Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Weidenfeld Military (1993), 464 pages
Description
A New York Times Notable Book: "Combining cyberpunk's grit with dystopic fantasy, this iconoclastic hybrid is a standout piece of storytelling" (Library Journal). Jane is trapped as a changeling in an industrialized Faerie ruled by aristocratic high elves and populated by ogres, dwarves, night-gaunts, and hags. She is the only human in a factory where underage forced labor builds cybernetic, magical dragons that are weaponized and sent off to war. When the damaged dragon Melanchthon tempts Jane with promises of freedom, the stage is set for a daring escape that will shake the foundations of existence. Combining alchemy and technology, a coming-of-age story like no other, The Iron Dragon's Daughter takes place against a dystopic mindscape of dark challenges and class struggles that force Jane to make costly decisions at every turn. A finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and the 1994 Locus Award, The Iron Dragon's Daughter a is one-of-a-kind melding of grimdark fantasy and cyberpunk grit from the Nebula Award-winning author of Stations of the Tide. It engages the reader in a nihilistic world in which nothing is as it seems and everything comes at a steep and often horrific price.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member dmsteyn
An excellent book that I found hard to read at times. The prose is crystalline throughout, something which is lacking in most fantasy novels. But I am somewhat wary of pigeonholing this book as a ‘fantasy’, despite its inclusion in the Fantasy Masterworks series, because that might lead to a
As Swanwick has said, the book is both an homage to the genre, but also a response to the growing commercialism of the genre:
“… The recent slew of interchangeable Fantasy trilogies has hit me in much the same way that discovering that the woods I used to play in as a child have been cut down to make way for shoddy housing developments.”
If anything needed (and needs) a good kick up the wazoo, then it is commercial speculative fiction. There are few things that I personally despise as much as the carrion crows picking over Tolkien’s (and many, many others') legacy, although, to be honest, I have problems with most overly commercial writers. So I felt very happy with the premise of the novel.
As I said, I sometimes found the novel difficult to read. But that is not necessarily a bad sign. What made it difficult is Swanwick’s way of interpolating many different ideas into the smallest of narrative spaces. The text is full of references to Dickens, medieval Christian philosophy, fantasy tropes and more. Swanwick also has fondness for doppelgängers, which sometimes led to a temporary dissonance in reading the book, as I scratched my head wondering which character was actually being referred to. But this is definitely done on purpose – the main character, Jane, is a changeling, apparently abducted from our reality into a Dickensian nightmare of factory-enslavement, which also has fantasy elements. I advisedly say apparently because this novel is in the end concerned with interrogating appearances, and rejecting easy cop-outs. It deliberately subverts the easily digestible flow of commercial fantasy novels, and smashes one’s preconceptions of what a fantasy novel can, and should, do.
In many ways, it is a bleak book, harrowing and distressing. It has graphic depictions of sex and violence, but these never seem overly gratuitous. I was a little concerned when the narrative seemed to lose some steam during the middle parts (you know what Larkin says about a beginning, a muddle, and an end) but I think this was mostly due to my own preconceptions getting in the way. At the end, one can see that Swanwick had a clear idea of where he wanted to go with the narrative, and I feel that a reread is in order – sometime.
Oh, and don't be fooled by the Masterworks cover: this book is not like Hughes's The Iron Man, or the Brad Bird movie based on it.
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wrong impression of the book. In many ways, although not as sui generis as Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels, or David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus, this book resembles those works in being something that I cannot quite pinpoint. It is an anti-fantasy, in many ways, but that is also to limit the book’s scope. Because, in many ways, if Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels are humorous anti-fantasies (and much more) then this book is a deadly serious commentary on the genre. It is postmodern in the best sense – not too pretentious, but willing to take risks that can seem pretentious.As Swanwick has said, the book is both an homage to the genre, but also a response to the growing commercialism of the genre:
“… The recent slew of interchangeable Fantasy trilogies has hit me in much the same way that discovering that the woods I used to play in as a child have been cut down to make way for shoddy housing developments.”
