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The Iron Dream

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 448 ratings · 46 reviews

The Iron Dream is a metafictional 1972 alternate history novel by Norman Spinrad. The book has a nested narrative that tells a story within a story. On the surface, the novel presents an unexceptional science fiction action tale entitled Lord of the Swastika. This is a pro-fascist narrative written by an alternate history version of Adolf Hitler, who in this timeline emigr...more

Mass Market Paperback, 256 pages

Published May 1st 1986 by Spectra (first published 1972)

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May 12, 2012 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Update: I actually did end up finding a copy in a used bookstore for $1.49 or something and it had the cover I wanted and everything and it was awesome.

I'm freaking dying for a copy of this stupid book. I've wanted it for like a year now. All the copies on amazon are way too much money. I actually asked Spinrad about it, but he didn't know where I could get a cheap one. The hunt continues.

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"Let Adolph Hitler transport you to a far-future Earth, where only FERIC JAGGER and his mighty weapo...more

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Jan 24, 2012 Edward Erdelac rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a spoiler-ific review. So the premise is Hitler has a falling out with the Nazis in their infancy and emigrates to America where he paints pulp fiction covers and becomes a semi-respected writer himself, spawning a Nazi-inspired fashion trend with his penultimate novel, Lord of The Swastika (the book within the book The Iron Dream, about the last true human state in a post apocalyptic world of mutants and mind controlling Dominators). In the bookend world in which Hitler wrote, Germany a...more This is a spoiler-ific review. So the premise is Hitler has a falling out with the Nazis in their infancy and emigrates to America where he paints pulp fiction covers and becomes a semi-respected writer himself, spawning a Nazi-inspired fashion trend with his penultimate novel, Lord of The Swastika (the book within the book The Iron Dream, about the last true human state in a post apocalyptic world of mutants and mind controlling Dominators). In the bookend world in which Hitler wrote, Germany and Europe has fallen to Communism and only America and Japan remain (sort of suggesting Hitler was the man who stopped the advance of communism?). As others have stated, it's a send up both of Nazism and male oriented sword and sorcery/fantasy/sci-fi, written as badly as the author thinks that genre tends to be written. It's basically a joke that could have been told in a hundred pages or so. By the time I got to one hundred I was flipping ahead to see how much more of this there actually was. The writing is repetetitive, with lots of 'gleaming steel' and 'tight black leather' and 'feeling the racial will,' etc. I get the joke, but it goes on a little too long till it gets uncomfortable (again, part of the joke - you're supposed to be uncomfortable reading about Feric Jaggar and his Aryan buds stoving in mutant skulls and spraying submachinegun bullets into a mixed race orgy at one point). There are some very cool and memorable moments in here, especially Feric seizing the leadership of the Avengers biker gang. Felt like a Roger Corman movie or something without the beautiful women. One thing I'm kinda suprised no one has mentioned is the fact that Feric, the hero of the story, seems to be a Dominator. The Dominators of Zind are the main bad guys of the novel, being a combination of Russian Communists and Jews. They are able to infiltrate the heroic true human country of Heldon by setting up these 'dominance patterns,' sapping the will of Heldons and controlling them to their own ends. Isn't that exactly what Feric does upon coming to Heldon only on a massive scale? It's said early on that his father was expelled from Heldon (not for genetic impurity but for political reasons, he rather hastily states, it seems) and that Feric was born in a mutant country. He ascends so rapidly to the leadership of Heldon, and there are so many references to his channeling and directing the racial will of the people, that it's pretty clear to me he's intended to be a self-hating Dom. There's a lot of excessive fetishism in here, with the SS eventually propagating their species asexually and literally launching their seed up into space to 'fecundate that stars.' Ultimately it ebbs and flows in terms of enjoyment. I gotta admit I skimmed through a lot of the battles at the end. The subhuman mutants are sufficiently disgusting and the violence is orgiastically described at times. The characters are extremely one dimensional. There's not really much conflict and Feric and his buds for the most part are portrayed as flawless and always in the right, even when they're declaring the need to sterilize the irradiated populace (who for their part squabble good naturedly over who will be the first in line to sacrifice their procreative abilities for the racial glory of Heldon! Sure sounds like a mind controlled populace to me...). The denouement at the close written by an in-universe critic sort of hits you over the head with what should be the obviously ridiculous and fetishistic conventions that you've just slogged through. It feels like the author explaining an overlong and unfunny joke. But I understand this was written after the initial publication to dissuade some of the folks who thought it was for real and a good story to boot. Apparently the book was showing up on the recommended reading lists of various Aryan and neo-Nazi groups and Spinrad felt the need to knock on their skulls a bit. Out of curiosity I googled 'The Iron Dream Norman Spinrad recommendation' and was directed to an Aryan Unity site wherein the critic proceeded to do just that, urging the reader to 'keep an open mind' (!) and ignore the 'usual psychological views' espoused in the end essay and even suggesting at the end that it was a 'rousing adventure' that could make a 'good White Nationalist recruitment novelette,' so I guess it didn't work anyway. Points for getting Michael Moorcock to plug it on the cover as 'Adolf Hitler's classic bestseller of future genetic warfare - exciting and tense!'
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Jun 28, 2009 Nicolas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopie, fantasme, guerre, histoire, mutants, surhomme, uchronie, rayon-fantasy-et-sf

