La figlia del drago di ferro

The Iron Dragon's Daughter #1

by Michael Swanwick, Susanna Bini (Translator)

Jane vuole sottrarsi a un destino infame e per farlo è disposta a pagare qualsiasi prezzo. È una changeling, una bambina scambiata nella culla, rapita al mondo umano. È stata condotta in catene in un universo fatato e guerrafondaio, e costretta a lavorare in una fabbrica di draghi di ferro, tenuti insieme dall’odio e dall’acciaio. Melanchthon è uno di loro, il più maligno e violento, ormai malfunzionante e destinato alla demolizione. Lui e Jane stringono un patto, uniti come sono da sentimenti di vendetta, rancore e voglia di bruciare ancora nella notte. La fuga dalla fabbrica è solo il primo passo, ma è ciò che viene dopo il vero incubo: crescere e trovare la propria strada in una società scomposta, consumata dall’avidità e dalla brama di potere, dalle droghe e dal sesso occasionale, il tutto con i più improbabili compagni: coboldi, fate, goblin ed elfi corrotti che sniffano polvere di fata in club esclusivi. Ma la magia dei draghi di ferro non conosce limiti, e Melanchthon infesterà la mente e il destino di Jane, finché un giorno non tornerà da lei per un ultimo folle volo. Michael Swanwick sovverte gli archetipi con un libro anarchico e febbrile, diventato in breve tempo un cult del dark fantasy. La figlia del drago di ferro è la storia di una bambina, di una ragazza, di una donna che combatte da sola contro la violenza del mondo e contro quel drago che, come un impulso autodistruttivo, non smette di venirci a trovare.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Dragons, Steampunk, Science Fiction Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

514 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kat Hooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Some people don't like to admit that they didn't "get" a book, but I'm secure enough with myself to say that I didn't get this one.

The Iron Dragon's Daughter started off well. Jane is a human changeling who works in a Faerie factory that makes flying iron dragons for weapons. Jane and the other child slave laborers (who are a mix of strange creatures) are entertaining and bring to mind Lord of the Flies and that scene in Sid's room from Pixar's Toy Story. Michael Swanwick's writing style is fluid and faultless. There are flashes of Valente-esque creativity: a timeclock with a temper, a meryon (whatever that is) civilization similar to that in A Bug's Life, a conniving jar-bound homunculus, gryphons who dive for thrown beer cans. I truly enjoyed these parts of the book and understand why Mr. Swanwick has won so many prestigious awards.

But, after Jane escapes from the dragon factory, the whole thing plummets like a lead dragon and it never returns to its former glory. The writing style is still lovely, but the plot is — I don't think I've ever used this word in a review before — awful. I hated it.

Jane was never a sympathetic heroine, but after her escape she turns into a remorseless foul-mouthed thief, drug-user, slut, and murderer. I didn't like her or any of her acquaintances. The plot had no order, the world had no rules, everything that happened seemed random, chaotic, and senseless.

Knowing that other people have praised this novel and that it's sequel (The Dragons of Babel) was nominated for a Locus award, I pressed on. About two-thirds of the way through, I figured out that there was a method to the madness, but the chaotic nihilism was so disturbing that even though I realized it contributed to the entire philosophy of the novel, I still hated it. I think perhaps if I'd dropped some acid, the plot would have arranged itself better in my mind, but alas, I had none to hand.

I think Michael Swanwick is a great writer, but The Iron Dragon's Daughter was weird, disjointed, obtuse, and inaccessibly bizarre.
Originally published at FanLit.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very impressive and work of imagination, and while I've read better Swanwick, it's *still* Swanwick, and that means it's head-and-shoulders better than almost anything out there.

This novel gives the illusion that it might be a YA, with a lot of impressive and delightful adventure elements, but it eventually turns into an adult romp full of sex, drugs, and stardom, only to eventually return to its adventure roots. So what makes this piece stand out? Jane is a great character with lots of sides to her, not just exploring what it means to be a woman in a thoroughly Misogynic Elf society, trying to find a piece of herself, her dreams, her sexuality, while all the while struggling against two great gods of the Steampunk/High Fantasy world.

What's the Iron Dragon? An AI in a steampunk airship with cybernetic interfaces. Nicely SF.
Are there Dwarves and Elves and Changelings throughout this University-Dominated setting? Why yes, yes, there is. :) Complex society, too. Very nicely Fantasy.

Does the plot and the themes begin as a slow spiral only to end up in the center of all the conflict in a wild explosion of action? Why yes, yes it does.

I really like this novel, and it really shines well in craft and characters, but to be perfectly honest, I didn't know where a lot of it was going until much later and it just seemed like it was drifting in dissolution. A lot of the plot events, including the mob scenes, play out the same feeling, of course, as well as the immense sense of loss, and while the reality of the author's intent was clear, our actual payoff feels far from clear. I get a few good impressions, and the visual imagery is grand, but then I wonder if this was still all about Jane's growth or not.

I assume it is, and not the played-out grand conflict of gods. :)

[Володимир Кузнєцов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Оукей. Тутечки, після вчорашнього анонсу передзамовлення «Доньки залізного дракона» виявилося, що чимало людей навіть серед поціновувачів жанру, не знають, що це за книга. У тому немає гріха – неможливо знати про всі книги на світі, навіть про всі книги в окремому жанрі, навіть, якщо ти цей жанр знаєш та любиш з дитинства. Я, наприклад, про існування Роберта Джордана та його «Колеса часу» дізнався тільки у 2015 році (і, будемо чесні, впустив момент, коли міг би його полюбити – надто великий вже був мій багаж читацького досвіду). «Доньку» я вперше прочитав не набагато раніше – у 2011-му, здається. І я не знаю, яким було б моє сприйняття цієї книги, якби вона трапилася мені в більш юному віці. Бо книга ніц не проста. Власне, на мій (і не тільки на мій) погляд, «Донька залізного дракона» є одним з визначних творів у фентезі, яка створила й заклала канони таких субжанрів, як міське фентезі, технофентезі, нью-вірд майже до того, як вони отримали свої назви. Але, щоб зрозуміти, як таке сталося, треба подивитися на роман трошки ширше самого тексту.

«Дочка залізного дракона» побачила світ у 1993-му році. На той момент Майкл Свонвік вже мав за плечами три романи, один з яких – «Вакуумні квіти» став одним зі стовпів кіберпанку, а інший, «Приливні станції», був номінований Неб’юлу та премію Кемпбелла. Тож, як ви могли здогадатися, Свонвік писав похмуру кіберпанк-НФ, не просто слідуючи заповіді «гай тек-лоу лайф» - він був одним із тих, хто створив цей канон своїми книжками.

І це перше, що треба мати на думці, беручись за «Доньку». Це, безперечно, фентезі, але кіберпанк тут відчувається в кожному другому рядку. Високі технології тут безперечно мають магічне дежрело, а складні виробничі процеси пов’язані з темними забобонами; абсолютно відповідає стандартам КП і соціальний устрій суспільства – максимально різке розшарування суспільства, деспотичний державний устрій, сповнене злиднів та злочинів соціальне дно. «Дочка залізного дракона» - це те чтиво, після якого від заяв типу «Відьмак/Перший закон/Чорний загін – це темне фентезі» ви зможете хіба що посміятися. Утім, це не той випадок коли створюється «чорнуха заради чорнухи» - кожний мерзенний елемент слугує багатьом аспектам тексту та є майстерно вплетеним у загальні контексти.

Другий момент – це нетривіальний підхід до сюжетної канви. Основою будь-якого класичного фентезі є Подорож героя. Вона може бути буквальною, як у «Володарі перстнів», «пісні Льоду і Полум’я» чи вже згаданим вище книгам, може також бути більш фігуральним. Але це завжди Квест – шлях який долають герої, що наприкінці змінює їх та світ загалом. І «Донька» тут не виключення – з тією різницею, що Свонвік подає цю подорож не у просторі, а у часі, майстерно поєднуючи фентезійний Квест з романом дорослішання. Читач пройде з героїнею шлях від дитини до дорослої, яскраво демонструючи кожен етап її життя й ті зміни, які відбуваються з нею, і зміни, які відбуваються з навколишнім світом.

Третій момент – світобудова. Кожен напевне хоч раз та й замислювався, яким був би світ Толкіна, якщо б він історично досяг нашого рівня розвитку, але магія не покинула його? Світ Свонвіка – це не світ Толкіна. Радше це світ фейрі, яким той був у своїй народній традиції. Він впевнено бере архетипи чарівних істот і вписує їх в сучасні реалії, моделюючи, як би вони існували та поводилися в розвинутому суспільстві. Це моделювання помітне на всіх рівнях, від буденно-побутового до космогонічного. Свонвік дає читачеві шанс познайомитися з освітою, економікою, бюрократією, світським життям, індустрією розваг, соціальним устроєм, злочинним світом, промисловістю – коротше ледь не з усім, з чим ми стикаємося в нашому повсякденному житті. Тільки в реаліях фейрі, химерних та облудних, вмотивованих і зв’язаних численними забобонами та неписаними законами.

Четвертий – це декілька шарів сенсів, які заклав Свонвік у свій твір. Я не буду зупинятися на цьому докладно – бо на те в українському виданні будуть численні примітки та розлога післямова від відомого літературознавця Михайла Назаренка. Скажу лише так – книга має захоплюючу, драматичну історію та яскравих персонажів, які в будь-якому разі не дадуть вам відірватися від книги, але коли ви візьметеся за неї вдруге чи втретє, ви знайдете там безліч дрібних (і не дуже) деталей, які спочатку лишилися поза вашою увагою. А якщо матимете бажання зануритися у витоки твору та зрозуміти глибинні сенси деяких образів та подій, вам знадобиться озброїтися ґуґлом та розпочати власне дослідження. Але головне в книзі те, що на якому б шарі ви не зупинилися, ви не будете почуватися «обділеними» - книга завжди сприймається цілісно й ніц від вас не вимагає. Логіку оповіді та мотивації героїв завжди можна зрозуміти, навіть сюжетні виверти не містять книжкової «штучності» та не потребують запам’ятати «п’яту репліку сьомого персонажа сто сторінок тому», щоб здогадатися що тільки-но відбулося.

Це, якщо коротко, те, що треба розуміти, беручись за «Дочку залізного дракона». Вона, до речі, попри свою значущість, не може похвалитися гучними нагородами - номінації були, утім, не перемоги. Книга не складна – вона радше глибока. І емоційно навантажена. Мені зараз важко сказати, як вона буде читатися вперше – бо за ці роки перечитав її вже три чи чотири рази. Але сам факт повернення до неї, як на мене, цілком красномовно говорить про її чесноти.

