Steven Hall

First things first, stay calm. If you are reading this, I'm not around anymore. Take the phone and speed dial 1. Tell the woman who answers that you are Eric Sanderson. The woman is Dr. Randle. She'll understand what has happened. With regret, and also hope,The First Eric Sanderson. When Eric Sanderson wakes to amnesia and a haunting note from himself, he discovers an eerie world of thought and concept, a world in which ideas have a life of their own. Attacked by a force he cannot see and memories he cannot ignore--including those of a perfect love now lost--Eric discovers he is being relentlessly pursued by a shark that may exist only in his mind but which stalks him through the flows and streams of language and human interaction.Hunting the answers as he is hunted, Eric is led on a journey that will either bring the First Eric Sanderson back to life or destroy bothEric Sandersons forever. An astounding and daring book by debut novelist Steven Hall, The Raw Shark Texts confronts readers with a fascinating puzzle aswell as an intensely absorbing story.

The Raw Shark Texts

Waking up in an unfamiliar place, unable to remember who he is, and attacked by a force he cannot see, Eric Sanderson discovers he is being hunted by a psychic predatory shark that may exist only in his mind but soon starts making some very real appearanc

So unique — uses complex metaphors and ideas to explain simple things. Belongs in the same category as House of Leaves.

Bowie 

Patrick Book

Welcome to UnspaceEric Sanderson wakes up in a place he doesn't recognise, unable to remember who he is. All he has left are journal entries recalling Clio, a perfect love now gone.So begins a thrilling adventure that will send Eric and his cynical cat Ian on a search for the Ludovician, the force that is threatening his life, and Dr Trey Fidorus, the only man who knows its secrets.

Took me a while to get into it, but the concept is excellent and Hall doesn't assume the reader is an idiot - I get the feeling I'm going to need to read it again and hunt down the unchapters though…

Waking up in an unfamiliar place, unable to remember who he is, and attacked by a force he cannot see, Eric Sanderson discovers he is being hunted by a psychic predatory shark that may exist only in his mind but soon starts making some very real appearances in his world.

Amanda Rocha

The Raw Shark Texts is a work that relies on the traditional medium of a book for format, but plays with experimentation (through format and message) in various ways. It is a book in the traditional sense, but uses the digital to experiment with format in new ways, making it reliant on the digital. Presented in book form but speaks to topics of the digital - challenging the notions of depth, memory and association. The Raw Shark Texts uses technology as a medium to experiment with the visual creation of literature, while still staying within the traditional parameters of a bound book.

Amani Zaha

One of the coolest freaking book titles I've seen. Shark texts - that are raw??? I must know more!! (I was further amused once I discovered it is a wordplay on 'Rorschach tests'.)

This very intriguing title is followed by a premise that is original, creative and also just wild. Eric Sanderson as a character is not much to talk about in the beginning (understandably so, since part of the premise is that he has lost most of his memory, has no friends/family and feels disconnected from Normal Life), but that is compensated for by the original ideas that the plot revolves around. I was reading non-stop, so excited to know more, to see how the story would evolve.

Until I wasn't interested anymore. Somewhere around the 150-200 pages mark, the stuff that made the story feel fresh and inspired seemed to take a backseat to ... a love story? Admittedly this book is, at heart, a love story - but I'm referring to the second love interest, who appears somewhere around the middle: the Quirky, Hot, Cool and Witty Scout. Eric is still just Eric, with not much personality, which wouldn't need to be mentioned here unless this lack of character made their romantic relationship and dynamic difficult to believe. (Some other reviewers have mentioned this in regards to the portrayal of Eric and Clio's relationship, but I didn't feel that their dynamic/dialogue was unnatural.)

While the Shark Stuff remains at the core even after Scout's entrance, the story definitely loses momentum around the middle. I found myself less than interested while reading their conversations, only sort of engaged during their adventures, and to be completely honest, I had half a mind to abandon the book. But the core idea, the thing that drives the plot forward, is so interesting, so special, that I couldn't bring myself to give up. So I finished it. And here are my three stars to account for it.

First things first, stay calm. Eric Sanderson wakes up in a place he doesn’t recognise, unable to remember who he is. All he has left are journal entries recalling Clio, a perfect love now gone. As he begins to piece his memories back together, Eric finds that he is being hunted by a creature that moves in language, that swims through the currents of human interaction. With the help of his cynical cat Ian, Eric must search for the Ludovician, the force that is threatening his life, and Dr Trey Fidorus, the only man who knows the truth.

James Dinsdale

A stunning plot and a really unique writing style make this one a real page-turner.

Sans

Dear Book,

You're critically acclaimed and a national best seller. 


You're apparently the bastard child of all the great writers and movies.


You think you're clever.


The fact of the matter is, if you weren't a required text for my class, I would have dropped your paperback ass in the recycling bin ages ago.


I'm so glad we're done now and I never have to see you again.


Sincerely,
Sans

I.m. ruzz

I think this is a book that needs to be read. I think some of the ideas while often wrapped in clunky prose are outstanding and if you're able to surrender any part of your reasoning mind to what's going on you can find yourself in an interesting world. 

He has, at least 3 sensational ideas presented which alone are worth the price of the book. And one of them is so insightful i think it may be proved true by science at some point in the distant (probably far) future. 

Sadly, this book seems destined to become a movie and i think some part of the authors mind knew that. It has a hollywood ending of sorts, at least as hollywood as one can get in the universe he created. 

The ending was the sour note on an otherwise really entertaining read. I felt he could have made the leap from pulp semi-sci-fi to literature had he chosen the harder to sell, far more obvious, and less satisfying end to the novel. 

he didn't and so he loses that all important 5th star.

The Raw Shark Texts

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