See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

22 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Falling Sideways
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Falling Sideways (Hardcover)

by Tom Holt (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


3 new from £1.49 17 used from £0.01 2 collectible from £9.99
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback (New edition) £7.99 £5.99 76 used & new from £0.01

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Valhalla

Valhalla

by Tom Holt
4.0 out of 5 stars (5)  £5.99
Only Human

Only Human

by Tom Holt
4.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £5.99
Little People

Little People

by Tom Holt
3.0 out of 5 stars (8)  £5.49
In Your Dreams

In Your Dreams

by Tom Holt
3.7 out of 5 stars (10)  £5.99
Nothing But Blue Skies

Nothing But Blue Skies

by Tom Holt
3.8 out of 5 stars (8)  £5.49
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Orbit (17 Jan 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1841490873
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841490878
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.7 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 935,465 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #65 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > H > Holt, Tom

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Falling Sideways is Tom Holt's 19th comic-fantasy romp. For a change it leans (sideways, of course) towards the lunatic fringe of science fiction, with unlikely aliens and cloning techniques at the heart of its demented plot.

Nerdish hero David Perkins falls in love with a girl in a painting, Philippa, who was burned as a witch 400 years ago. By amazing coincidence a lock of her hair comes up for auction. By totally staggering coincidence, David remembers a seedy London shop called HONEST JOHN'S HOUSE OF CLONES. How very, very convenient...

The trouble with the cloned Philippa isn't merely that she comes expensive (Honest John asks remarkably little, but that lock of hair was £15,000). It's that she somehow knows too much about the 21st century and already has a boyfriend who isn't David. Was everything a setup by her alleged father, suspiciously resembling the one-eyed god Odin? And who are all these similar-looking chaps with a missing eye? Attack of the Clones!

David's rollercoaster adventures continue with police arrest for murder, escape after a one-eyed lawyer gives him (a brand-new ploy) a cake hidden in a file, and abduction for sinister experiments aboard what certainly seems to be a UFO. The only logical explanation, of course, is a race of highly evolved, space-travelling frogs.

Further story convolutions are largely indescribable. Key ingredients include frogspawn, dandruff and (the secret of interstellar travel) white sugar. Soon there's more than one Philippa in circulation. Froggy transformations abound. David makes astonishing discoveries about his true identity and enormous family. Libel lawyers advise us not to quote the Microsoft jokes.

Cheerful silliness in the characteristic Holt style. --David Langford

Review
Few would deny that Tom Holt is breathing down the neck of Terry Pratchett when it comes to bestselling comic fantasy. Holt may not possess the manic, surrealistic edge that distinguishes Pratchett's Discworld books, but he offers his own very individual brand of madly logical humour, and such books as Snow White and the Seven Samurai show a comic writer at full stretch. In Falling Sideways, Holt takes on the origins of civilisation. While man's ultimate ascendancy has stretched from the first homo sapiens descending from the trees to nations destroying each other, there is little doubt that humanity is the progenitor of every great civilisation. Wrong. Holt's hero believes he has discovered the real (and hideous) truth: that every great civilisation in history has, rather embarrassingly, been founded, run and then cunningly manipulated by a small gang of devious frogs. Each logical absurdity is piled upon the last with satisfying regularity.

See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
Check a corresponding box or enter your own tags in the field below
(2)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Falling Sideways
68% buy the item featured on this page:
Falling Sideways 3.5 out of 5 stars (15)
Nothing But Blue Skies
10% buy
Nothing But Blue Skies 3.8 out of 5 stars (8)
£5.49
Barking
8% buy
Barking 4.1 out of 5 stars (7)
£5.99
In Your Dreams
7% buy
In Your Dreams 3.7 out of 5 stars (10)
£5.99
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A little too long, 1 Mar 2005
By Mr. Daniel W. Weinberg "dwein22" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Falling Sideways (Paperback)
I enjoyed this book as comic fantasy but the only criticism I have is that it's too long for the plot. At some points I had to go back and re-read bits to make sense out of the story.