Il est à noter qu'il s'agit d'une deuxième édition, rajoutant à l'originale (apparement) une post-face également savoureuse.
Les seigneurs du svastika est donc le roman posthume d'Hitler, honoré d'un prix Hugo. Il nous narre les aventures de Feric Jaggar, défenseur de la pure race humaine, pourfendeur des mutants, et libérateur de la terre.
A un tout premier niveau, on retrouve là le héros de sf classique, un peu analogue, par exemple aux loups des étoiles de Edmond Hamilton (enfin, c'est le seu...more Il est à noter qu'il s'agit d'une deuxième édition, rajoutant à l'originale (apparement) une post-face également savoureuse.
Les seigneurs du svastika est donc le roman posthume d'Hitler, honoré d'un prix Hugo. Il nous narre les aventures de Feric Jaggar, défenseur de la pure race humaine, pourfendeur des mutants, et libérateur de la terre.
A un tout premier niveau, on retrouve là le héros de sf classique, un peu analogue, par exemple aux loups des étoiles de Edmond Hamilton (enfin, c'est le seul roman de ce type que j'aie dans ma bibliothèque) ou aux classiques de fantasy, dans lequel le héros passe son temps à découper des gobelins en rondelles (Conan, quoi). Feric est beau, c'est un chef naturel, et il pousse la nation de Heldon vers la pureté.
Mais ce premier niveau est complètement effacé par un deuxième niveau de lecture, beaucoup plus ironique, dû sans doute au nom de l'auteur. En tant que "citoyen du monde", on ne peut s'empêcher, à la lecture des descriptions que Hitler fait de son monde, à l'autre Hitler, à ses SS en uniforme noir de cuir brillant, savament rehaussé d'argent, à ses svastikas sur fond rouge, ou noir, ou blanc, et à ses meetings politiques monstrueux. A ce titre, Rêve de fer est une métaphore historique brillante (enfin, pour ce que j'en sais) racontant avec talent l'ascension d'un jeune immigré, qui va réussir à entraîner dans une orgie de destruction tout son peuple.
Bien sûr, ce roman a quelques défauts, inhérents à son besoin de trouver une fin de récit digne de ce nom. J'ai d'ailleurs ressenti, dès le milieu de ma lecture, un certain épuisement à force de voir Feric, massue à la
main, terrasser des mutants toujours plus innombrables, toujours plus stupides, qui n'ont jamais compris qu'il suffisait de l'assomer sous la masse pour le vaincre. A ce titre, les différentes batailles sont tout bonnement édifiantes. Et le lecteur, quel qu'il soit, ne peut, à mon avis, réprimer un frisson de dégoût devant l'indéniable sang-froid dont font preuve ces étranges SS.
Enfin (si je puis dire) il existe encore un niveau supérieur, principalement explicité grâce à cette postface, dans laquelle Spinrad, alors que tout le roman s'attaque vigoureusement à au nazisme, choisit
cette fois de concentrer ses attaques sur la moralité parfois douteuse évoquée dans les oeuvres de SF, ainsi, je pense, que sur la manière dont les critiques de SF ont pu, à un certain moment, tenté d'analyser les oeuvres de ce genre à travers des métaphores plus ou moins réussies (voilà qui ajoutera indéniablement de l'eau au moulin de Yann, mais il n'avait pas besoin de ça).
Tout cela fait au final de Rêve de fer une oeuvre assez étrange, pas loin d'être une critique ouverte du milieu de la sf, le tout habilement déguisé derrière une critique en forme de brûlot de l'idéologie nazie. Je
ne le qualifierais pas de roman magnifique, mais c'est uen oeuvre troublante, qui mérite largement d'être lue. (less)

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Dec 21, 2008 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, well-i-think-its-funny

You know those great ideas you have late at night when you're chatting with your friends after a few glasses of wine? Well, if I had been involved in writing this book, here's how I think it might have got started:

[Table is covered with the remains of what looks like a large and pleasant meal. Animated conversation.]

