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.

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.

They include King Dragon, The Word that Sings the Scythe, An Episode of Stardust, A Small Room in Koboldtown and Lord Weary's Empire.

Jane and her close friend Rooster, whose true name is Tetigistus, work in a group of indentured child laborers.

Jane is taken to entertain an elderly, silent elf called the Baldwynn, but is told not to return after she witnesses a strange phenomenon.

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.

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.

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.

The novel ends, leaving it uncertain if Jane has finally reunited with Tetigistus and found a chance at redemption.

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.

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.

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.

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 Peter and Jane have sex, he is rendered unable to perform his part of the sacrifice and must be replaced, to his shame.

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.

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.

As for the high mortality rate among her boyfriends… When the novel was half-written, my wife, Marianne Porter, remarked, "Jane is a spy."

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.

[3]The Iron Dragon's Daughter was lauded for its upheaval of fantasy tropes and its inventive style and narrative.