[Meghna Jayanth · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the books on Mieville's list of 50 Scifi and Fantasy Books for Socialists, he tells you that it "completely destroys the sentimental aspects of genre fiction". And holy hell, please do take that warning seriously. Jane is a child-worker in a factory which is building treacherously aware warmachines made of cold iron. These "dragons" are enslaved to their pilots, wills broken by technology and magic, as Jane is essentially a slave to the factory. Until one of the dragons starts whispering to her of escape.

This is a difficult book, and no mistake. It's endlessly surprising and inventive, deeply shocking, especially if you bring to it the expectations of genre fiction - it reminds me of a much older strain of speculative fiction; charged, full of ideas, unexpected, perhaps slightly more interested in plot and situation and its effects on character than in the characters themselves. But it's not an old-fashioned book. Technology exists alongside the magic of the Faerie (a disturbing vision of colleges of alchemy existing alongside air-conditioned malls, stealth dragons made of cold-iron fitted out with radar-jamming tech), our own mundane world is an acknowledged but separate plane of existence - Jane is a changeling stolen from our world and into the faerie, and her abduction isn't a romanticised transplantation into Faerie courts, but rather part of a healthy trade in child-trafficking and slave labour.

Personally, I thought Jane was an excellent protagonist: resourceful, intelligent, but also deeply flawed. By turns compassionate and ruthless. The book is about her attempts to live her life, perhaps try to return to her mother and her blank-eyed physical body on "our plane", while navigating the political, social and economic world of Faerie that seems systematically determined to corner, manipulate, and lessen her. In this world, there are no last-minute saves, or unexamined heroics. Jane is far from noble, but endlessly human.

If you're willing to give yourself to Swanwick's twisting narrative, Iron Dragon's Daughter is a rewarding, thoughtful, deeply engaging book that will stay with you.

[Jamethiel_bane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faerie cyberpunk. Jane is a changeling, working as slave labour in the dragon factory. Her life is planned out for her, and it's not particularly pleasant path. Then she meets an iron dragon, and decides to rebel.

This is a FANTASTIC book. The world is incredibly detailed and very well thought out.
The only trouble is, it's about two books in one. We start off with Jane in childhood, and go through to her adulthood. Jane is wonderful. Smart, stubborn, not always especially moral and very, very angry.

SPOILERS
There is sex in this book. Jane has sex and enjoys it and doesn't get punished for it (other than having guys who she doesn't particularly WANT a lengthy relationship with hanging round. And that happens!). Some will see it as nihilistic and it's certainly very dark. She doesn't treat people well. She actually kills some blameless people to give her the means to escape. It's calculated, as well. It's certainly acknowledged as being morally wrong and Jane does feel guilty, but like most survivors she has the attitude of "I will think about that later".

However, I found a theme of--dark hope, or acknowledgement of the human-ness of anger and defiance. Jane is trapped and stuck and she enjoys herself along the way, but she's always angry about it. And come the penultimate part of the book, in the Spiral Castle where she could very easily acquiesce and say "No, you're right, I'm nothing and I submit." she doesn't. She sticks her chin up and says "NEVER", fully expecting to be annhiliated.

If you take the penultimate part of the book as the ending, it's actually a pretty powerful atheist statement. That anthropomorphising the cosmos is useless because it doesn't care about us. This rather bleak message is undermined by the very end.

The ending is something that almost subverts the message of the entire book. The book is about--surviving, muddling through. Doing the best you can in a world which doesn't give you rules and has no purpose. But we see recurring characters in Jane's life. The same souls turn up again and again. The "goddess" in the spiral castle actually explicitly says that they're part of Jane's purpose and she just disregards them.

The final part of the book reinforces that an individual's destiny is largely what they make of it themselves, but that other people and our treatment of them is the most important thing. It's gorgeous writing on from Swanwick, to see things that are foreshadowed and take forever to build up fall into place in the final chapter.

In conclusion, a fantastic book. Highly recommended.

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, you know the feeling you get when you encounter a difficult piece of artwork in a contemporary art museum? Maybe it's a small box left alone on a table. Maybe it's a cake made of plaster. Maybe it's a series of lights shone on a wall. You can pick up on a few clues as to what concept is being explored and what aesthetic is being showcased, but you get the sense that you might just not be intelligent or cultured enough to grasp the big, profound entirety of it all. And then it strikes you: maybe the artist is just fucking with you. You leave the museum in a disoriented state, wondering if you had finally experienced true art and whether you hated it or not. You decide it deserves three stars.

[Pavlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Сплила, як літня ніч "Донька залізного дракона" Майкла Свонвіка і це щось зовсім інакше, нічого подібного я раніше не читав.

Насамперед вразила дивовижна здатність автора міксувати, на перший погляд, цілковито непоєднувані різножанрові елементи. Він ніскілечки не соромлячись бере архетипи мітичних істот, і прискіпливо прописує їхню модель поведінки на всіх рівнях взаємодії зі всесвітом, починаючи від побутових дрібниць і закінчуючи промисловістю та економічною складовою. І все це з такою легкістю та віртуозністю, що не одразу помічаєш масштаб підготовки, яку автор проробив.

З захватом спостерігав різноманітність та багатоплановість сенсів, що переплітаються з шикарними персонажами, які в свою чергу вражають глибиною та палітрою характерів. Та незважаючи на весь складний світ та постійний двіж, логіка оповіді та мотивація персонажів завжди зрозуміла і не потребує постійного тримання в голові десятків імен, діалогів та сюжетних тропів.
До того ж книга, попри глибину, надзвичайно емоційна і цей аспект не дає знудитися та загрузнути в сотнях приміток, що рясніють чи не на кожній сторінці.
Роман просто бімба-граната, жук-самальот, тішуся, що прочитав його зараз і обов'язково, з часом, перечитаю знову.

[Margaret Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’d read some of the other reviews of The Iron Dragon’s Daughter on Goodreads, so I was forewarned that the author pulls a nasty trick on us around page 80. That still didn’t prepare me for how angry this book was going to make me.

I picked up this book because it’s noteworthy for deconstructing a lot of stock fantasy tropes. It was published in 1993, when fantasy was deep in the ghetto of Tolkien knockoffs. A few years later, A Game of Thrones would start pulling the genre out of Tolkien’s shadow, and then Harry Potter would really get fantasy going again. But The Iron Dragon’s Daughter was a start. For one thing, this book has technology ­– at a time when most people had not heard of the word “steampunk.”

Jane is a young human who’s been kidnapped by the Unseelie Court and forced to live in Fairyland. She works as a child laborer in a robot dragon factory (they work like sentient fighter jets). One day, one of the dragons begins speaking to her. It offers to help her escape if she repairs it. This dragon is quite evil, but they strike an uneasy bargain and they get out.

At this point, you’d expect the story to be about Jane trying to get home while trying to cope with this dragon she can’t trust. You would be wrong. Over the course of a page or two, Jane becomes a miserable little crook bent on cheating, stealing, and fornicating* her way to the top of Unseelie society. She manipulates people. She lets her friends die to save herself. All of this would make for a fascinating villain if only there were any heroes in the story. There aren’t. All of the other characters are loathesome except for this one dude who keeps dying over and over and over again.

It’s not bad writing. In fact, it’s quite good (Swanwick has won awards for some of his other works). What we have here is a talented writer who is deliberately trolling his readers. The theme of the book is that life is pointless and meaningless, though it stops to poke some cruel humor at yuppie culture along the way.

I skipped ahead to see if Jane ever winds up in jail, which she so richly deserves. She does not.

Swanwick, you don’t have to be like this. You don’t have to rip your subject to bloody shreds to write effective satire. Take Terry Pratchett, for example. This guy pokes holes in everything, literally everything. He’s done dwarves quaffing mead in taverns to lost heirs to the throne to the post office to image compression algorithms to Robocop. But no matter where the books go, they always circle back to two main messages: 1. You will die eventually. 2. The human spirit (or dwarven or vampire or what have you) is worth something.

And frankly, that’s the sort of satire I’d rather read.

* Sex magic. She doesn’t care for her partners, but she does use them to acquire power.

[Pele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago, and it's one of those that really stick with you and rattle around in your head.

If you've ever read classic, well respected literature, you know that the author is telling a raw and original story, and cares nothing about the reader's comfort along the way. That, to me, is the sign of a truly well-written book. You experience the human condition through the writing, and a good part of the human condition is NOT comfortable, pretty, or easy to face.

The genius here (and why this book became such a phenomenon in the 90s), is that Swanwick took a genre that is notorious for NOT challenging the reader, for being overly comfortable, and not well respected, and elevated it.

He uses a harsh world with class issues, and an imperfect main character (really, you expect a child slave with revenge issues to be a paragon of morality?), to emotionally exercise the reader in a manner usually expected when you sit down with a copy of Heart of Darkness, or Lord of the Flies. It will elevate you, it will floor you, and it will make you upset with the main character (because she's not perfect).

Most of all, it will stay with you and change how you view a genre.

[atmatos · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made me stabby.
Feels of rage when I was done.
Bad ending was bad.

[Ксенія Шпак]

Головна героїня - Джейн - це людська підміна у світі злісних фейрі, яка мусить працювати на заводі з виробництва драконів (тут у мене були асоціації з "ОЛівером Твістом" і через її друга-фейрі ще й Пітером Пеном). Світ фейрі - жорстокий і вийшов крутішим, ніж у Голлі Блек, бо фейрі не тільки жорстокі, а ще й над світом Свонвіка літає душок абсурду, який йому дуже пасує, бо вибиває з "людської" логіки. Мені дуже подобалися технічні деталі про виробництво й життя заводу, офігенний приклад технофентезі, де з процесу виробництва постає жива істота - дракон, він одночасно зброя і чудовисько зі свідомістю.
Ще було безліч крутих знахідок: наприклад, команди для дракона, що складалися з кодів тепловозів? (я забула, що саме там було, але це круто). Фейрі у трансі виголошують шматки з людських новин і промов політиків, назви пов'язані з міфологією (причому дуже багато всього намутилося).
Словом, від першої частини книги я була у великому захваті, а потім Джейн подорослішала, стала черпати магію з сексу - і це було б ок, але постільні сцени були переважно бридкуваті (окрім її мастурбації, це був чистий ор, як у Маас - ця дурнувата метафора лісу. в якому вона шукала свій "ґудзик"). Решта ж постільних сцен змушували морщити носа - не були ані недолуго смішними, ані "гарячими". Ну і навколо купа хлопців безкінечно хапали себе за яйця чи демонстрували їй члени, я просто ні магу з фіксації на цьому.
Плюс десь посередині її навчання в універі просіла динаміка, оця вся возня з Ґал'яґанте не дуже ясно для чого була, як і красивий і дуже оригінальний дім Інколоре, який загалом нащо там був?
Кінцівка була цікава, але не писатиму, що там було. Враження все одно нормально так підпсували перераховані вище моменти

[Oleh Bilinkevych · Rating 2 out of 5]

З хаотичним сюжетом, який ковтає і випльовує персонажів, наче соняшникове насіння ще можна було б змиритись. Але з огидністю головної героїні - ніяк.
От не можу збагнути, як так вийшло, що від моменту втечі із заводу сюжет перетворився на марення наркомана.
На моменті, коли вона зі сперми робить алхімічні досліди я зупинив читання.

