The Iron Dragon's Daughter is a 1993 science fantasy novel by American writer Michael Swanwick. The story follows Jane, a changeling girl who slaves at a dragon factory in the world of Faerie, building part-magical, part-cybernetic monsters that are used as jet fighters. The plot of her story takes the form of a spiral, with events and characters constantly recurring in new settings.
The novel constantly subverts fantasy tropes and archetypes. Swanwick admits having written it both as a homage to J. R. R. Tolkien and in reaction to a handful of writers he claims exploit Tolkien's milieu and the readers' imaginations with derivative, commercial fantasy:
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 did.[1]
Swanwick has written two other books in the same setting, entitled The Dragons of Babel (published in 2008) and The Iron Dragon's Mother (published in 2019). Excerpts from The Dragons of Babel have periodically been published as short stories. They include King Dragon, The Word that Sings the Scythe, An Episode of Stardust, A Small Room in Koboldtown and Lord Weary's Empire. Most of these were originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction.
Synopsis
The first portion of the story concerns Jane's childhood in a factory that builds iron dragons. Jane and her close friend Rooster, whose true name is Tetigistus, work in a group of indentured child laborers. Jane steals a grimoire, and after reading it, begins to hear the voice of an iron dragon in her head. Jane is taken to entertain an elderly, silent elf called the Baldwynn, but is told not to return after she witnesses a strange phenomenon. The dragon manipulates Rooster into trying to escape, but Rooster dies in the attempt. A distraught Jane forces the dragon to tell her his true name, Melanchthon. They then flee the factory.
Later, Jane attends high school while fixing a dormant Melanchthon, who was damaged in their escape. She discovers that the school principal is none other than the Baldwynn and becomes friends with her classmate Peter and his girlfriend Gwen, who, as the wicker queen, will soon be burned alive as a sacrifice to the Goddess. To Jane's shock, Peter tells her that his true name is Tetigistus. They confess their love and sleep together. Soon after, Gwen is sacrificed and Peter commits suicide out of guilt. Melanchthon disappears and Jane realizes that his manipulation caused these events.
Next, Jane goes to college to study alchemy. She makes new friends: Sirin, a talented alchemist, and Puck Aleshire, to whom she is strangely drawn. Jane discovers that Puck has the same soul as Peter and Rooster did: Tetigistus. She also suspects that Sirin might have the same soul as Gwen. Soon after, the Teind arrives, a night of chaos during which both Sirin and Puck die. Jane reunites with Melanchthon, who shows her that her life constantly spirals around to the same failures and reveals his ultimate plan to destroy the universe. Feeling her existence is futile, Jane agrees to help him.
Jane becomes a minor celebrity and serial killer, using the bodies of her victims as fuel for Melanchthon. She meets a dragon pilot named Rocket, who she realizes is another Tetigistus, and his half-sister Fata Incolore, true name Kunosoura, who shares a soul with Sirin and Gwen. Jane also encounters the Baldwynn, who shows her that her body in the human world is confined to a mental institution. After Jane sleeps with Rocket, she and Melanchthon enact their plan to destroy the universe. Rocket pursues them in his own dragon, and Jane is forced to blast him away, killing Tetigistus yet again. As they approach Spiral Castle, the center of the universe, Melanchthon dissolves around Jane and she realizes that their plan was doomed from the start.
Jane finds herself in Spiral Castle with the Baldwynn, who reveals that he's one of the Goddess's consorts and takes Jane to see her. The Goddess berates Jane for squandering the gift of her connection with Tetigistus and Kunosoura through her selfishness, causing Jane to have an existential crisis.
Afterwards, Jane is returned to the mortal world, unsure of whether or not she is being punished. She is released from the mental institution and goes on to obtain a doctorate in chemistry. While attending a party with a friend, Jane glimpses a man to whom she is instantly and desperately drawn. The novel ends, leaving it uncertain if Jane has finally reunited with Tetigistus and found a chance at redemption.[2]
Tone
Much of the novel is nihilistic in tone. Jane encounters Tetigistus and Kunosoura several times, and each time prioritizes her own survival, resulting in their deaths. She also fails to remain a moral protagonist, becoming a manipulative thief who is willing to kill to accomplish her goals. Melanchthon embodies nihilism and atheism, telling Jane that the Goddess is a myth and that the world comes to nothing:
Life exists, and all who live are born to suffer. The best moments are fleeting and bought with the coin of exquisite torment. All attachments end. All loved ones die. All that you value passes away. In such a vexatious existence laughter is madness and joy is folly. Shall we accept that it all happens for no reason, with no cause? That there is nobody to blame but ourselves but that accepting the responsibility is pointless for doing so cannot ease, defer, or deaden the pain? Not likely! It is so much more comforting to erect a straw figure on which to blame it all.[2]
However, the novel ends on a cautiously optimistic note. Jane's encounter with the Goddess reveals that, in truth, there is order to the universe and that, though she squandered it, Jane did have a destiny. She refuses to answer Jane's questions on why the world is painful, whether choice is an illusion, and what the Goddess wants. Despite this, Jane comes to realize the Goddess's love for her and that her life in the human world "[is] not punishment."[2] The final suggestion that Jane may be reunited with Tetigistus suggests that the Goddess has forgiven Jane and given her another chance to fulfill her purpose.
