Publisher's Synopsis
She was the first woman he had ever been! An SF transgender classic! Chosen one of the "Thirty Most Important Science Fiction Novels of the 1960s," Season of the Witch tells the story of Andre, a man who rapes and murders a woman in a post-apocalyptic future. A dangerously low population has resulted in an end to capital punishment. Instead of execution, Andre has his brain transplanted into his victim's body, while his own body is given to an aging, brilliant scientist. Andre's search for his original male body takes him through a series of physically and spiritually disorienting sexual encounters to an unexpected denouement during an Agape ceremony in the temple of a strange, hedonistic cult. No wonder Foundation called the book, "A powerful tale of biological transformation and sexual identity." Or, that 20th Century Science Fiction Writers hailed it as, "A special combination of science fiction and pornographic detail and rhetoric. The quality of the novel artistically justifies this radical strategy." In 1995 the book was filmed as Synapse (U.K. as Memory Run), introducing its unique mix of transgender and science fiction to a whole new audience. This paperback edition contains a new Afterword and s Filmograpy listing cast, crew, production credits. Here is what other critics say about this classic work: "Razorblade fiction!" -The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction "Where science fiction is often male chauvinist this might raise male consciousness." Worlds Beyond: A Critical History of Science Fiction "A good SF book and a rather better novel qua novel. Stine never offers an explicit sexual scene in standard cliche pornographical terms - each description brings a personal and original observation into play. Many of these observations are not erotic - they may even strike some readers as anti-erotic - but they ring with truth. A genuine work of erotic realism, written far above the standards of pornography. The body of the novel lies in the male protagonist's response to biological and physical constraints and the transformation of his personality forced upon him by his female body. Effective...rich...rewarding...engrossing and unusual... littered with genuine insights." Ted White, editor, Heavy Metal "What happens to a man's mind in a woman's body? Stine makes you inhabit that mind and slowly, imperceptibly, absorbs you into the existence of a woman until you as a man no longer exist. You become a woman, different from the one you raped and killed, and a better woman, at the end. Stine is a remarkable writer both for style, which is turgid with evocative detail and intense psychological insight, and for use of the second-person technique, which in fiction is used very infrequently, but which is required for the Punishment and Retribution parts in this book. There is eroticism in the book. The sex act is the most important sphere of life for this book, for Stine, for you, in the working out of the changes of psyche involved. ...and it is there that Stine takes you to show the subtle altering of man to woman in the body of Josette Kovacs, deceased." Science Fiction Review "Passion, pain, real pluck ... a good eye for physical detail and a strong feeling for the human predicament." Fritz Leiber, Fantastic Jean Marie Stine has been editor of Galaxy SF and Starblaze Books, and is currently editor of Futures-Past Editions. Her short stories have appeared in numerous publications including Amazing Stories, Galaxy, Pegasus, and SF Sagas, and are collected in Herstory & Other Science Fictions. During the late 1960s she served as personal assistant to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, working on special projects; and in the 1970s she wrote the now classic, The Prisoner: A Day in the Life, based on the cult television series starring Patrick McGoohan. Cover image and book design: Frankie Hill