Не цікаво шукати додаткові сенси поміж наркотиками, алкоголем та безкінечними зляганнями гг...

Додам зірочку суто за фантастичну роботу над примітками.

[Fabiano]

DNF Pag. 300 (58%)

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a kind of dark Dystopian steampunk fantasy. It's elegantly written but would have been more enjoyable for me with a little more light or a little less length. It's a blue-collar vision of fantasy land, with most all of the fey beasties represented, and a heroine named Jane who works at a factory where dragons are constructed. She moves on to a magical existence, predicated on sex magic, but she doesn't become a fairy-tale heroine, instead spiraling into shifting scenes of darkness and despair before ending up institutionalized. There are no likable or sympathetic characters, and the book seems an attempt to subvert all of the tropes and archetypes and conventions of modern fantasy. It's a very well-written story, but a little bit went a long way.

[Fantasy boy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if you live through your entire life without any consolations? What if you escaped from a prison but still stuck in the reality which you are trying to escape from? This is the Iron Dragon’s Daughter about.

Jane is a human changeling, was imprisoned in an elf supervised prison; there has many races, ogres, fae, dwarf etc. It is hard to know they were captured by elfs or were serving their prison sentences. Jane was one of the prisoners until she accidentally discovered a grimoire, it is an instruction of Dragon pilots. It Led Jane a path to freedom from the cruel prison. Since Jane had discovered the Grimorie, she had been manipulating by the dragon which had been consistently whispering in her brain. After she got out of the prison, she would soon realize that it was just the Commence of her suffering. After Jane escaped from the prison, she became a student and want to have her chemical degree in University , until the call from her dragon that told her to destroy the universe…

The story is profoundly interesting, many races and creatures in this book, they all had lived in a hierarchy under elves, beside Jane’s stories, there had some of short stories about those creatures like homunculu, man-like snake etc in this books, by those short stories we know some detail of this steampunk-like world with some advance technologies and archaic magic. The world building is quite intriguing, the tone of narrative gives the darker and more mysterious shape of the world which Jane escaped into.

This is a tragic story with Jane had witnessed her four lover’s death, they are reincarnations and are destined to meet Jane. Each time she tried to avoid seeing the man she was meant to love, the miserable fact is that she would face the crueler consequences. It is kind of invariably interminable cul-de-sac of seeing her heart broken; when she saw four times in different ways of her lovers died for her or because of her, It is hardly bearable for her, then she became indulgent of drugs, sex, alcohol. I think it is like a loop, repetitively experiencing the tragedy.

I think Iron Dragon’s daughter has a wonderful world building and numerous complex themes, but the story is incoherent, some explanations seem to be forced in the story progression. It easily confuses readers to comprehend the world and the story. In addition, the sci-if elements blend in the fantasy story quite jarring, It would be a bit bewildering that Am I reading a Sci-Fi or a fantasy novel.

Overall, this is a rich-world building, Steampunk fantasy. In this bleak world, all races are struggling in conflicts without any salivations. There is no heaven in the upper or lower world, just a barrier between the two worlds.

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 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.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is very likely Swanwick's masterwork. I've read it at least three times, and got something new each time. Not to be missed.

Here's Dave Truesdale's comments on Iron Dragon’sDaughter and the 2008 sort-of sequel, The Dragons of Babel:
"In 1994, Michael Swanwick's The Iron Dragon's Daughter broke new ground and blew everyone away with its heady mix of dystopian dark Faerie and Dickensian machine-age steampunk. It was a truly one-of-a-kind work and I now think it fair to say a fantasy classic."
LInk to original [caution, SPOILERS] https://www.sfsite.com/columns/dave29...

I find Swanwick's comments on his book are fascinating. If you like this sort of thing, there's lots more at [caution, SPOILERS]
http://www.michaelswanwick.com/revan/...

[Marina Zhurbei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Отже, я це дочитала. Свонвік пише в стилі, якого я ніколи раніше не зустрічала (порівнюють із Чайна М'євіль, але для мене вони не схожі). Історія про жахливу дівчину, яка робить жахливі речі, здебільшого із жахливими людьми. Ельфи нюхають чарівний пил, грифони борються за кинуту банку пива, постійні сексуальні ритуали і дракон-винищувач. Сюжет важко простежити і не на всі запитання ви отримаєте відповіді. Але якщо ви прочитали перші 100 ст і вам не захотілось викинути книгу із вікна, то попереду похмура, заплутана, сповнена бруду фантастична книга про життя та погані рішення.
Чи я рекомендую цю книгу? Із 100 людей наврядчи більше 5 її прочитають і оцінять. Вона дуже специфічна, тому якщо не впевнені, то краще оберіть більш звичне і класичне фентезі.

[Matthew Kehrt · Rating 5 out of 5]

You'd be surprised how amazingly awesome a book that consists largely of depressing elf sex can be.

