The Iron Dragon's Daughter - Michael Swanwick

A New York Times Notable Book: "Combining cyberpunk's grit with dystopic fantasy, this iconoclastic hybrid is a standout piece of storytelling" (Library Journal).
Jane is trapped as a changeling in an industrialized Faerie ruled by aristatic high elves and populated by ogres, dwarves, night-gaunts, and hags. She is the only human in a factory where underage forced labor builds cybernetic, magical dragons that are weaponized and sent off to war. When the damaged dragon Melanchthon tempts Jane with promises of freedom, the stage is set for a daring escape that will shake the foundations of existence.

Combining alchemy and technology, a coming-of-age story like no other, The Iron Dragon's Daughter takes place against a dystopic mindscape of dark challenges and class struggles that force Jane to make costly decisions at every turn.

A finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and the 1994 Locus Award, The Iron Dragon's Daughter a is one-of-a-kind melding of grimdark fantasy and cyberpunk grit from the Nebula Award–winning author of Stations of the Tide. It engages the reader in a nihilistic world in which nothing is as it seems and everything comes at a steep and often horrific price.