I bought this book on a recommendation from the Alternative Sexualities in Fantasy and SF Booklist compiled online by M.A. Mohanraj, and I'm now quite pleased that I did. Valerie Freireich is a lawyer as well as a writer, and it shows in her skillful depictions of conspiracies, secrets, political machinations, and diplomatic relations. Something of a Pinocchio / Frankenstein story set in a future where cloning and genetic manipulation are realities, Becoming Human is an exploration into the nature of humanity, loyalty, individuality, and love. It's been quite a while since I've enjoyed reading a SF novel so much as I've enjoyed this one.

I won't bore you...I'm sure you've read the other reviews about this book, all of which highly recommend it and praise it. I agree. I first read this book years ago when it first came out, and have read it over and over again since. It's a real shame that this book is so hard to come by and that many readers of the genre don't know of it. Read it if you get a chance, you will NOT regret it.

From the provocative cover art to the tragic ending of Becoming Human, I was struck by the existential questions posed within.

Freirriech deconstructs secular humanism, bio-engineering, religiosity among atheists, fear of otherness, and authoritarianism among the academic elite in her scenario of world colonization by proponents of the human actualization movements popular in the 70's in Southern California.

Becoming Human, Testament and Imposter are adult books, which each separately explore, in a literary, almost poetic framework, the meaning of the concept of human. Orson Scott Card ultimately caused Ender's torments to become the self-serving pitying cries of one who was helpless when used as a human torpedo. Freireich showed that even in slavery, the slave has free will to love, to empathize, to act . . . and thus be human.

Her definition of humanity resides not in DNA sequences or selective breeding, but rather, in emotions and feeling and acting on those emotions or feelings from choice, not duty, not reflex; the ultimate human act is to act altruistically and in truth -- not from self-righteousness or self-deception.

A Superb series. I highly recommend it. I look forward to additonal volumes.

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!

Ms. Freireich fully explores and develops her characters. Per Stefan Acari is the very model of honesty and integrity, until his beliefs are shattered by personal and governmental betrayals. Through what appears to be a chance meeting of an offworld visitor, Beatrice, Stephan is forced to re- examine the world around him and his place in it. The results of his examination may have a cataclysmic effect on Earth, but this impending doom is outweighed by his need for justice and fairness. The Beacon is an in-depth study of human nature at the height of fantasy devoted to human characteristics.