- ... So don't you just hate those fascist science fiction writers who sell right-wing ideologies to suggestible teens? You know, Robert Heinlein and people like that?

- I think Heinl...more

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Mar 30, 2008 rgb rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who like insane over-the-top dystopia satire, black humor, strange mirrors of the human soul

The Iron Dream is one of the true classics of science fiction. It is a core work in what I can only describe as a microgenre of sorts that appeared during the late 60's and early 70's -- Science Fiction as seriously black humor and revolutionary social commentary. The principle writers (that I can recall offhand -- I make no claim to this list being exhaustive) were Norman Spinrad and Harlan Ellison ( I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream, Dangerous Visions), but a number of other authors such as L...more

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Jun 04, 2008 Terence rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-fantasy

An alternate history where Hitler immigrated to America and became a pulp fiction writer.

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Apr 23, 2010 Rhys rated it 4 of 5 stars

What happens when satire is misunderstood?

The point of satire is that it should be accessible on two levels simultaneously. The surface text tells one story, the subtext tells another; or to put it more accurately, the subtext tells the exact opposite story of the surface text. We might even say that the subtext reverses the polarity of the visible story, coinciding with it word for word, image for image, but in the wrong direction. In this case, the wrong way is the right way.

Writers of satir...more

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Jan 22, 2008 Jonas rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The premise is interesting: after a brief stint in radical politics, Hitler moves to New York, disenfranchised with the German political system yet not with the radical ideas of racial purity. He becomes a hack illustrator, yet his biggest work is that of a science fiction book called "Lords of the Swastika".

Spinrad's writing is harsh, often hackish and unkempt - just as a German speaking SciFi illustrator would. His portrayal of a world 1000 years past the nuclear holocaust and protagonists and...more

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Mar 30, 2009 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sci fi fans, World War Two buffs

Recommended to Michael by: Dragon Magazine

Shelves: science-fiction, pulp-fiction, fascism

This is a book-within-a-book. Author Norman Spinrad asked an excellent counter-historical question: what if Adolf Hitler, rather than going into German politics after the First World War, had instead moved to the USA and become a science fiction writer? This book is the product of that fantasy: the most popular science fiction book written by Hitler in that alternate universe.

Spinrad demonstrates more knowledge of period pulp sci-fi than of German history, but since this is a fantasy of the dera...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Dominic Green rated it 4 of 5 stars

The act of reading this book was the most amusing part about it, as I read it over several weeks on trains between Euston and Northampton. The cover of the edition I read brazenly announced that it was 'Adolf Hitler's Science Fiction Masterpiece', and the artwork had Adolf riding a gleaming motorcycle out of a monstrous phallus-shaped space rocket, the whole thing backed by a colossal red swastika. I got a few funny looks. It's the sort of book which makes the devil whisper in your ear: "Take th...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Smcleish rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in September 2001.

Most alternate histories are simply narratives set in a world which differs from our own because an event in the past is supposed to have had a different outcome. The Iron Dream is, so far as I know, unique in science fiction because it purports to be a novel written in an alternate universe.

For The Iron Dream is supposed to present a posthumously published novel by an Adolf Hitler who emigrated to the States in the twenties to make a living...more Originally published on my blog here in September 2001.

Most alternate histories are simply narratives set in a world which differs from our own because an event in the past is supposed to have had a different outcome. The Iron Dream is, so far as I know, unique in science fiction because it purports to be a novel written in an alternate universe.

For The Iron Dream is supposed to present a posthumously published novel by an Adolf Hitler who emigrated to the States in the twenties to make a living as an artist for science fiction magazines before writing himself. Published in 1953, Sons of the Swastika (under which title no publisher would have touched Spinrad's novel) won the Hugo award for 1954, when in reality no award was made. The Iron Dream is a reprint, complete with scholarly commentary.

As a fantasy written by Hitler, Sons of the Swastika is pretty much what you might expect, displaying obsessions with racial purity and uniforms, and hatred for Communism thinly disguised as the Dominators who enslave millions telepathically. It manages to be exciting and readable, despite misgivings about its politics which are initially raised by the name of its author.

And this is surely the point that Spinrad wanted to make with The Iron Dream. It is not particularly about Hitler, revealing nothing about its supposed author other than what is part of the popular consciousness. Instead, it is a commentary on the appearance of right wing politics and disturbing psychological obsessions in the science fiction of the period. Sons of the Swastika may be more exaggerated than what has survived, but that is of course how satire makes its point.