If anything needed (and needs) a good kick up the wazoo, then it is commercial speculative fiction. There are few things that I personally despise as much as the carrion crows picking over Tolkien’s (and many, many others') legacy, although, to be honest, I have problems with most overly commercial writers. So I felt very happy with the premise of the novel.
As I said, I sometimes found the novel difficult to read. But that is not necessarily a bad sign. What made it difficult is Swanwick’s way of interpolating many different ideas into the smallest of narrative spaces. The text is full of references to Dickens, medieval Christian philosophy, fantasy tropes and more. Swanwick also has fondness for doppelgängers, which sometimes led to a temporary dissonance in reading the book, as I scratched my head wondering which character was actually being referred to. But this is definitely done on purpose – the main character, Jane, is a changeling, apparently abducted from our reality into a Dickensian nightmare of factory-enslavement, which also has fantasy elements. I advisedly say apparently because this novel is in the end concerned with interrogating appearances, and rejecting easy cop-outs. It deliberately subverts the easily digestible flow of commercial fantasy novels, and smashes one’s preconceptions of what a fantasy novel can, and should, do.
In many ways, it is a bleak book, harrowing and distressing. It has graphic depictions of sex and violence, but these never seem overly gratuitous. I was a little concerned when the narrative seemed to lose some steam during the middle parts (you know what Larkin says about a beginning, a muddle, and an end) but I think this was mostly due to my own preconceptions getting in the way. At the end, one can see that Swanwick had a clear idea of where he wanted to go with the narrative, and I feel that a reread is in order – sometime.
Oh, and don't be fooled by the Masterworks cover: this book is not like Hughes's The Iron Man, or the Brad Bird movie based on it.
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LibraryThing member Archren
You could consider this book to be Swanwick’s answer to your typical modern Young Adult Fantasy. After all, it follows one character, a young girl Jane, from the age of roughly 12 to adulthood. She is a changeling human in a fantasy world: the elves are the (incredibly snooty) upper class, but
Now take every single one of those elements and make it dark and twisted, ala the New Weird style of fantasy. In the tone and trappings, this book puts one in mind of Mieville’s “Perdido Street Station” or “The Scar,” especially in the graphically twisted sexual and dark experiences of the protagonist. In this fantasy universe there is a Goddess in charge of the Universe, but it’s no feminist paradise. The best scientists (here called alchemists) are generally female, but they exploit their own sexuality ruthlessly to operate their experiments. All this is very graphic, so if explicit descriptions of non-vanilla sexuality disturb you, avoid this book.
Jane herself is possibly one of the best anti-heroes I’ve ever read. I’m not usually a fan of non-good, non-rational heroes, but Swanwick guides us through her life in such a way that it is possible not to even realize how far removed she is from heroism until very late in the book. As a minor example, she is a thief. Well, that’s OK, lots of gamine heroes have had to resort to thievery. She does it partly to survive, but even more because she’s good at it and because she likes it. She doesn’t stop when her circumstances improve, either.
This isn’t a book I’d say I enjoyed. It was dark and disturbing and I was glad to see the end of it. However, it is a very well-written book that has a lot of things to say about genre conventions and also about some political idealist nonsense. The biggest flaw of the entire thing is actually the ending: in the end everything takes a sudden and surreal left turn and things work out OK. After reading so many pages of dark and depressing railing against an unkind and unjust universe, it was confusing and out of place. That’s just the last few pages, though. If you have a strong stomach and a mood where you’re OK with not being uplifted, try this book and see where it takes you.
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there are also trolls, dwarves and assorted other fey. She is initially trapped in a work factory (reminiscent of Dickens), escapes, goes to school, goes to University, has relationships and discovers things about herself. There are boyfriends and girlfriends and a relationship with the incredibly powerful dragon of the title.Now take every single one of those elements and make it dark and twisted, ala the New Weird style of fantasy. In the tone and trappings, this book puts one in mind of Mieville’s “Perdido Street Station” or “The Scar,” especially in the graphically twisted sexual and dark experiences of the protagonist. In this fantasy universe there is a Goddess in charge of the Universe, but it’s no feminist paradise. The best scientists (here called alchemists) are generally female, but they exploit their own sexuality ruthlessly to operate their experiments. All this is very graphic, so if explicit descriptions of non-vanilla sexuality disturb you, avoid this book.