I wouldn't read this as a first Tom Holt, try something easier like "Faust Among Equals".

I do enjoy Tom Holt's Books and I will be buying future books but I think a lot of people reading this as their first experience of his writing would not buy another.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A rollercoaster of twists and funny bits, 25 Mar 2002
I can't see how anyone could be slightly negative aboout this masterful show of how rompingly fantastical a writer can be, and in this novel,"Tom Holt," proves once again he is a true genius, the constant over the top similies keep you wishing for more, waky amd weird freaks to come out of the next twist. If you're in the worst mood imaginable, pick this book up and read son/girl, you can't help but love this romp of fantasy even if you're in a pschycotic kill everything and everyone mood.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Try another one, 15 Mar 2006
By Kevin Eason (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Falling Sideways (Paperback)
I am a great fan of Tom Holt and his fantasy work but this one left me wanting for it to end! There are far to many twists and I had trouble working out who was who (not surprising considering that everyone in the book has a duplicate). I would suggest that everyone reads Tom's work but leave this one on the shelf, try his earlier books (Snow White and the Seven Samuri is better to follow and Expecting Someone Taller is fun) or the excellent J.W.Wells series starting with The Portable Door.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars like peep show, but with alien frogs
This was the first Tom Holt book i read, and i was gripped from beginning to end!

The other reviews have slated it as too long and complicated but i have to say i... Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Dickinson

2.0 out of 5 stars hurry up and end
I really enjoy Tom Holt books but was let down by Falling Sideways. Its extremly complicated plot and non stop new characters (althought clones of original characters) made the... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Sam8406

1.0 out of 5 stars Silly nonsense
The first few pages were worse than this but I stopped when I found out that a girl who was supposed to have been a clone of a four hundred year old witch was actually the... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Baby Blue

3.0 out of 5 stars Good if you like Red Dwarf
Quite funny book about cloning and frogs, which gets a bit incomprehensible towards the end. Holt's similes are quite good and current, reminds me of Jeremy Clarkson - and this... Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2007 by A. Tatton

4.0 out of 5 stars Frogtastic
Twists, twists, twists! They are here in abundance and it's great. If you like a book where you wont be able to predict whats going to happen and lots of bizarreness, pick this... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2007 by Ste to the J

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
I had never read a science fiction novel before this and to be honest, I only read it because I was intrigued by the frog on the cover! Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2006 by H. J. Kelsall

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good
This was the first Tom Holt book I read and I loved it. I am a big fan of Tom Holt after reading Falling Sideways. Great book, easy reading, very funny.
Published on 21 May 2004 by drummermcd

5.0 out of 5 stars very good
First Tom Holt book I read. By far the best so far. Wonderful imagination and writing. Peopl say that the story line has too many twists in it, I think it is brilliant.
Published on 18 April 2004 by drummermcd

5.0 out of 5 stars Falling Sideways... made me smile ;-)
My first Tom Holt title - bought on the spur of the moment while waiting for my plane - what a pleasant surprise. Read more
Published on 20 May 2003 by Lord Grover of Sodbury

3.0 out of 5 stars An amusing ramble
For fans of Tom Holt, this is another amusing ramble through his wacky imagination. My major criticism is that it's too long for the storyline material and unnecessarily... Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2003 by markurpen

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Health & Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

Elemis Resurface and Renew Skin Care Gift Set of 4 Products
From soap to shavers, massagers to mascara, stock up on your daily essentials or truly pamper yourself.

›Discover Health & Beauty

  

Up to 75% off Shoes

Shoe Clearance - 75% off Shoes
Save up to 75% on shoes for the whole family.

›Shop clearance shoes

  

Train Hard...Play Hard

Nike, Gola, Converse, and more
Gear up with up to 60% off athletic and outdoor shoes.

›Shop now

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates