The Iron Dream

This book should remain in print and it's sad it hasn't. Simply, it helps point out how so much of our culture--like the whole Lord of the Rings schtick--is easily transmuted into Nazi ideology. This was a brave and brilliant book. I'm sorry one reviewer was annoyed by the wooden writing. It is meant to be a parody of that kind of stuff, and the kind of mentality that goes behind it. Far too much older science fiction reads like this.

Ostensibly THE IRON DREAM was written by one Adolph Hitler, who, rather than remaining in Europe and starting WW 2, emigrated to the United States in 1919 and made a career as an artist and writer of science-fiction. It concerns the career of one Feric Jaggar on a far-future Earth, where only he and his great weapon, The Steel Commander, stand between what remains of humanity and its annihilation at the hands of the evil Dominators and the mutant hordes they control. Reading it, one's first reaction is that if the Museum of Bad Art had a literary wing, this book would be in it, because it is a book "too bad to be ignored." But then, about a quarter of the way in, one begins to see the strong parallels between the fictional career of Feric Jaggar and the actual career of Adolph Hitler and his Nazi followers -- allowing, of course, for the fact that wish-fulfillment on the part of author Hitler makes the book's ultimate denouement rather different than the turns history actually took as a result of politician Hitler's impact on it. By about halfway in, one begins to notice another set of parallels: that between the style and subject of this book and those of a great deal of the less reputable output of the science-fiction community over the years -- and the mind-set of so many of s-f fans, who gobble up that output with the mindless enthusiasm of a horse going at a bin full of oats. At that point it is crystal-clear that this book is a masterful send-up of all that's wrong with the culture of science-fiction, as well as a psychohistorical tour de force that reveals in all its appalling chaos the workings of the mind of one of history's most famous psychopaths, Adolph Hitler. Spinrad never loses control here for even a moment. A truly wonderful read for those who appreciate history and love the best in science-fiction, rather than its worst, this is even better than his THE MEN IN THE JUNGLE, which has to be among the fifty best works of science-fiction ever written.

A satire of fascism, the bulk of "The Iron Dream" purports to be a novel penned by popular science-fiction writer Adolf Hitler, whom we are told in the prologue emigrated to the United States after WWI. Set many generations after a nuclear war, the novel follows the career of Feric Jaggar, genetically pure human, as he mobilizes the post-apocalyptic remnants of homo sapiens to war against various races of mutants who contest the supremacy of mankind's hegemony over the Earth. A loose retelling of the real Hitler's career follows, complete with a perversely happy ending in which the protagonist ensures that his armies of "blond-haired, blue-eyed supermen" will forever rule the world. Important in its accurate portrayal of Nazi mentality as well as for convincingly displaying that the tropes of science-fiction and heroic fantasy easily lend themselves to fascist ideology. Particularly disturbing is the author's demonstration that Hitler's worldview was at once evil and highly Romantic, replete with mysticism, noble heroes, foul villains and a powerful sense of destiny. Worthwhile reading for strong stomachs.

This is a truly remarkable book. I first read it upon the recommendation of my father. I was 12. Four years later, it is still one of my all time favorite books. Set in a post nuclear-holocaust era, it traces the rise to power of a nobody, who lived among the mutant pools, and only moved to the pure human area as an adult (Hitler lived in Austria, was a nobody, came to Germany...). He fights his way to power over the corrupt government (the Weimar Republic), and has an obsession, it seems, for tight black leather and huge crowds. He vows to destroy all mutant scum (Jews) and defeat the cold, heartless superpower led by evil, mind-controlling creatures (Communism, led by Jews). He succeeds, with a surprise twist at the end. The book is supposedly written by an Adolph Hitler, who was a mediocre science-fiction writer. The Second World War never happened.Satire within satire. It is a rather gory book, so I wouldn't recommend it to the very young (OK, so my dad is a little weird!). But if you love science fiction, satire, Second World War history, or if you want a chilling yet amusing futuristic view of a world where Hitler would win - READ IT.

The Iron Dream is a brilliant, perversely fascinating book. It claims to be the science fiction novel Hitler would have written if he had immigrated to the U.S. in 1919 and become a novelist. It is the story of Feric Jaggar, the purest of the human genotype, as he battles mutants for world domination. You find yourself rooting for him, half realizing that it is meant to parallel the Nazi party. Thought provoking, and be sure to read the afterword