Falling Sideways [Paperback]

Tom Holt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2004

From the moment Homo Sapiens descended from the trees, possibly onto their heads, humanity has striven towards civilization. Fire. The Wheel. Running Away from furry things with more teeth than one might reasonably expect—all are testament to man's ultimate supremacy. It is a noble story and so, of course, complete and utter fiction. For one man has discovered the hideous truth: that humanity's ascent to civilization has been ruthlessly guided by a small gang of devious frogs. The man’s name is David Perkins, and his theory is not, on the whole, widely admired, particularly not by the frogs themselves, who had invested a great deal of time and effort in keeping the whole thing quiet.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

“Hitchhiker’s Guide aficionados will relish every line.”

From Booklist

David Perkins is in an art gallery, talking to a seventeenth-century painting. He loves the woman portrayed in it, who was burned as a witch almost 400 years before, and has since he was young. A lock of hair reputed to be hers will be auctioned off later that day, and David must obtain it. For he recently came across an obscure establishment, Honest John's House of Clones, that, upon inquiry, turned out to be exactly what its name implied, and he plans to take advantage of its services. And then he discovers that the place is run by raniform beings--frogs, that is--and everything he has done so far is in accordance with a scheme the frogs hatched back in the seventeenth century. Thereafter, between being wanted for murder and dealing with almost supernatural frogs as well as a baker's dozen clones of Honest John, David has very little time to wonder exactly how his innocent attempt to clone the girl of his dreams got him in so much trouble. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group; later printing edition (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841491101
• ISBN-13: 978-1841491103
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,029,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious History of the World, November 18, 2003

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Falling Sideways (Hardcover)

Tom Holt is a master of the humorous novel (especially science fiction or fantasy). This book is no exception.

The book follows the a young man who fell in love with a witch depicted in a painting at a local art museum when he was a young boy. Having a decent job in computers and no romantic interests to spend his money on, he frivolously buys a lock of hair reported to be from the witch in the painting. Then the strangeness begins.

First he is approached by another art collector in a local pub. Then, in need of a bathroom, he exits his train at an unfamiliar stop and sees Honest John's House of Clones. But surely cloning isn't possible, or even legal.

Well, armed with his genetic sample, the young man sets in motion events of cosmic proportions. Lies and coverups follow fast and furiously. He, and the reader, are stuck trying to figure out just what the real story is. Was he genetically designed just to clone the witch? Is he the son of God? Who are all of these people who look alike? What is with the bags of sugar? And are the frogs really in charge? These and many more questions are eventually answered amidst a fast-paced story liberally seasoned with intelligent witticisms.

If you are a Tom Holt fan, you will want to read this one. If you are new to Tom Holt, this is an excellent book.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Back to Storytelling, December 8, 2003

By 

Susan R. Grant (Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Falling Sideways (Paperback)

In Falling Sideways, Tom Holt has returned to storytelling. He is good at random quipping, but I felt that some of the books he cranked out in recent years- Overtime, Faust Among Equals, and Grailblazers- were long on random quips and short on plot. Falling Sideways is a good yarn- it almost develops like a creepy mystery at the beginning. The funny bits are in service of the plot,and not as fast and furious as in some of the earlier books, which might disappoint some, but I found a relief. The book is perhaps not quite as satisfying as Expecting Someone Taller or Who's Afraid of Beowolf? but does suggest that Holt is past his lazy phase or whatever that was, and bodes well for the future.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Obnoxious, July 28, 2009

By 

J. Laydbak - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Falling Sideways (Paperback)

This book would be great if you didn't absolutely despise every single character.
This book would be funny if it wasn't trying so hard.
This story would be entertaining if someone wasn't always coming in with the long winded explanations.

In fact, if it wasn't such a quick read, it might've found itself flying down the elevator shaft with a good riddance tossed in after it. Rather, if you find this book used for 50c, give it a go. It has some good one liners and is mildly amusing when it isn't being intensely irritating. It sure isn't worth the $10 I shelled out for it.