Jane herself is possibly one of the best anti-heroes I’ve ever read. I’m not usually a fan of non-good, non-rational heroes, but Swanwick guides us through her life in such a way that it is possible not to even realize how far removed she is from heroism until very late in the book. As a minor example, she is a thief. Well, that’s OK, lots of gamine heroes have had to resort to thievery. She does it partly to survive, but even more because she’s good at it and because she likes it. She doesn’t stop when her circumstances improve, either.
This isn’t a book I’d say I enjoyed. It was dark and disturbing and I was glad to see the end of it. However, it is a very well-written book that has a lot of things to say about genre conventions and also about some political idealist nonsense. The biggest flaw of the entire thing is actually the ending: in the end everything takes a sudden and surreal left turn and things work out OK. After reading so many pages of dark and depressing railing against an unkind and unjust universe, it was confusing and out of place. That’s just the last few pages, though. If you have a strong stomach and a mood where you’re OK with not being uplifted, try this book and see where it takes you.
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LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck
Unintentionally, I read three fantasy books in a row, each a coming of age story, each playing with the nature of the genre in different ways. The first, and fluffiest, was Friesner's Majik by Accident. The second, mixing humor with much darkness, and starting with the premise of what happens after
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the quest is done, was Stewart's Nobody's Son. The third, most complex, most radical, and least straightline, was Swanwick's The Iron Dragon's Daughter. The book jacket refers to this as industrial magicks, and this is certainly one thread. This is not our world but much like it in many ways, but not, as in Friesner or Pratchett, as humorous analogs, but more as "if magic worked, the real work would still be done by the exploited." And people will still watch television, however it might work. The iron dragon is just that -- along with trolls, elves and dwarves, there are living, thinking, fire-breathing dragons, but they are mechanical -- just like giant malevolent airliners. The industrial thread drives just the first portion of the book, it changes as Jane, the main character, moves to magic school. Nothing like Hogwarts here. More like Berkeley. Her brand of magic is based on orgasmic release. Along the way, references from our world, such as advertising slogans, intrude constantly, a puzzle that is eventually explained. Jane is no heroic character. She is sympathetic but there is nothing she won't do, when she feels the need. Swanwick's novel is rich in invention. I was hoping for 4 or 5 stars here, but I was disappointed in the action-packed climactic events, and unsurprised by the anti-climactic wrapup. Still, recommended as long as you are OK with explicit sex and some pretty distasteful characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member iayork
Bitch of a view, ain't it, said the gargoyle.: As he showed so expertly in _Jack Faust,_ industrialism and medievalism are two sides of the same rusty coin. Jane is a mortal changeling, kidnapped by the powers of a very unpleasant version of Faerie to be a "breeder," producing half-elf pilots for
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the iron dragons. Until she's old enough for that, though, she's put to work in a dragon factory, working twelve hours a day and living a dreary, dangerous existence with other children, none of whom are human. But that's just the beginning of her life, which will take her through a sort-of high school and then to the university in The Gray City, and which will turn on her talents as a thief, her carefully nurtured cold-bloodedness, her discovery of sex, and especially on her relationship with a slightly insane rogue dragon. While it's common enough for female authors to create thoroughly believable male protagonists, the reverse, for some reason, is much less often the case. Swanwick, however, does a first-rate job with Jane and with the supporting cast that haunts her life. A bleak, disturbing, and mind-grabbing book you will reread periodically -- I guarantee it. Show Less
LibraryThing member HellCold
By the time I was midway through this book, I almost tore my eyes out in boredom. I regret every second wasted on it. This book doesn't even deserve the time I'm wasting on this review.
