If you're like me, you recently encountered and read Michael Swanwick's THE DRAGONS OF BABEL and, having enjoyed it, now want to read THE IRON DRAGON'S DAUGHTER, a book that takes place in the same universe and was published fifteen years ago. The two books do not form a traditional series: they tell different stories, they share no characters in common, and the earlier book's obsessions are deeper and darker than those of the later.
THE IRON DRAGON'S DAUGHTER is still raw, edgy, surprising and powerful fifteen years after it was first published. Jane, the book's protagonist, is one of the more vivid characters in contemporary fantasy literature. A human girl stolen from her mother by faeries to serve as a slave worker and brood mare, Jane refuses to become a victim. She ultimately decides that no tool is too contemptible or degrading -- a semi-cooperative iron dragon, shoplifting, blackmail, sex, fame -- if it allows her to survive, be free, pursue love, and seek knowledge. She finds moments of joy, yet she remains imprisoned in a hell she can't escape; being a human girl in a faery world, a fugitive from lifelong servitude, and a rogue dragon's accomplice, Jane is always haunted by -- and rendered vulnerable to blackmail by -- those who seek to drag her back to the factory or the breeding camp where she "belongs".
Swanwick's tale can be read at multiple levels; in fact, he insists that it be read at multiple levels, never leaving the reader certain, not even at the end, which one is "right". To portray the scuzzy boss as an ogre, the anorexic supermodel as be a haughty high elf, or the violent street punk as a goblin is not much of a stretch. But what does it mean that Jane can cross worlds and visit her mother at a Starbucks, or visit her own, real body in a mental hospital? What does it mean that Jane keeps encountering the same people -- in different bodies -- over and over? What does it mean when the dragon enlists Jane in a quest to destroy the world? Is any of this real? (And what does all this mean for THE DRAGONS OF BABEL, in which none of this cross-world traffic is even mentioned?)
Some readers will feel that Swanwick is rubbing their noses in depravity for its own sake. Some will feel that this book is relentlessly downbeat for no reason. I think Swanick is courageously doing what the best writers always do; cutting deep, skewering hypocrisy, pushing it to the edge. It's not comfortable, but it is impressive and it is not -- despite what others say -- without a great deal of wry wit, compassion for Jane and (at least some of) her peers, and, at least a very little bit of optimism.
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About the author
Dark, fast-moving fantasy, but for what audience?
There was a time, back in the early Seventies when I was in high school, when I read Tolkien, and then lots of other fantasy, including Lord Dunsany (The King of Elfland's Daughter), Clark Ashton Smith, H.P. Lovecraft, James Branch Cabell, H. Rider Haggard, Robert E. Howard, and all of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser I could find. Stories about dragons, elves, and dwarves haven't been my thing since then, and neither am I a reader of young adult fiction. The only reason I read this book is that I recently discovered Michael Swanwick, and consider him to be one of the best SF/fantasy writers alive today.It is of course incredibly well written, and fast-paced. I enjoyed it, but not as much as "Stations of the Tide." I can't figure out who the audience is for a twisted young adult story that includes very adult elements, and a fantasy world with typical inhabitants (dragons, elves, dwarves, and many others) that are all seen through a horrifying vision, "through a glass, darkly." It is a world much more like our "all too human" world than an idyllic, pastoral setting. Of course by now "Game of Thrones" has popularized that idea! But Swanwick's mise en scène is not medieval, but rather modern -- technology and magick are intertwined and combined.Swanwick created a strong female protagonist in Jane. None of the other characters are very well-developed, and they are about equally balanced between female and male. One of the things about his industrial faery world that I quite enjoyed is that machines are alive -- it's an animist cosmology. This includes the mechanical dragons, one of which features centrally in the plot, but other more mundane machines as well. As we approach the dramatic dénouement, Jane needs to find an elevator: "The passenger elevators had all been drawn by the heat to the burning floors like moths to a candle. But the freight elevators were simpler creatures, operated manually. Jane commandeered one" (392).There are a couple of places where characters channel voices from our world. A troll at one point utters a string of gibberish that includes: "The Cold War is over. We stand at the dawn of a New World Order... "...drawing a line in the sand. The vision thing... To sum it up in one word, it's jobs! (356). I suspect that younger readers may not recognize (they certainly can't remember) George H.W. Bush (41) as the source.Like me, you may not ordinarily read young adult fiction or stories about dragons and elves, but with the caveat that there is an abundance of sex and a fair amount of drugs, I recommend "The Iron Dragon's Daughter" to those who value scintillating imagination and superb writing.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2009
- Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2020
Dark, fast-moving fantasy, but for what audience?There was a time, back in the early Seventies when I was in high school, when I read Tolkien, and then lots of other fantasy, including Lord Dunsany (The King of Elfland's Daughter), Clark Ashton Smith, H.P. Lovecraft, James Branch Cabell, H. Rider Haggard, Robert E. Howard, and all of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser I could find. Stories about dragons, elves, and dwarves haven't been my thing since then, and neither am I a reader of young adult fiction. The only reason I read this book is that I recently discovered Michael Swanwick, and consider him to be one of the best SF/fantasy writers alive today.
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2020
It is of course incredibly well written, and fast-paced. I enjoyed it, but not as much as "Stations of the Tide." I can't figure out who the audience is for a twisted young adult story that includes very adult elements, and a fantasy world with typical inhabitants (dragons, elves, dwarves, and many others) that are all seen through a horrifying vision, "through a glass, darkly." It is a world much more like our "all too human" world than an idyllic, pastoral setting. Of course by now "Game of Thrones" has popularized that idea! But Swanwick's mise en scène is not medieval, but rather modern -- technology and magick are intertwined and combined.
Swanwick created a strong female protagonist in Jane. None of the other characters are very well-developed, and they are about equally balanced between female and male. One of the things about his industrial faery world that I quite enjoyed is that machines are alive -- it's an animist cosmology. This includes the mechanical dragons, one of which features centrally in the plot, but other more mundane machines as well. As we approach the dramatic dénouement, Jane needs to find an elevator: "The passenger elevators had all been drawn by the heat to the burning floors like moths to a candle. But the freight elevators were simpler creatures, operated manually. Jane commandeered one" (392).
There are a couple of places where characters channel voices from our world. A troll at one point utters a string of gibberish that includes: "The Cold War is over. We stand at the dawn of a New World Order... "...drawing a line in the sand. The vision thing... To sum it up in one word, it's jobs! (356). I suspect that younger readers may not recognize (they certainly can't remember) George H.W. Bush (41) as the source.
Like me, you may not ordinarily read young adult fiction or stories about dragons and elves, but with the caveat that there is an abundance of sex and a fair amount of drugs, I recommend "The Iron Dragon's Daughter" to those who value scintillating imagination and superb writing.
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2016
Top reviews from other countries
- JustAGuyReviewed in Canada on February 7, 2021
Horrible world building and nonsense plot
- nsmReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 19, 2013
The worst book I have ever read