There is a great deal of ironic parallel between the career of Feric Jaggar, hero of Sons of the Swastika, and the real Adolf Hitler, which is brought out by the commentary (even though this is supposed to be a product of the same alternate world). It refers several times to the unlikelihood of Jaggar's rise to power and the impossibility that Jaggar's demagoguery could unite a nation behind him in the way that it does. This is not very subtle, but it is quite effectively disturbing. (less)

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Jun 30, 2012 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, books-i-own, favorites-from-my-youth

A Classic of American Fantasy Literature from Norman Spinrad

Norman Spinrad’s “The Iron Dream” is a book which still confounds many of its fans and critics. Some view it as an over-the-top critique of the worst aspects of fantasy and science fiction, as if it is “The Lord of the Rings” as channeled by LSD or some other mind-altering drug. Others, including yours truly, recognize this as a brilliant satire from Spinrad during one of the most productive phases of his literary career, critiquing Ado...more A Classic of American Fantasy Literature from Norman Spinrad

Norman Spinrad’s “The Iron Dream” is a book which still confounds many of its fans and critics. Some view it as an over-the-top critique of the worst aspects of fantasy and science fiction, as if it is “The Lord of the Rings” as channeled by LSD or some other mind-altering drug. Others, including yours truly, recognize this as a brilliant satire from Spinrad during one of the most productive phases of his literary career, critiquing Adolf Hitler and his genocidal Nazi political philosophy. That is the best means of viewing this fine work of fantasy, since much of it includes the text of the novel “Lord of the Swastika”, a futuristic dystopian fantasy written by German-American science fiction artist and author Adolf Hitler, who had immigrated to the United States after World War I in 1919. (That Spinrad provides a fictitious biography listing Hitler’s death in 1953 is something which most readers may ignore; I frankly don’t think that’s a coincidence since 1953 was also the same year in which another homicidal, megalomaniac dictator, Josef Stalin, died.) “Lord of the Swastika” concludes with a most intriguing afterword by New York University professor Homer Whipple which is a brilliant “deconstruction” of Hitler’s mental state and of his Nazi philosophy, not of fantasy and science fiction, as some might contend. If nothing else, “The Iron Dream” reads like some hallucinatory version of H. G. Wells’ “The Time Machine”, but one in which Hitler’s protagonist, Feric Jaggar, leads his stormtroopers against hordes of degenerate mutant humans; this is a most astute example of satire which has been an ever present theme in some of the great works of fantasy and science fiction published in the 20th Century. Although Spinrad’s “The Iron Dream” may not be a literary classic directly comparable with George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”; nonetheless it deserves ample recognition as an important work of fantasy and a notable part of Spinrad’s extensive oeuvre of fine novels and short stories.
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Apr 24, 2012 Jean-marcel rated it 2 of 5 stars

The concept behind this book is great and made me laugh with glee. Adolf Hitler as a hack science fiction writer? Just too good! The front even includes a list of "Other Books by the Author" that stars such alluring titles as "Tomorrow, The World" and "The master Race", and a little biography of Hitler, the SF writer/illustrator.

The story itself purports to be a book called Lord of the Swastika, and the narrator is clearly a stand-in for Hitler himself. In fact, the early parts of the book mirro...more

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Apr 20, 2012 No Remorse rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Imagine two slices of bread made of nothing but shit and then imagine a shiny brick of gold. The intro would be one slice, the main story would be the brick of gold, and the afterword would be another slice of shit. A golden-shit sandwich, that's what this book is.

--SPOILER!--SPOILER!--SPOILER!--SPOILER!--

A great science-fiction story where ancient earth set off nuclear explosions causing mass radiation which in turn created millions of mutants, from giant flying beasts to disgusting little hunc...more Imagine two slices of bread made of nothing but shit and then imagine a shiny brick of gold. The intro would be one slice, the main story would be the brick of gold, and the afterword would be another slice of shit. A golden-shit sandwich, that's what this book is.

--SPOILER!--SPOILER!--SPOILER!--SPOILER!--

A great science-fiction story where ancient earth set off nuclear explosions causing mass radiation which in turn created millions of mutants, from giant flying beasts to disgusting little hunchback looking dwarfs (this being the analogy of any modern day half-breeds). You also have dominators (Jews) AKA Doms who have powers of mind control over all the mutants, and some citizens of Heldon. The great city of Heldon is where the pure breds (Aryans) all live and where all mutants and Doms are banned. This last hold out of the White race has been infiltrated by Doms who are then controlling the minds of those around them and promoting the idea of universalism and passing laws to allow daily passes for mutants into the city of Heldon to do the work that provides a easier lifestyle for the citizens of the city (the beginning stages of an eventual take over, sound familiar?). The main character and Aryan hero of the book is Feric Jaggar who comes from a city mostly of mutants and Doms. He takes some genetic tests to become a citizen of the High Republic of Heldon when he notices the entire border control point is under the spell of a Dom. The story then takes off when he meets activist Seph Bogel in a beer hall giving a speech trying to wake the masses up to the issues infecting the city. They become friends and travel together when they meet a group of bikers who rob the train they were on. Feric challenges the leader, which ends him and Bogel riding with them to their base, where in order for Jaggar to challenge the leader in a fight for dominance he must first become a member and past certain tests, after he does, they are to fight to the death. The winner becoming or remaining the leader of the Motorcycle Club. Towards the end of a brutal fight Jaggar rolls into the Great Truncheon of Held which is a weapon based on legend, where only the chosen one can lift it, from this point on the motorcycle gang is under his control and he starts to build his organization.

Huge bloody battles and wars are fought during his rise to take over and save Heldon, and then even bloodier battles of extreme violence and gore on an epic scale are fought after he has turned his organization into the greatest Aryan army the world has ever seen. Wiping out every single mutant and Dom on the face of the earth, they build and advance and spread out to the stars.

How I never heard of this book is amazing to me and I recommend it to anyone a fan of WN fiction.

Side note: The beginning is only one page and not that bad, the afterword is really the shitty part, (I was very tempted to cut it out with scissors). It almost seems like the author wrote it just as a way to get away from any anti-Nazi pressure of writing the main story. Also, one major lacking element in the book is that there are no females at all which ties in to the very weird and final afterword chapter, which I don't recommend reading, it just ruins a great fiction story.

--SPOILER!--SPOILER!--SPOILER!--SPOILER!--

"Genetic purity is the politics of human survival!" - Feric Jagger / Norman Spinrad (The Iron Dream, Pg.21)

"you accept all the rights and responsibilities of a citizen of the High Republic of Heldon and a certified true man. You may participate in the public life of Heldon, vote for and hold office, serve in the military forces of the High Republic, leave and enter the fatherland at will. You may not marry or propagate without the written permission of the Ministry of Genetic Purity, under pain of death. Knowing this, and of your own free will, do you accept citizenship in the High Republic of Heldon?" - Helder Officer / Norman Spinrad (The Iron Dream, Pg.27)(less)

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May 25, 2009 David rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: masochists

I learned that a strong concept doesn't get you anywhere without strong execution. The idea of satirizing the racism/sexism/solipsism of much Sword & Sorcery and "hard" SF by writing a book as if by Adolph Hitler is a good one, but instead of actually critiquing such fiction by demonstrating its links to fascist ideology, Spinrad gets carried away satirizing Nazism itself, an absurdly easy target. For example, rather than introducing a bunch of cardboard characters bearing the barely modifie...more

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Dec 27, 2008 Derek rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating this book in terms of "one to five stars" is a complicated proposition. Are you rating the entire package or the book-within-a-book, Lord Of The Swastika, by Adolf Hitler?

On its own, Lord Of The Swastika is fairly wretched stuff: formulaic, over-enthusiastic pulp tripe.

But packaged as a product of an alternate history, it becomes powerful. It's the study of an embittered politician and possibly a latent homosexual, and a statement about mythic heroes as they apply to history. With the sha...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Drake rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Iron Dream has to be one of the most difficult books to review. The basic premise (that Adolf Hitler moved to the US and became a pulp sci-fi writer) is patently absurd, yet so weird and savvy, it’s truly brilliant. Of course, the meta-book-within-a-book, Lord of the Swastika by Hitler, is wretched (even as a clear tongue-and-cheek parody), but again, that was Spinrad’s entire point. And the final chapter of faux-analysis summed everything up in one neat and tidy package that was beyond inge...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Christian rated it 3 of 5 stars

The premise of The Iron Dream is better than the execution. To satirize the fascist tendencies of sci-FI and fantasy, Norman Spinrad conceived a world where Hitler was a sci-FI author. Spinrad's fake novel, Sons of the Swastika, fails a bit because it's too specific to Hitler's real world rise to power. The tropes of a shining master race and an inhuman racial enemy are common and disturbing enough without bringing in Hitler's coup and post-apocalyptic recreations of Nazi rallies.

Still, there a...more

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Oct 29, 2011 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, fiction-vulgar, tripe, high-quality

This has to be one of the most hilarious science fiction books I've ever read. From one angle, it is a fabulous lampoon of Hitler's pseudo-scientific, racist vision of the mythical Aryan Race, while from a completely different angle, it remains a thoroughly readable and rousing swords-and-sorcery tale of a hero returning to rescue his people. The combination of these two gives a brilliant conveyance of Hitler as he saw himself, and betrays the amount of research the author must have done and con...more

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May 06, 2013 Urpo Lankinen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013

In 1919, a struggling artist and a former soldier by the name of Adolf Hitler had taken part in a failed German extremist movement called National Socialism, so he packed his things and moved to the United States. He worked as a pulp magazine illustrator and started writing science fiction. This is one of his novels.