One of the most retarded pieces of crap ever written in the history of man. Give it only to someone you really
One of the most retarded pieces of crap ever written in the history of man. Give it only to someone you really
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despise. Show Less
LibraryThing member chaws
A coming-of-age story set in a baroque, decadent world full of puckish and predatory characters. Swawick combines elements of fantasy and SF in an impressionistic manner that suggests more than it reveals, and creates a wonderful sense of unease. This is a character driven novel that is brutal and
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heartwarming, and very hard to put down. Show Less
LibraryThing member raq929
There was nothing to like about this book. It was dark and depressing from beginning to end (and I usually like dark and depressing!). None of the characters are likeable. The main character seems to repeat her awful experiences everywhere she goes, and yet the book feels like it goes nowhere. I
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don't recommend reading it. Show Less
LibraryThing member janineshroff
Found this is some charity shop in Bombay for about 10 bucks.
I enjoyed the beginning, which was promising, but then it got really strange in a bad way and I gave up reading it since the story seemed to be going nowhere.
I enjoyed the beginning, which was promising, but then it got really strange in a bad way and I gave up reading it since the story seemed to be going nowhere.
LibraryThing member Jenson_AKA_DL
Jane is a changling whose coming of age in the world of fairies is a dark, deadly and demented ride.
If you're thinking of picking up this story for the dragon...don't. The dragon in the story is a reprehensible iron construct who contributes to the subversion of Jane, along with a lot of other
If you're thinking of picking up this story for the dragon...don't. The dragon in the story is a reprehensible iron construct who contributes to the subversion of Jane, along with a lot of other
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reprehensible and grotesque creatures. There was a lot I didn't like about this story. Sexual perversion isn't something I typically read for entertainment purposes. However, the underlying theme behind the reincarnation of Jane's two "soul mates" (although the words are never used, I can't think of any better) was interesting to me. I usually like much lighter, quest based, themes in my fantasy and there is nothing at all light about this book. I'm quite glad I never tried to read this one when I originally got it through the sci-fi/fantasy book club back in high school. Sadly, after owning this novel for probably around 25 years I had hoped to like it better when I finally got around to reading it. At this point, in spite of the nostalgia I feel for the book itself, it is not a keeper. Show Less
LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher
This is one of those on my mental list of "books I ought to read" and I finally came across it in the library. It's really more a meditation on growing up that a story with a plot, which I find irritating, but it's well-done for what it is. Not a book I'm likely to come back to, but I'm glad I read
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it. Show Less
LibraryThing member SChant
Hadsome quite interesting ideas but went on a bit too long and the ending, while it was obviously gong to happen from quite a way through the story, was still a bit disappointing.
LibraryThing member selfnoise
Langford's review, linked elsewhere on this page, pretty much says it all. It's one of those rare books that starts out fairly normally and is dizzy, ambitious and beautiful by the end. I really enjoyed it.
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
Jane is a young girl, stolen from the human world to work in a Dickensian plant that services great steam-powered dragons. With a dragon’s help she escapes the factory, only to find that life in Faery is just as bad without a master as with. Although excited by her alchemy classes in school, Jane
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spends most of her time shoplifting and hanging out with drugged out punks. This is a highly dystopic book, but a very well written one. Show Less
LibraryThing member swampygirl
Certainly not as strong as Dragons of Babel. A bit more haphazard, heavy handed and random.
My most specific criticism is that in the beginning I found Swanwick's understanding of growing up female was rather elementary and didn't come off well, despite the fantastical setting.
My most specific criticism is that in the beginning I found Swanwick's understanding of growing up female was rather elementary and didn't come off well, despite the fantastical setting.
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
Not so long ago, I was reading a forum discussion talking about how fantasy worlds never seem to progress past a medieval level of technology; and whether or not it's possible to write a technological fantasy world that is clearly not science fiction.
This book does it, with its plethora of faerie
The book is complex, with strikingly original ideas, and a carefully plotted structure that at first seems pointlessly rambling. As the spiraling theme of the story is revealed, the reader realizes that the plot has also been following that spiral theme.
It's well done; even impressive. The book probably deserved to win at least one of the several awards it was nominated for.
