Testament

Harmony of Worlds #2

by Valerie J. Freireich

They are a world of genengineered humans--gifted with the ability to remember events that happened to their ancestors as if it had happened to them. But Gray Bridger's memory is only "human", and thus, he is an outcast. Still, the Bridger matriachy has plans to make him the most important man on the planet--or crush him in the attempt.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

317 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Valerie Freireich is a business attorney, concentrating her practice in secured lending and banking law, with a particular emphasis on commercial real estate and proficiency in general business matters.

In addition to lending institutions, representative clients include businesses and real estate investors. Valerie serves on the firm's professional education committee. She also writes professionally and has had four science fiction novels published, in addition to 15 short stories.

She and her husband have one son, who holds a post-doctorate appointment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, following the 2009 granting of a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University.

Reviews

[nimrodiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished Testament by Valerie J. Freireich. I have not had any attention for any of my in progress books for the last few weeks. This was really good, and the last 100 pages was amazing. Though it is the second in a series I have not read, so I expect some of the universe building from the earlier book may have explained some of the political perspectives between unaltered humans and altered humans. I'm going to have to track down the other 2 books to read.

I thought the idea of ancestor memories passed through the female dna was a very interesting idea.

[Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

First decent sci-fi I have read in some time, despite some flaws, an entertaining and enjoyable read. A somewhat thought-provoking view of a matriarchy. Am intrigued enough to continue with the series.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This wasn't exactly my kind of thing, but I liked it and my wife and I became pretty attached to the characters. We almost gave up about 75 pages in, but we were just too curious how it would play out. Lots of intrigue, very realistic world building. Good stuff, but not super exciting.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A wee biased as I found this lil gem in the wild and have not read the 1st one. It is well written and you catch on to some of the threads but the lore is thick. I like it though, good read.

[Maddy]

Really good 90s political sci fi.

[STU · Rating 4 out of 5]

Becoming Human and then this.
Don't have any other of her books.
Both interesting - full of unexpected twists and hard to guess how it would turn out.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a lot of trouble getting into this book because I didn't particularly care about any of the characters. None were very likable. I did finish because the pace picked up a bit in the last few chapters. It is still unclear exactly what is happening with the characters at the end of the story. Who is telling the truth? What was the actual plan of the Bridger precasters? We only have Gray's and Mead's suppositions to go by, and they are extremely unreliable witnesses, especially because they continue changing their minds.

[Gordon Gravley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm...I believe that "Becoming Human" was actually the first in this series. It's not important, really, because one is not exactly a sequel to the other, they just take place in the same universe Freireich has so intricately created, with one or two recurring characters. I much prefer that method than a series which is a continuation of what happened before, where you can't read one book without having read those that came before. Just another reason I love Freireich's writing.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the end, I simply wanted more from this author. More books, that is!

[Debby Zygielbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the careful consideration of what it really means to be human in this series.

[Reforming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sagged at times, but fascinating world.