Now, this isn't a novel. This is a clever trick. The whole story is nothing but a huge gimmick. Then again, all art is based on clever tricks and interesting gimmicks, so I suppose y...more

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May 08, 2013 Brock T.I. Penner rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

What if Hitler abandoned politics? What if he moved to New York and learned English? What if he became an SF writer? Then Lord of the Swastika would be his novel from an alternate history.

Lord exists as a narrative within The Iron Dream narrative, a fairy land populated by Truehuman supremacists and loath worthy mutants. Feric Jaggar, the uberman who quests to rid the world of the varieties of subhumans, is an extension of this Hitler's fanciful view of himself. His hated enemies, the Dominators...more What if Hitler abandoned politics? What if he moved to New York and learned English? What if he became an SF writer? Then Lord of the Swastika would be his novel from an alternate history.

Lord exists as a narrative within The Iron Dream narrative, a fairy land populated by Truehuman supremacists and loath worthy mutants. Feric Jaggar, the uberman who quests to rid the world of the varieties of subhumans, is an extension of this Hitler's fanciful view of himself. His hated enemies, the Dominators, are visibly human looking in comparison to the other mutants, with the ability to replace their victim's will with their own. These Doms are analogous to Hitler's twisted vision of the Jews, racial conspirators vying to control the entire population of Earth. Jaggar, in true heroic fashion, dispatches them with the Steel Commander, a truncheon with mythic powers not unlike the Spear of Longinus.

Lord of the Swastika falls into all the trappings of '50 era sci-fi, the purple prose, heroes without a flaw to be seen, and mutants standing in for other races. Granted the last one has still been put to use in modern stories like The Phantom Menace. All of this done with purpose. The result is a classic hero's journey that can be digested over a few sittings, a guilt free mind number since the reader already knows the darker context.

The review attached to the end of the story frames the narrative that the fictional Hitler created, a history where the National Socialists never grew beyond their pub debates, and the USA and Japan are the lone powers standing against the Soviets, represented by the Horde of Zind in Hitler's fantasy. The review's author attacks this Hitler as man with psychopathic tendencies, who takes the reader on a violent ride that doesn't question the fascists roots of the story. He reveals this alternate history Hitler as a somewhat pathetic figure, delighting in his fandom but meeting his end due to possible syphilitic complications.

While Norman Spinrad demonstrates how close the novels of SF and fantasy come to the myths of the Nazis, another more pleasant effect shows through. One where the reader can escape into a world where Hitler's Germany is acted out only by cosplayers during conventions, the horrors never growing farther than the musings of a writer.(less)

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Sep 12, 2012 Christopher Munroe rated it 1 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I read seventy pages of this book, and it may well improve later. However, I could bear it no longer and bailed.

I was excited by this book's storytelling device, what if Adolf Hitler had left germany in the 1920s and published a series of hackish sword and sorcery novels, living his weird, racist fantasies through his writing rather than destroying Europe with them. That seems like a good book, right?

And this succeeds admirably in what it sets out to do. It's a very representative pi...more Disclaimer: I read seventy pages of this book, and it may well improve later. However, I could bear it no longer and bailed.

I was excited by this book's storytelling device, what if Adolf Hitler had left germany in the 1920s and published a series of hackish sword and sorcery novels, living his weird, racist fantasies through his writing rather than destroying Europe with them. That seems like a good book, right?

And this succeeds admirably in what it sets out to do. It's a very representative piece of golden-age sword and sorcery, and a good approximation of what a book written by Hitler would be like.

HOWEVER: 1) I'm no great fan of sword and sorcery in general, and 2) I'm no fan of Adolf Hitler, and combining the two did nothing for me. The book's excessively focused on racial purity (as it would be, if Hitler wrote a book) clunky as hell (as it would be, as Hitler would have to first learn english to write a book in english, and probably wouldn't master grammar properly even by the end of his life) and does nothing with the standard "Lone Hero" storyline that I've not read better somewhere else (nor should it. Just because Hitler published a book doesn't make him a necessarily great writer). While each of these aspects lead to a more cohesive conceptual piece, they leave the book a nearly unreadable mess, which is a shame, because I was excited when I was loaned this.

The central hook, after all, is excellent. An alternate history where Hitler leaves Germany shortly after WWI, moves to New York, and starts working in the speculative fiction publishing industry, his writings taking an increasingly unpleasant, racist bent as his career progresses. Has anybody written THAT book? Because I realize, looking back, that it was THAT book I was wanting to read.

