Customer Reviews

Testament

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The central idea of this SF novel is an interesting one, perhaps describable as a sociological-SF reprise of Frank Herbert's Bene Gesserit (a debt which the author acknowledges with several homages).

However, though it was nice to see an author concentrating on characters and their reactions, I found the people in this book unbelievable. Sometimes they overreacted; sometimes they underreacted. Sometimes they were trying to kill each other one second and having a calm conversation the next. There didn't seem to be anything in the setting's sociology to cause this, and I ended up lost and unsure what character plots and motivations were.

The plot here is small, with the characters spending large amounts of energy and general going back and forth to attain limited goals. That's a good thing, in most respects. However, the "real plot" was revealed so slowly that I spent much of the book confused as to what was actually going on, and found myself losing interest.

Even more welcome than an engaging, well-written science fiction novel is a depiction of matriarchy that neither resorts to stereotype or to a happy happy, head-in-the-clouds, we're-better-than-they-are misandrony. Though not as good as her first novel [ Becoming Human, to which Testament is an unofficial "sequel" ], Freireich has a skill for plot that makes all of her stories a real joy to read.

Ms. Freireich has accomplished what science fiction was meant to do.... Provide a framework for a dramatic thought experiment on how changing ourselves will impact our progeny. If we are no longer "normal," are we still human? To narrate this tale she has given us a throwback, a person who shares our single perspective without the benefit to a thousand years of memories. Gray is a person we can all empathize with. Finally, she uses the science as a framework to present her tale about people, developing her characters fully, unlike many contemporary writers whose tales are an endless parade of technological dazzle that is unbelievable under close scrutiny. READ IT!