[Petr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of those rarities that make my brain a little bit numb from emotion storm. There is nothing coherent, just a storm of love, hatred, questions, guesses, objections, suggestions, alterations, admiration, amusement, dissatisfaction... I want more, but I know that there is no more and there must be no more - for all good things must end by their own will or be twisted into the MacDonald's-like things by others. Such books and the worlds they create is more like a glimpse in the dark. They flash before your eyes, they leave you with images, with seeds of desire, and they gone... they don't need our imagination, they are free from us.

[👑 💀 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is unfortunately among the most terrible books I have ever read in my life. I almost feel that this novel was purposely written as an "anti-book," a joke on readers by Swanwick to see if anyone would actually waste their time on such garbage despite the hype leading up to its publication. Now if the novel really isn't some sort of experimental gag, then Swanwick seems to have little-to-no understanding of the most basic story-telling techniques when it comes to character development, plot, conflict, and especially setting.

First of all, there are no interesting characters, save perhaps Jane herself (the cliche emotionally-damaged teen orphan/runaway), and as Jane haphazardly bounces around from location to location, there are never any characters who stick around long enough to be developed beyond their crude archetypal forms, and as there are far too many characters altogether, it is thus difficult to bat an eye when one of Jane's many companions die or leave her company. And even with Jane, nothing of adequate substance is revealed about her background until just past halfway through the novel--how is anyone ever supposed to empathize with her?

Secondly, the plot is atrocious. There is never anything at stake to keep the reader interested in the story, and Swanwick hurls Jane from setting to setting seemingly at random with no overarching plot line to carry her along. Time after time I stopped reading and paused in complete revulsion as Swanwick transported Jane to a new scene without the slightest hint of a transition. As John Gardner says, an effective story needs to be "vivid and continuous," and this novel is neither.

Thirdly, while there is conflict in the story, Swanwick fails to build tension and release it with resolution in waves as all great writers of fiction do, and nearly all of Jane's problems in the story are instantly resolved before there is ever time to worry for her. Worst of all, nearly all of the conflicts appear to be pulled from a hat, as there are hardly ever any threads of interrelatedness among the conflicts themselves. By the time the alternate reality "twist" comes about near the end of the novel, most readers will have already lost interest in the plot as it is.

Lastly, and what I find to be the most annoying feature of Swanwick's writing, are his efforts toward setting. Writing in the fantasy genre calls for effective, believable world-building, but in the case of this novel, every aspect of this world is (you guessed it) at complete random, as if Swanwick created this fantasy world by arbitrarily flipping through encyclopedias and aimlessly tossing slapdash aspects of culture, history, and mythology into his world where cassette tapes and Fender Stratocasters exist alongside dwarven hammers and anvils while a smattering of fantasy species eat pizza at the mall before taking part in Celtic sacrifice rituals to be aired over television. Furthermore, the most revolting aspect of the setting (the only thing that Swanwick does with consistency) is the creepy-pedo vibe in which ogrish schoolteachers freely and openly molest their teenage students on the regular (and there's plenty more where that came from)--hence the aforementioned "anti-book" hypothesis.

The only saving grace in this novel that allowed me to tough-it-out through many chapters is the dialogue, and I will say that Swanwick at least knows how people talk, and there were a few times he caused me to chuckle. Still, the dialogue itself doesn't make up for the reeking pile of waste that is the rest of this novel--it lacks the most essential elements of an effective narrative. My advice is to simply pass on The Iron Dragon's Daughter--don't waste your time with this one.

[Loricious · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first books that I stumbled upon without anyone ever recommending it to me, and expected the normal fantasy-fare.

Imagine my surprise when this story turned out to be an entirely original tale about a girl trying to find her way in a strange, cruel, bold, ferocious world. I was used to reading about elves and dwarves; this world has giant metal dragons and invisible boys and anthropomorphic characters. And, as it were, elves as well.

I re-read this book every year, just for the magic it has, just for that breath of truly magnificent story-telling that really resonated with me. Perhaps it is because I still can't quite figure it all out, and I think that is the beauty of this book. It is as enigmatic as our iron dragon daughter, our Jane.

Recommended for established fantasy/sci-fi fans only.

[Іван Синєпалов · Rating 3 out of 5]

Втомився дрочити.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an experimental fantasy novel written as a cyberpunk. Ages ago I’ve read it in translation and wasn’t impressed, but then I was young, I just discovered for myself a ‘classic’ fantasy and I haven’t read any cyberpunk, so for me it was just a wrong book back then.

There is an industrial world inhabited by fantasy creatures. The books starts at the factory that produces iron dragons (which are like hi-tech jet fighters) using child labor. The protagonist, Jane is the Changeling, which means (at least from what a reader initially understands) a human child kidnapped by fairy and transported to that world. Most magic creatures there, just like in western European folklore, don’t like to be near iron, so they need half-bloods to operate a lot of machinery, including the dragons. It is noteworthy that instead of going Tolkien-like and setting fantasy creatures as races/tribes, the author keeps more classical fairy tale assumptions, which don’t dwell on say elf's history or pantheon and the like. For example, here is a description of Jane’s co-worker / friend Rooster: “He was a mongrel fey, the sort of creature who a century ago would have lived wild in the woods, emerging occasionally to tip over a milkmaid’s stool or loosen the stitching on bags of milled flour so they’d burst open when flung over a shoulder. His kind were shallow, perhaps, but quick to malice and tough as rats. He worked as a scrap iron boy, and nobody doubted he would survive his indenture.”

