against miners on strike, Frank Fontaine is conning a guy out of his business using an alias, and Sander Cohen is starring in a terrible show.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Fontaine is at first genuinely creeped out by the methods Suchong and Tenenbaum come up with for producing more ADAM. He gets over it when he realizes how much money can be made, however.
 * Foregone Conclusion: Rapture is not going to last. It even says so on the back of the book.
 * Four Lines, All Waiting: The narrative switches between Andrew Ryan, Bill McDonagh, Frank Fontaine, Sander Cohen, Brigid Tenenbaum, Sofia Lamb, Dr. Steinman, Sullivan, and occasionally minor characters.
 * Gilligan Cut: When hearing about a emergency involving sabotage, Andrew Ryan guesses that Bill is already dealing with it. Cut to Bill (knee-deep in water) wondering how on earth he's going to deal with the emergency.
 * Incredibly Lame Pun:


 * My God, What Have I Done?: Security chief Sullivan goes through this after Ryan orders him
 * Only Sane Man: Bill McDonagh, the closest thing this book has to a protagonist. Especially apparent when all the other characters start going from deluded to insane. Even moreso his wife Elaine, who points out problems with Rapture right at the beginning.
 * Start of Darkness: For Rapture itself, and debatably Andrew Ryan.