However, I didn't love it, emotionally. Even though it deftly slipped out of the 'it was all just a dream, or mental illness' thing that I had a suspicion it was sliding toward, for a while. I feel like I appreciated this book - it just didn't become one of my favorites.
This book does it, with its plethora of faerie
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creatures - and our protagonist, a changeling - working in factories and dealing with magical/robotic creations. The book is complex, with strikingly original ideas, and a carefully plotted structure that at first seems pointlessly rambling. As the spiraling theme of the story is revealed, the reader realizes that the plot has also been following that spiral theme.
It's well done; even impressive. The book probably deserved to win at least one of the several awards it was nominated for.
However, I didn't love it, emotionally. Even though it deftly slipped out of the 'it was all just a dream, or mental illness' thing that I had a suspicion it was sliding toward, for a while. I feel like I appreciated this book - it just didn't become one of my favorites.
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LibraryThing member gayla.bassham
More like 4 1/2. The book meanders a little bit, but I really liked the protagonist and I loved the world-building.
LibraryThing member Stewartry
I enjoyed the beginning of this, although it confused me. I enjoyed the premise, and the dragon, and although the darkness and grimness of the setting had me on edge, I could appreciate the fact that it did so. If that makes sense. It wasn't my preferred type of setting – I like there to be just
I was confused because it's never explicitly stated where and/or when this book is set. There are elves and dragons and invisible boys, but one of the elves wears an Italian suit. I don't recall any of the characters mentioned being plain vanilla humans (although I think Jane was perceived as one?), but the young ones (those not enslaved in factories, at least) still have to go to school. And the teind is a thing, treated alarmingly like The Bachelorette. But, again, I could appreciate the craft, whether I enjoyed it or not.
It was when Jane, our heroine who allies herself with the title's iron dragon, gets out into the world and into school that the book took a sharp downward turn for me. It actually got darker and darker – the world that this is set in is a horrifying, dismal, dangerous, ugly place, and Jane – understandably not a sweet and wholesome girl to start with – adapts to the horror and darkness and danger in ways that made her more and more difficult to read about. A line which perfectly captured it was "For all that she’d had no great expectations for it, sex was turning out to be even more squalid, tawdry, and cynical than she had suspected it would." I gave up somewhere around the 50% point, I believe – I just couldn't push through. This is not due to the book – it's a case of "it's not you it's me". I just didn't enjoy it. My decision about rating a book I don't finish is always case by case. There are times I won't leave a rating. If the book is dreadful enough that I can't or just won't finish it, I'm not going to hesitate to express that in the rating: it's usually going to be a single star. If I fail to finish a book because it's simply not to my taste, it's usually two-starrer. I think I'm just going to leave this one starless – what I appreciated was very good. The rise and fall of the meryons was marvelous. I am sorry not to find out what happens. But I got out because I was beginning to feel soiled reading it.
A quote and an idea that I did love:
“So you’re saying … that I’m living a story in which I don’t get financial aid? Is that it?”
He shook his head. “It’s not you. The secretary is living a story in which she doesn’t give you financial aid. It’s a subtle distinction, but a crucial one. It gives you an out.”
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
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a little light somewhere, and I admit I do prefer to like a character or two in what I'm reading – but it was well done and fascinating. I was confused because it's never explicitly stated where and/or when this book is set. There are elves and dragons and invisible boys, but one of the elves wears an Italian suit. I don't recall any of the characters mentioned being plain vanilla humans (although I think Jane was perceived as one?), but the young ones (those not enslaved in factories, at least) still have to go to school. And the teind is a thing, treated alarmingly like The Bachelorette. But, again, I could appreciate the craft, whether I enjoyed it or not.
