The Second Trip

Lore & Background

The novel is set in the year 2011, about forty years from the time it was written. In this future, capital punishment has been deemed too harsh, and violent criminals are subjected to coercive therapy that erases their personalities, replacing them with artificially constructed memories to form a character deemed useful to society. The protagonist is Paul Macy, a rehabilitated criminal who finds his original personality, a serial rapist named Nat Hamlin, reasserting itself in defiance of the conditioning. The novel includes several graphic scenes of copulation and sexual assault, and long stretches of the narrative consist of interior dialogues between Macy and Hamlin loaded with blunt and obscene language.

Reader's Guide

The Second Trip is significant as a controversial work within the New Wave movement, challenging readers with its explicit content and psychological depth. Its exploration of identity, punishment, and the nature of selfhood—through the internal struggle between a constructed personality and a criminal original—raised questions about rehabilitation and justice. The novel's graphic sexual violence and obscene language sparked lengthy debates in the letters section of Amazing Stories, where then-editor Ted White engaged with offended readers. The work also incorporates speculative concepts such as holovision, hovereye cameras, liftshafts, psychosculpture, and telepathy, reflecting Silverberg's interest in the burdens of psychic abilities. Its legacy lies in its unflinching treatment of controversial themes and its contribution to the evolution of science fiction as a medium for serious social and psychological inquiry.

Did You Know?

• The novel was serialized in Amazing Stories from July to September 1971 before its book publication by Doubleday in 1972.
• The protagonist Paul Macy is a rehabilitated criminal whose original personality, serial rapist Nat Hamlin, reasserts itself.
• The novel includes graphic scenes of copulation and sexual assault, and interior dialogues with blunt and obscene language.
• Then-editor Ted White carried on lengthy debates with offended readers in the 'Or So You Say' letters section of Amazing Stories.