From the start readers know that Jane plans to steal a dragon to leave the plant, but actually it is only part of the story. What the author does and what I guess made me dislike the book as a teen, is breaking all fantasy genre norms and instead of telling a journey or battles / adventures, he describes a (not so) ordinary life of a person, as she grows up.

I have to note that book, starting roughly in 1/3 has a lot to do about sex, and this doesn’t mean so much ‘steamy scenes’ but the idea that magic and sex are linked: “Sex energy was most accessible at the moment of orgasm. This was why adepts were usually female. Where a witch might have a string, a series, an archipelago of orgasms to work with, the warlock was (usually) limited to one. Males tended to gravitate to the necromantic arts, it taking no special talent to kill things.”

Another point that I disliked earlier and like now is that there are a lot of unanswered questions about why this or that happened the way it did.

Upon early re-read I enjoyed that way of making of a cyberpunk fantasy, where alchemic rules etc. actually work, but I think that a book could have been shortened, so from 5-star at the start it lowered to like 3-3.5 stars. Definitely an interesting text, but one ought to read a lot to really appreciate it.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Sigh)...Another one of those cases where GR's star-rating system doesn't adequately express my reaction to a book. I'd give this one 2.5 to 3 stars (and, since it's the New Year & I'm feeling generous, I'm rounding up) - It's not bad; Swanwick is a decent writer. It's just not my "cup of tea."

The only reason I picked this book up was that it was 50 cents at a library sale. In general, I'm not a huge fan of urban fantasy so I was never drawn to the book when it first came out, despite the rave reviews it got (and gets). Now that I've read it, I'm still not a urban-fantasy fan and I'm not terribly impressed by Mr. Swanwick. Which doesn't mean I didn't enjoy reading the book, just that it isn't that memorable an experience and I probably won't be reading any more Swanwick in the future outside of a trusted source raving about another one of his novels.

Actually, the character of Jane, the novel's hero, is quite well drawn and believable. I've noticed in some reviews here that readers complain that Jane is a thoroughly selfish and unlikable person, which is true enough as far as it goes but considering her "role models," I was surprised at the amount of empathy she did exhibit. For example, given the chance to betray some school acquaintances (not even friends, really) to save herself, Jane doesn't and very nearly gets exposed as a human changeling and escapee from the dragon works. In fact, I was very disturbed and not entirely convinced when she turned into a serial killer in order to supply the dragon of the title with the energy it needed to fulfill its purpose. But that situation raises the question of just how much influence the dragon has over Jane's actions. It is able to manipulate her subconsciously into breaking their initial pact and allwoing it to go off on its own.

As I've indicated, however, I was never interested enough in the setting or the characters to care all that much. It's a readable book with believable characters and situations but I personally wouldn't recommend it.

[Mark Newton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Cracking little read, this one, bonkers and brave and brash. Totally slaps anyone who suspects ‘gritty’ fantasy is a new thing. This book doesn’t shy away from adult language and themes (war, racism, sexism), and has a pleasing mish-mash of aesthetics, from the gentle veneer of the fae, to the harsh industrial landscape – all mixed with a spot of college antics and sex. Quite likely a deliberate attempt to upset some section of the genre readership – which you’ve got to love, right?

[Mark Saxton · Rating 1 out of 5]

What begins brilliantly and appears to have the makings of a steam punk classic, wanders off into an unholy mess of disagreeable characters and fantasy cliches existing in a world that is wholly incomprehensible. Had I not read it on holiday I would have binned it a third of the way through and as it was just flicked through the final chapters, by which time I didn't have a care for anyone or anything within its pages.

[Zuzana Hartmanová · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dcera železného draka patří mezi knihy z oné podivné škatulky „kultovní, převratné, podnětné, provokativní“, ale taky se dá zařadit mezi „je to ujeté, úchylné, bizarní, perverzní, špinavé, hnusné, ale krásně napsané“ a rozhodně patří do kategorie „na čem to, sakra, autor jel, když to psal (a kde to seženu)?“.

Svět technicky zařízené Faerie je vskutku originální. Michael Swanwick se neštítí házet vedle sebe reálně existující pojmy a nová, smyšlená slova. Do jedné řady za druhou staví nepřeberné množství různých potvor, přičemž u některých ani nevíte, jak si je máte pořádně představit. Popisy různých technologií jsou působivé a občas se stírá hranice mezi reálně fungující vědou a čistou fabulací – ale všechno to zní tak chytře, že vám to vlastně bude jedno. Jeho kombinace rozličných subžánrů, o nichž doposud nikdo neuvažoval jako o „zkombinovatelných“, je neotřelá, působivá a neskutečně svěží. Jenže i přes úžasný svět, zajímavé filozofické úvahy a nevšední autorský styl má Dcera železného draka i odvrácenou tvář.

