Falling Sideways

From Publishers Weekly _Hitchhikers Guide_ aficionados will relish every line. From 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 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. The hilarious new comic fantasy novel from the most inventive writer in the field.From the moment the first Homo Sapiens descended from the trees, possibly onto their heads, humanity has striven towards civilisation. Fire. The Wheel. Running Away from furry things with more teeth than one might reasonably expect - all are testament to man's ultimate ascendancy.It is a noble story, a triumph of intelligence over adversity and so, of course, complete and utter fiction.For one man has discovered the hideous truth: that humanity's ascent has been ruthlessly guided by a small gang of devious frogs. In this story, one man believes he has discovered the 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