CompleteMartialArts.com - Falling Sideways
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List Price: $9.99
Our Price: $9.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Book Group
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781841491103
ISBN: 1841491101
Label: Little, Brown Book Group
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Book Group
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 416
Publication Date: 2004-12-01
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Studio: Little, Brown Book Group
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Editorial Reviews:
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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.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Poor Man's Douglas Adams
Comment: I am a big fan of the late Douglas Adams, and have enjoyed the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy" as well as his Dirk Gently books, mostly because of his crazily funny sense of dry humor and wit. The big difference between those books and this one by Tom Holt (and I won't generalize my comments to Holt, since I've only read this book of his, but likely won't read the others because of this one) is that Adams balanced the silliness with entertaining dialog and description, whereas Holt uses a sledgehammer to bang you over the head, line after line, paragraph after paragraph, with the same kind of silliness that Adams used less liberally to greater effect.
I give it two stars, rather than one, because it is clearly an homage to Adams (with references sprinkled about to Hitchhikers text which, I assume and hope, are there for the sake of mimicry rather than plagiarism), and hey, I can appreciate a good tribute.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Funny at times, but not what its cracked out to be
Comment: Falling Sideways in an interesting experiment in writing comic urban fantasy, unfortunately while the theory is sound, Tom Hold can't manage to drive the point home.
I've read a couple of other Tom Hold and, unlike other books from the author, Falling Sideways is rather funny and have some hilarious moments but it the more you get into it you start to see the rather coarse seems that attempt to hold the plot together, but eventually fail miserably.
If you're up for a few laughs, Falling Sideways is better then most other Tom Holt's works - but don't expect it to hold a candle to the masters of the genre.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Back to Storytelling
Comment: 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.
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Summary: Hilarious History of the World
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Frenetic Comedic Science Fiction Masterpiece
Comment: I was originally drawn to this book because of the rather odd frog on the cover, which is good, because there are a lot of amphibious life forms within, hehe. I was really not expecting the fast-paced, frantic, free-wheeling and fun read that this book turned out to be! From the first page, to the last, you are never sure what is going to happen next, who is who for sure, or what the eventual outcome of all this madness is going to be. It's an absolute joy. I haven't been this entertained by a humourous science fiction or fantasy novel since the works of Douglas Adams, or the b-movie cycle by Craig Shaw Gardner. Now I have to get the rest of Tom Holt's books!
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