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February 26, 2005
The Iron Dragon's Daughter
I've never read anything by Michael Swanwick before. So, I'm glad to say that I have a very good first impression of his work. The Iron Dragon's Daughter is set in an uncertain timeframe that feels somewhat like contemporary times. Actually, because of the existance of fantastical creatures like dwarves and elves, I felt like this setting was more of a 'twilight zone' scenario. This is especially true of the epilogue of the story, which really left me wondering. Nonetheless, this book is a real page turner, at least for me.
The heroine, Jane, is a human changeling, who had been a laborer for as long as she could remember. Jane toils at a dragon factory, and yearns for escape so she can live as she wishes, and get an education as well. Through a series of events, this happens for her, and the rest of the story is about her (mis)adventures as she fights to succeed in this harsh world where the rich and privileged dominates everyone else. There are several themes throughout this book: slavery, child labor, thievery, socioeconomic discrimination, substance abuse, sex, violence, and reincarnation. I'd say this is a very odd mix, but Swanwick manages quite well to meld them together into a story that is Jane's life. One refreshing point is that our heroine is not an overachiever. In fact, Jane is seemingly, a flawed character. I was reading some reader reviews on Amazon, and noticed that some of the readers were ten years old. Although I would recommend this book, there's no way I would suggest that ten year olds read it.
Posted by Kathy at February 26, 2005 05:33 PM