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cindytheskull's review
2.0
Had there never been a Bioshock Game, this book would be quite enjoyable.
But since it needs to put up with the story line and evolution of the plot in the game, and fails badly at it due to multiple reasons, I did not enjoy reading it.
First and foremost, there is way too much detail and dialog which do NOT give the main game story any depth.
If a Bioshock fan wants to read a book based on its story, it would expect more character description and development of Tenenbaum, Suchong, Lamb, Steinman etc.
You don't get any of it here, but instead, you can read pages and pages about how a room looks like or how two splicers attack each other.
Furthermore, the writing style is not really fluid or enjoyable, and the desperate attempt to give some characters an accent ended up in mere stereotype (it is not enough to replace "my" with "me" to make an Irish character sound Irish).
The third and last point is the complete lack of scientific explanations about how ADAM and EVE really work and where the side effects came from. Why does someone loose control of the power of the plasmids so quickly? Why do they go insane?
I found the book rather disappointing and would not recommend it to someone who really wants an event description through the eyes of the characters.
But since it needs to put up with the story line and evolution of the plot in the game, and fails badly at it due to multiple reasons, I did not enjoy reading it.
First and foremost, there is way too much detail and dialog which do NOT give the main game story any depth.
If a Bioshock fan wants to read a book based on its story, it would expect more character description and development of Tenenbaum, Suchong, Lamb, Steinman etc.
You don't get any of it here, but instead, you can read pages and pages about how a room looks like or how two splicers attack each other.
Furthermore, the writing style is not really fluid or enjoyable, and the desperate attempt to give some characters an accent ended up in mere stereotype (it is not enough to replace "my" with "me" to make an Irish character sound Irish).
The third and last point is the complete lack of scientific explanations about how ADAM and EVE really work and where the side effects came from. Why does someone loose control of the power of the plasmids so quickly? Why do they go insane?
I found the book rather disappointing and would not recommend it to someone who really wants an event description through the eyes of the characters.
rosa_lina96's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A worthwhile book to read if you're a fan of Bioshock, like I am--otherwise, you might not get much leverage out of the book. It nicely sets up the rise, decline, and fall of Rapture, all while making it clear that its fall was at least partially due to the arrogance of its founders. Overall, it was a dark, twisted, and somehow still enjoyable read, but I definitely do agree with the viewpoints of other people on it having far too many character arcs to try and keep track of (as well as some woefully underdeveloped characters).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Racism, and Ableism
Minor: Suicide, Trafficking, and Racial slurs
samuel_lapointe's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? N/A
4.0
jellison's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bruinrocks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
michaelr1022's review against another edition
3.0
Shirley's Rapture is unfortunately not as gracefully composed as the game it is based upon. The premise works well, the author took a good amount of poetic license and really embraced the world he was "prequeling," but I'll be damned if it was just too drawn out at times.
The story of Bioshock revolves around an art deco aquatic city named Rapture built by Andrew Ryan in the 40's and 50's to escape the over-bearing US government and the impending nuclear holocaust of the cold war. As the game Bioshock placed us straight into Rapture after it's apparent fall from grace, John Shirley was tasked with creating our cities backstory, and he does a fair job at this. Integrating iconic characters from the game, helping fill in their past and give reason to their inevitable madness, Shirley was spot on with retaining the essence of Ken Levine's masterpiece game.
Where this book begins to fall apart is the political subplots, and Andrew Ryan's own maddening stubbornness. Ryan was a visionary, he created a society under water that was functioning well, and while its downfall was brought about by outside influences, it was also his own stubborn attitude that caused most of the havoc. This is a 400 page novel where one of our main characters is told time and again that his ideas aren't working, and he refuses to believe it. He is the blind prophet in the worst way possible, seeing only his amazing race to glory while blind to the harsh realities of what he has actually created. As a reader, I spent a good amount of time and energy hating Ryan, and then hating him more as his own stupidity affected the few characters that I actually did like; then hating him even more because I could never figure out how this stubborn man could make such a major fortune and have the intelligence to build an entire city beneath the water without the government's awareness. None of that adds up, not even if you attempt to turn Ryan into a Howard Hughes-esque character, blinded by his ambition to attain his goals. At some point, Ryan, as a businessman, should have realized Rapture was not working and he was never going to fix it. With the world that Shirley creates, Rapture spent too long in a state of chaos to have even had so many people alive when the game began.
So all in all, having just rambled a bit there, Bioshock captures the essence of the game, it gives a good and sometimes innovative approach to Rapture's history, but it does very little to convince me of Ryan's character, and could have easily been wrapped up with 100 pages less. Sadly, by Part III of the book I felt that reading was a chore, and I was doing it so that I could go outside and play with my friends after.
Actual Rating: 3.5 Eve Hypos out of 5
The story of Bioshock revolves around an art deco aquatic city named Rapture built by Andrew Ryan in the 40's and 50's to escape the over-bearing US government and the impending nuclear holocaust of the cold war. As the game Bioshock placed us straight into Rapture after it's apparent fall from grace, John Shirley was tasked with creating our cities backstory, and he does a fair job at this. Integrating iconic characters from the game, helping fill in their past and give reason to their inevitable madness, Shirley was spot on with retaining the essence of Ken Levine's masterpiece game.
Where this book begins to fall apart is the political subplots, and Andrew Ryan's own maddening stubbornness. Ryan was a visionary, he created a society under water that was functioning well, and while its downfall was brought about by outside influences, it was also his own stubborn attitude that caused most of the havoc. This is a 400 page novel where one of our main characters is told time and again that his ideas aren't working, and he refuses to believe it. He is the blind prophet in the worst way possible, seeing only his amazing race to glory while blind to the harsh realities of what he has actually created. As a reader, I spent a good amount of time and energy hating Ryan, and then hating him more as his own stupidity affected the few characters that I actually did like; then hating him even more because I could never figure out how this stubborn man could make such a major fortune and have the intelligence to build an entire city beneath the water without the government's awareness. None of that adds up, not even if you attempt to turn Ryan into a Howard Hughes-esque character, blinded by his ambition to attain his goals. At some point, Ryan, as a businessman, should have realized Rapture was not working and he was never going to fix it. With the world that Shirley creates, Rapture spent too long in a state of chaos to have even had so many people alive when the game began.
So all in all, having just rambled a bit there, Bioshock captures the essence of the game, it gives a good and sometimes innovative approach to Rapture's history, but it does very little to convince me of Ryan's character, and could have easily been wrapped up with 100 pages less. Sadly, by Part III of the book I felt that reading was a chore, and I was doing it so that I could go outside and play with my friends after.
Actual Rating: 3.5 Eve Hypos out of 5
jadedoe70's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sadhollows23's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
overlordror's review
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
aelphaba's review
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5