Themes
Blood sacrifice is a constant presence in The Iron Dragon's Daughter. Two prominent examples are the sacrifice of the wicker queen, who is burned alive on Samhain, and the Teind, which claims one tenth of the students at Jane's university. It is never made clear whether or not these traditions are necessary to appease the Goddess. Other instances include the bodies of men being sacrificed to Melanchthon's hunger and the repeated sacrifice of Tetigistus's life in service of Jane's goals.
Materialism and consumerism also pervade the novel. The Faerie world is populated with familiar structures, including malls, from which Jane learns to shoplift. Throughout the novel, common material items are juxtaposed with mythological beings. As the wicker queen, Gwen becomes a celebrity, indulging in drugs and a lavish lifestyle before her death is broadcast as a live TV special. Jane observes a society of minuscule, ant-like creatures called meryons gradually grow from an agricultural bliss to a dystopia where the rich are protected and "tiny enemies of the state" are executed. When characters are injured or dreaming, they often spout off phrases that seem pulled from an advertisement. For example when Rooster is in a coma during the opening of the novel:
Rooster groaned In a high, lucid voice, he said "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese..." Jane found herself unable to breathe. "... and a sesame seed bun." It was too awful, his lonely voice speaking to no one in the emptiness of the night. "Teflon."[2]
Finally, virginity and the lack thereof are often addressed. Virginity seems required for many functions in the Faerie world. While Jane can pilot Melanchthon after she has lost her virginity, she cannot repair him, as the touch of a non-virgin will burn his wiring. Though the wicker queen need not remain a virgin, her consort is required to do so. When Peter and Jane have sex, he is rendered unable to perform his part of the sacrifice and must be replaced, to his shame. However, sex and sexuality also hold great power in The Iron Dragon's Daughter. While at university, Jane learns to use esoteric sex rituals for magical and alchemical purposes. Through these rituals, she is able to make a variety of discoveries and speak to her human mother in visions. Jane also uses her sexuality as a source of power in interpersonal relationships.
Author's comments
In a 2017 interview, Swanwick said,
The immediate inspiration for Melanchthon was the fact that in the wake of Anne McCaffrey, the default setting for dragons became them being lovable, wonderful creatures that made the best of friends. I thought the loss of the traditional Western dragon as a figure of terror was deplorable. So I set about rectifying the situation. But the inspiration behind that was the way that writers tend to soft-pedal evil, to make excuses for it. I’ve seen enough evil that I refuse to cut it any slack.
The problem with tropes is that so many of them are lies. Nobody who's ever stood in a hospital waiting room praying in vain for a friend to live can believe that things always work out for the best. That's why I include so many "gross" things in my novels – because they exist in real life. And yet, life is good. A novel that acknowledges the darkness and yet expresses the joy of living is one that aspires to the status of literature.
Jane, you have to remember, doesn’t belong in Faerie. So, try though she does, over and over, there’s no way she can make a place for herself there. As for the high mortality rate among her boyfriends… When the novel was half-written, my wife, Marianne Porter, remarked, "Jane is a spy."
"What do you mean?" I said.
"Her thoughts and motives are as opaque to everyone in Faerie as theirs are to her. She baffles them. That’s why she spreads chaos wherever she goes."
Jane doesn't intend chaos. But being who and where she is, it naturally follows. As for the high mortality rate among Jane's beaus... That's just symptomatic of the fact that she's trapped in a world where she doesn't belong. Nothing can ever work out well for her.[3]
TamLin is a character in a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. It is also associated with a reel of the same name, also known as the Glasgow Reel. The story revolves around the rescue of Tam Lin by his true love from the Queen of the Fairies. The motif of winning a person by holding him through all forms of transformation is found throughout Europe in folktales.
Michael Swanwick is an American fantasy and science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s.
Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., and made her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #25. Since then, she has gone on to become Spider-Man's main love interest and later his wife. Mary Jane is his most famous and prominent love interest due to their long history, and one of the most iconic in all of comics.