Michael Swanwick v průběhu vyprávění vkládá postavám do úst řadu mouder a hlubokých myšlenek. Zmiňuje také fakt, že každý časem otupí proti jakýmkoliv hrůzám. Jenže si nejspíš neuvědomil, že to platí i pro jeho knihu. Dcera železného draka totiž vrství jednu příšernost za druhou: překážky, útrapy, zklamání, vykořisťování, zneužívání, smrt… a nikdy tomu není konec. Knize víceméně chybí jakákoliv emocionální křivka – od určitého bodu se prostě noří jen hloub a hloub do bažiny všudypřítomného hnusu. Jenže když chybí kontrast, který aspoň z počátku vytvářela dětská naivita, tak i sebevětší hrůzy po čase prostě přestanou být… hrůzné. Stanou se jen další položkou v každodenní všednosti krutého světa, který nám Swanwick předkládá.
V tomto ohledu mi Dcera železného draka místy připomínala My děti ze stanice ZOO. Bujará mládež bez vize světlejších zítřků se utápí v laciné zábavě, ještě lacinějším alkoholu, nevázaném sexu a drogách… a pak se diví, že ty světlejší zítřky vážně nepřišly.
Jane se jakožto hlavní hrdinka zdánlivě plácá odnikud nikam, snaží se přežívat, jenže Swanwick vždycky odněkud vytáhne jak králíka z klobouku novou hrozbu, nové příkoří. A vy pak ztrácíte víceméně jakoukoliv motivaci jí fandit. On se totiž i ten slavný nihilismus v kombinaci s pár zajímavými metafyzickými úvahami po čase zají – obzvlášť tváří v tvář tunám špíny a kalné břečce, která zbyla z charakterů jednotlivých postav a vy se v ní brodíte až po pás.

Příliš tomu nenapomáhá ani určitá roztříštěnost celého vyprávění. Swanwick má neskutečnou představivost a jeho nápady jsou leckdy záviděníhodné. O různých detailech v knize (jmény počínaje a jeho pojetím alchymie konče) nemluvě. Nicméně to často připomíná samostatně stojící scény, kterým chybí kontext a vypadají nahodile. Nacházet mezi nimi spojitosti je občas celkem složité. Dcera železného draka vám nic nedá zadarmo, a i když v knize objevíte jakýsi vzorec, stejně se nejspíš nedokážete tak úplně zbavit pocitu, že vám okamžik finálního prozření, kdy do sebe všechno zapadne a věci najednou začnou dávat dokonalý smysl, pořád prokluzuje mezi prsty.
Věřím, že Swanwick to tak chtěl, že je v tom všem hluboký záměr. Jenže občas prostě přes všechnu tu snahu o kontroverzi není vidět. Místy to až působí dojmem, jako by se autor snažil čtenáře záměrně odradit. Jako by za každou cenu provokoval a testoval hranice, kam až může zajít. Nojo, je to přece experimentální literatura, řeknete si. Jenže Dcera železného draka je kvůli tomu o chlup nesoudržnější, než by bylo třeba. Té špíny, hnusu a drog je o pár gramů víc, než je pro většinu snesitelné. A sexuální scény jsou vulgární a pornofikované o kousek víc, než bylo pro příběh jako takový nezbytné. Tyhle „trošky“ však nakonec mohou misky vah převážit na negativní stranu.

Závěrem bych pro Michaela Swanwicka měla radu, která se k němu nikdy nedostane: Pokud nechce vypadat jako autor dětské pornografie, měl by lépe pracovat s časovým horizontem příběhu. Protože pokud mezi scénou, v níž to hlavní hrdinka poprvé dostane, a větou „Jane měla orgie ráda.“ otočíme pouhých sto padesát stran, nemusí všem hned dojít, že mezitím uběhlo víc než nějaký rok a půl, jehož jsme byli svědky. Já tedy aspoň doufám, že tam opravdu uběhlo víc času, mnohem víc. Protože jestli ne…

[Spalah ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Уявіть світ толкінівсього Середзем'я, який розвивається приблизно так само як і наш, але в якому залишились чари, ритуали і чарівні істоти, які буденно живуть у знайомих нам мегаполісах»

• Мої враження: було брудно, місцями мерзенно, дивно і незрозуміло, але дуже захопливо;

• Сюжет: модернізований (кіберпанковий) світ фейрі, в якому існують механічні дракони - потужні бойові машини, наділені штучним інтелектом в основі якого лежить лише бажання хаосу та руйнування. Такими машинами можуть керувати лише ельфи-напівкровки. Але що станеться, якщо дівчинка-підмінок, яку викрала із людського світу, сяде за штурвал давно списаного на металобрухт дракона, що хоче похитнути основи світобудови?

– Як любителька фентезі і палка шанувальниця кіберпанку зізнаюсь, що досвід прочитання книг такого штибу маю вперше. І для мене це стало великою несподіванкою. «Доньку залізного дракона» по праву називають книгою, що заклала канони міського фентезі та техно-фентезі і читаючи її потрібно бути готовим дійсно до темного фентезі. Світобудову і соціальний устрій автор описує в усіх деталях починаючи від суспільного розшарування і закінчуючи справжнім соціальним дном із багатьма мерзенними елементами, додаючи звісно ж д того магію. Від початку і до кінця книжки простежуються усі етапи дорослішання головної персонажки (роман дорослішання). Джейн є дуже багатогранною і цікавою героїнею, якій доводиться як жінці виживати в умовах мізогіністичного та деспотичного ельфійського суспільства. Героїня з усіх сил намагається дослідили себе, свою сексуальність, своє місце в цьому світі і тд. Ну і звісно маємо доволі нетипову, але цікаву "любовну лінію".

Тішусь, що прочитала цей роман в усвідомленому віці, бо він насправді має в собі більше рівнів, ніж здається на перший погляд.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inventive and twisted, this is a dark solipsistic (or perhaps nihilistic) vision of a drug-fueled sex-laced industrial fantasy world. This book is a mixture of sh** and honey, and as such, the inventive good parts can't overcome the feeling that one has consumed something unpleasant and unhealthy. It rates two stars because I find value in both the good inventive parts and the chance for an insight into a mind of someone who is most unlike me. I'm sure this book will stick with me -- but I can't in good conscience recommend it.