It was when Jane, our heroine who allies herself with the title's iron dragon, gets out into the world and into school that the book took a sharp downward turn for me. It actually got darker and darker – the world that this is set in is a horrifying, dismal, dangerous, ugly place, and Jane – understandably not a sweet and wholesome girl to start with – adapts to the horror and darkness and danger in ways that made her more and more difficult to read about. A line which perfectly captured it was "For all that she’d had no great expectations for it, sex was turning out to be even more squalid, tawdry, and cynical than she had suspected it would." I gave up somewhere around the 50% point, I believe – I just couldn't push through. This is not due to the book – it's a case of "it's not you it's me". I just didn't enjoy it. My decision about rating a book I don't finish is always case by case. There are times I won't leave a rating. If the book is dreadful enough that I can't or just won't finish it, I'm not going to hesitate to express that in the rating: it's usually going to be a single star. If I fail to finish a book because it's simply not to my taste, it's usually two-starrer. I think I'm just going to leave this one starless – what I appreciated was very good. The rise and fall of the meryons was marvelous. I am sorry not to find out what happens. But I got out because I was beginning to feel soiled reading it.
A quote and an idea that I did love:
“So you’re saying … that I’m living a story in which I don’t get financial aid? Is that it?”
He shook his head. “It’s not you. The secretary is living a story in which she doesn’t give you financial aid. It’s a subtle distinction, but a crucial one. It gives you an out.”
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
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LibraryThing member stpnwlf
Unique SF story involving children and a unique robotic monster,
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
A wonderful start...some tongue and cheek humor and delicious blend of fantasy and sci-fi - loving it so far [in progress]
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
This is one of those novels that will either enthrall you or disappoint. I'm not really a fan of dark fantasy and this wasn't really my type of book. To really enjoy a book for me I have to like at least one of the characters in the book and honestly there wasn't one character I really liked.
The
She goes to school and discovers her power, which includes using sex, it's often emotionless and in some ways boring. She gets into shoplifting and has to avoid the teint, which is where the lower end of the classes are sacraficed.
Honestly I didn't care. I had no feeling for any of the characters and as the world unfolded I felt no investment in the world and couldn't care less if it went away and then felt somewhat cheated by the end.
It falls into the list of books where I get why it might be appealing to some people but it's not for me.
The
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story starts in a factory that echoes dickensian factory; the twist is that this world is a fantasy world and our heroine, Jane, is a changeling. Her life changes when she encounters an old worn out Iron dragon that offers her a way out.She goes to school and discovers her power, which includes using sex, it's often emotionless and in some ways boring. She gets into shoplifting and has to avoid the teint, which is where the lower end of the classes are sacraficed.
Honestly I didn't care. I had no feeling for any of the characters and as the world unfolded I felt no investment in the world and couldn't care less if it went away and then felt somewhat cheated by the end.
It falls into the list of books where I get why it might be appealing to some people but it's not for me.
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LibraryThing member Lisuebie
started out good, got extremely wierd. The bad sort of sci-fi, all philosophically wrought and boring at the end.
LibraryThing member benkaboo
I read a bunch of the reviews here that said this book started out strong but collapsed at the end, so perhaps I was better prepared for the story to tae some non traditional directions.
That said I really enjoyed the setting characters and ideas in this book. I think the author, by using a magic
I just finished the book today and my head is still swimming with what actually happened and what I can take from the story that unfolded.
Normally I just jump straight into my next book, but this one has my head kind of spinning making it difficult to decide what to read next.
I'd recommend as a read for those who don't mind wandering off the garden path if they get to see some really cool wild flowers ;-)
That said I really enjoyed the setting characters and ideas in this book. I think the author, by using a magic
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laden reality, is able to much better express some of the ideas being explored and suspend some of the assumptions and pre-judgements that might have existed if the setting had been a magical girl in a mundane world (as opposed to visa-versa).I just finished the book today and my head is still swimming with what actually happened and what I can take from the story that unfolded.
Normally I just jump straight into my next book, but this one has my head kind of spinning making it difficult to decide what to read next.
I'd recommend as a read for those who don't mind wandering off the garden path if they get to see some really cool wild flowers ;-)
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Awards
World Fantasy Award (Nominee — Novel — 1994)
Arthur C. Clarke Award (Shortlist — 1994)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1993-11
ISBN
1857980808 / 9781857980806