The púca, pucapwca, pooka, phouka, puck is a creature of Celtic, English, and Channel Islands folklore. Considered to be bringers both of good and bad fortune, they could help or hinder rural and marine communities. Púcaí can have dark or white fur or hair. The creatures were said to be shape-changers that could take the appearance of horses, goats, cats, dogs, and hares. They may also take a human form, which includes various animal features, such as ears or a tail.
A Game of Thrones is the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on August 1, 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award and was nominated for both the 1997 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award. The novella Blood of the Dragon, comprising the Daenerys Targaryen chapters from the novel, won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella. In January 2011, the novel became a New York Times Bestseller and reached No. 1 on the list in July 2011.
Takhisis is a fictional character from the Dragonlance universe. She is depicted as the main goddess of evil in the setting and head of the Dark Pantheon.
The Castle of Iron is the title of a fantasy novella by American authors L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, and of the novel into which it was later expanded by the same authors. It was the third story in their Harold Shea series. As a 35,000 word novella it was first published in the fantasy magazine Unknown for April, 1941. The revised and expanded novel version was first published in hardcover by Gnome Press in 1950, and in paperback by Pyramid Books in 1962. The book has been reprinted by a number of other publishers since its first appearance. An E-book edition was published by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form. The novel has been combined with other books in the series in the omnibus editions The Compleat Enchanter (1975), The Complete Compleat Enchanter (1989) and The Mathematics of Magic: The Enchanter Stories of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (2007). It has also been translated into Italian.
Jane M. Lindskold is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels.
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale is a young-adult fantasy novel written by Holly Black. It was published in 2002 by Simon & Schuster, who recommended it for "ages 12 up". Sequels--Valiant (2005) and Ironside (2007)--completed a trilogy that is sometimes called [A] Modern Tale of Faerie, the subtitle of volume two.
The Perilous Gard is an American young adult novel by Elizabeth Marie Pope, published in 1974. It was awarded the Newbery Honor in 1975.
Three Hearts and Three Lions is a 1961 fantasy novel by American writer Poul Anderson, expanded from a 1953 novella by Anderson which appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine.
Tea with the Black Dragon is a 1983 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. MacAvoy. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1983, the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1984, and the Locus Award for best first novel in 1984; it also earned MacAvoy the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. It also found a place in David Pringle's Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels (1988). It led to a sequel, Twisting the Rope.
The Hunter's Moon is a fantasy novel by O.R. Melling about two teenage cousins, one Irish, the other Canadian, that set out to find a magic doorway to the Faraway Country, where humans must bow to the little people. It was published in 1993 by Amulet Books and is the first book in the Chronicles of Faerie, with the second being The Summer King, the third being The Light-Bearer's Daughter, and the fourth and final being The Book of Dreams. It was awarded the Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award in 1994.
God Save the Queen is a 96-page graphic novella published in 2007 by Vertigo DC Comics. It was written by Mike Carey and painted by John Bolton.
The Dragons of Babel is a 2008 science fantasy novel by American author Michael Swanwick, set in the same world as his earlier work The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993). It follows the plight of a young man named Will Le Fey after a crippled dragon takes up residence in his town and inside his mind. Like The Iron Dragon's Daughter, the novel subverts fantasy tropes while it explores the extremely dark and gritty world of Faerie.
The Great Night is a 2011 novel by American author Chris Adrian. Billed as a retelling of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the novel details the interaction on one night between the faerie kingdom about to be destroyed and three mortals heartbroken over lost relationships.
The Shepherd's Crown is a comic fantasy novel, the last book written by Terry Pratchett before his death in March 2015. It is the 41st novel in the Discworld series, and the fifth based on the character Tiffany Aching. It was published in the United Kingdom on 27 August 2015 by Penguin Random House publishers, and in the United States on 1 September 2015.
"The Dowry of Angyar" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, first published in 1964. It is the first work of the Hainish Cycle. The story is set on a fictional planet of the star Fomalhaut, and follows a highborn woman as she tries to track down a family heirloom. It was framed by commentary from ethnologists studying the intelligent life-forms of the Fomalhaut system. The story drew from Norse mythology, and explored the concept of time dilation. "The Dowry of Angyar" drew comments for its stylistic devices, while a review praised Le Guin's writing as "crystalline prose". It was later used as the prologue to Le Guin's 1966 novel Rocannon's World. In later publications, the story was given the title "Semley's Necklace".
The Book of Dreams is a fantasy novel by O. R. Melling. It is the fourth and last book in the Chronicles of Faerie series. The first three books are The Hunter's Moon, The Summer King and The Light-Bearer's Daughter.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