If you like sword and sorcery, you might get something more from this than I did. If you like interesting academic literary exercises, you might be able to appreciate what Spinrad has managed to do with the material. I, however, can't give it more than one star, as I literally could not bring myself to read even one more page of it.

The best I can say about this is: Reading it is optional.(less)

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Dec 02, 2012 Mathieu rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On connaissait déjà le principe de l'uchronie : un récit construit à partir d'un point de divergence par rapport à l'Histoire que nous connaissons. Norman Spinrad nous livre ici, non sans malice, une uchronie et un livre d'anticipation, et ceci à travers un double roman.

Je m'explique. Rêve de fer n'est pas un roman de Norman Spinrad, ou en tout cas, n'est pas présenté comme tel. Tout ce livre est construit comme s'il s'agissait d'une réédition d'un best-seller de la SF américaine dont l'auteur n...more On connaissait déjà le principe de l'uchronie : un récit construit à partir d'un point de divergence par rapport à l'Histoire que nous connaissons. Norman Spinrad nous livre ici, non sans malice, une uchronie et un livre d'anticipation, et ceci à travers un double roman.

Je m'explique. Rêve de fer n'est pas un roman de Norman Spinrad, ou en tout cas, n'est pas présenté comme tel. Tout ce livre est construit comme s'il s'agissait d'une réédition d'un best-seller de la SF américaine dont l'auteur n'est autre... qu'Adolf Hitler !

Car dans le monde construit par Spinrad, Hitler n'est jamais devenu le chef du parti nazi. Il a émigré en 1919 pour les USA où il est devenu illustrateur de revue de SF avant de signer quelques romans de SF et de Fantasy. Rêve de fer nous est donc présenté comme le roman posthume d'un Hitler récompensé par un prix Hugo et salué comme le nouveau Tolkien, son œuvre ayant inspiré, nous dit-on, une foule de lecteurs. Le titre : Le chevalier de la Svastika. Tout un programme.

Voilà pour la partie uchronique. La partie anticipation est donc sensément, signée Adolph Hitler et est un récit post-apocalyptique mettant en scène une Humanité qui, suite à un conflit nucléaire majeur, est réduite à la portion congrue, la contamination du patrimoine génétique humain par les radiations ayant conduit la majeure partie de la population à muter.

Et là, les parallèles avec notre Histoire deviennent évident. Le roman d'Hitler met bien évidemment l'accent sur la nécessité de retrouver une pureté raciale en éliminant les mutants, au premier rang desquels ils placent les Doms, des mutants dotés de pouvoirs psychiques qui souhaitent asservir l'ensemble de la population mondiale par le seul pouvoir de leur volonté. On reconnaît bien sûr en ces Doms (pour Dominateurs) à la fois les Juifs, et les communistes, leur pays se trouvant à l'Est d'une Allemagne fantasmée.

Le récit est donc, à peu de choses près, et le tout replacé dans un contexte mêlant allègrement Fantasy et SF, calqué sur la montée au pouvoir du parti Nazi (ici parti du Svastika) et l'application rigoureux de son programme de pureté raciale. La différence fondamentale étant qu'ici, les Purhommes, comme ils se nomment eux-mêmes, gagnent à la fin (of course) et établissent une race pure et conquérante.

Le roman d'Hitler (et par extension de Spinrad) n'est donc guère enthousiasmant car, outre le fond nauséabond puisqu'en transparence on discerne peu ou prou le monde idéal souhaité par le véritable Adolf Hitler, l'écriture est quelconque, bourré de répétitions lourdingues, d'emphase grotesque et de facilités narratives.

Du coup, on s'interroge. Qu'est-il arrivé à Norman Spinrad, que l'on a connu plus inspiré ?

Et bien il est là pourtant ! Et il se rappelle à notre bon souvenir dans la postface du roman qui, jusqu'au bout est présenté comme une édition commenté du Seigneur du Svastika. En effet, cette postface se présente comme une courte relecture critique du roman à la lumière des évènements survenus dans ce monde uchronique où Hitler n'est jamais devenu dictateur de l'Allemagne. Et c'est là qu'il se cache, le brillant Spinrad dans cette quinzaine de pages de postface qui à elles seules justifient la lecture de ce livre.

Car c'est dans ces quelques pages qu'ils délivrent tout à la fois une vision fort pessimiste de son monde uchronique, mais aussi du nôtre. En pointant du doigt l'absurdité du roman d'Hitler où un homme seul réussit par son seul charisme à galvaniser des masses et à les fanatiser (ce qui, bien sûr n'arriverait jamais dans la réalité n'est-ce pas ?), c'est aussi notre monde qu'il interpelle.

Et quand il met en garde les lecteurs de ce monde uchronique sur les dangers qu'il y a à se laisser tenter par le gouvernement d'un leader fort en temps de crise, dans l'espoir qu'une action fanatique puisse mener à un monde meilleur, c'est bien à nous, lecteurs, qu'ils s'adressent. Rappelons que ce roman est sorti aux USA en 1972, en pleine guerre froide, et à un moment où la tentation de recourir à un conflit armé total contre l'URSS existait.

En résumé, un roman médiocre d'Adolf Hitler, mais un bon roman de Norman Spinrad, qui réussit à être brillant en seulement 20 pages !(less)

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Jul 25, 2011 Matti Karjalainen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kotikirjasto, aikuiset, vaihtoehtohistoria, 1970-1999, scifi, usa-kans

Tietokilpailukysymys kaikille kirjallisuuden tuntijoille: kuka itävaltalaissyntyinen kirjailija muutti New Yorkiin vuonna 1919, loi itselleen uraa sanomalehtien kuvittajana 1930-luvulla ja kirjoitti myöhemmin sellaisia scifi-teoksia kuin "Vapauttaja ulkoavaruudesta", "Tuhatvuotinen valtakunta", "Huomenna koko maailma" ja "Hakaristin herra", joista viimeksimainittu palkittiin Hugo-palkinnolla vuoden 1955 World Science Fiction Conventionissa? Aivan niin: Adolf Hitler.

Norman Spinradin "Rautainen un...more

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Jun 29, 2009 DoctorM rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There's no way to explain this book. Not really. Simple premise--- Adolf Hitler emigrates to NYC in 1920 and becomes an illustrator for pulp sci-fi stories. He eventually writes his own series of bad sci-fi novels that become cult favourites ("Other Novels You May Enjoy By This Author" include..."Tomorrow the World!" and "The Thousand-Year Empire"). "The Iron Dream" is the text (with critical analysis) of Hitler's chef d'oeuvre, "Lords of the Swastika"--- a 1930s Bad Sci-Fi version of "Mein Kamp...more

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May 16, 2007 Benjamin added it

Shelves: alt-history

An amazing but not entirely entertaining book, Spinrad's Nabokovian turn sees him inhabiting an alternate history where Hitler emigrated to NY and became an sf illustrator and writer; but The Iron Dream isn't the story of Hitler's alternative life -- rather, it's the science-fantasy novel that he would have produced in that alternative life, his Hugo-winning Lord of the Swastika (1953), which tells the story of Feric Jaggar's pure-blood crusade against mutants and mind-controllers in a post-post...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Erik Graff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: alternative history buffs, Hitler buffs

Recommended to Erik by: no one

Shelves: sf

This book is terrible, its author an overcompensating neurasthenic dwelling on past injuries and indignities. Were it not for the generally low standards of science fiction publishing and science fiction readers, this book would not exist.

The author of the Iron Dream is Adolf Hitler.

The author of this Adolf Hitler is Norman Spinrad, a generally well-regarded sf author who, in this book, takes a clever excursion into the subgenre of alternative history.

The edition I read had introductory material...more

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Nov 29, 2009 Keith Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Iron Dream is definitely one of the most disturbing SF novels ever written. The introduction sets up an alternate history meta-fiction premise that after WWI Adolph Hitler immigrated to the US and became a Science Fiction writer. The bulk of the text consists of Hitler's Hugo Award winning novel. Spinrad is attempting to highlight the fascist undertones of a lot of militaristic SF, particularly in the work of Robert Heinlein. The book is violent and incoherent and everything you would expect if...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Lari rated it 5 of 5 stars

Adolf Hitler's ideals projected into pulp sci-fi. The result is so awful that it is hilarious. This is Third Reich dreamed with the finesse of Ed Wood movies. This is Hells Angels meeting with Tom of Finland ina demented gore fantasy and still behind it all there is razor-sharp observation.

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Oct 14, 2007 rgb rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Hard Core SF fans

Well, since there is no review of this book, I'd better add at least one since I still own an (ancient) copy of this book.

The Iron Dream is a SF novel "By Adolph Hitler". For Spinrad fans, that says it all. It is a transcendant satire of the theory of racial purity, featuring inferior races in a slobbering profusion and a blond haired, physically and mentally perfect leader who will stop at nothing to defend all that is right and pure.

It actually ends up being a rollicking good read, even as it...more

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About Norman Spinrad

Born in New York in 1940, Norman Spinrad has been an acclaimed SF writer.

Norman Spinrad, born in New York City, is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. In 1957 he entered City College of New York and graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree as a pre-law major. In 1966 he moved to San Francisco, then to Los Angeles, and now lives in Paris. He married fellow novelist N. Lee Woo ...more

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