Rating: 
Summary: Highly Literate Satire
Review: Albeit a bit long, and sometimes utterly tiring to drudge through the endless series of battle scenes, "The Iron Dream" is a great laugh. Admittedly the text itself can be difficult to read, as dabbling in racism and the exploits of the Nazis can be disturbing at times, but the afterword, dissecting not only the fictional Adolph Hitler who penned the novel, but the real one as well, is worth the price of admission. Spinrad makes evident the amount of work that he put into the construction of the novel in order to show how single-minded the Nazis were as well as how deranged Hitler was. There are few novels that work on so many interesting levels; it comes highly recommended (although skim the battle scenes is they bog you down). Additionally, the afterword works to depict the problems with the worst of science fiction; some may find that insulting. I find it funny.
Rating:
Summary: Springtime For Jagger!
Review: Fascinating and hilarious alternative-universe what-if about Hitler. Spinrad takes Hitler's way of writing and turns it into a wild and blood-soaked tale that is just a notch more sadistic and weirdly romantic than most such post-apocalyptic SF tales.
The battle scenes are expressive of an artistic imagination that can't imagine anything more noble than the utter annihilation of one's racial enemies. Some reviewers find that to be boring--I don't! It's intriguing in a sociopathic way, extremely vivid, and just what Hitler might have written. Nice to see that Spinrad has really been studying Mein Kampf!
My only criticism is the homoerotic flavor that pervades the story. I have yet to see any convincing evidence that Hitler was gay, and I think it is simply unnecessary to add it here.
The best part was the Afterword by "Homer Whipple," who points out that the Soviet Union murdered millions of Jews, and now the Unites States and the Empire of Japan is surrounded by the Soviets, leading one to wonder if that alternative universe is any better off than ours. Is this a certain Nazi sympathy on Spinrad's part? Read his intro to "Hitler Victorious" and decide for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: ultraviolent masterpiece
Review: I do not believe, as some of the other reviewers have opined, that Spinrad intended to write a "bad" book. I think he intended to write a satire which was at the same time seductive, and succeeded--crafting an ironic masterwork. To me, this novel is enjoyable on several levels--not only as satire, but also as a straight-ahead, thrillingly gory and violent pulp-style yarn. If you love ultraviolence (as I do) be sure to read this one. Also check out Spinrad's The Men in the Jungle.
Rating:
Summary: Springtime For Jagger!
Review: I do not believe, as some of the other reviewers have opined, that Spinrad intended to write a "bad" book. I think he intended to write a satire which was at the same time seductive, and succeeded--crafting an ironic masterwork. To me, this novel is enjoyable on several levels--not only as satire, but also as a straight-ahead, thrillingly gory and violent pulp-style yarn. If you love ultraviolence (as I do) be sure to read this one. Also check out Spinrad's The Men in the Jungle.
Rating:
Summary: A Cutting-Edge Send-Up of the Sci-Fi Culture
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to find, but worth it (hint to publishers...)
Review: Spinrad's incredible classic of what an SF book might look like if Hitler immigrated to the United States and became a science fiction writer instead of staying at home and destroying Europe. You'll find yourself laughing nervously throughout the unforgettable experience of reading this masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: Adolf Hitler's lost Science Fiction Novel
Review: This book could have been a tour de force, but just falls short. THE IRON DREAM has Norman Spinrad creating a science fiction novel written by Adolf Hitler who immigrated to the United States. Protagonist Feric Jagger fights for the rights of genetically pure humans, killing all who are not blond and blue eyed. The flaw in this work is that Spinrad's Hitler-author is a hack science fiction writer. The result, thus, IS a hack novel. As an artifact, it's fascinating. As a straight read, it (by design?) falls short. Let's just say that THE IRON DREAM is convincingly bad! A good buy for those that are into odd reads.
Rating:
Summary: Adolf Hitler's lost Science Fiction Novel
Review: This book could have been a tour de force, but just falls short. THE IRON DREAM has Norman Spinrad creating a science fiction novel written by Adolf Hitler who immigrated to the United States. Protagonist Feric Jagger fights for the rights of genetically pure humans, killing all who are not blond and blue eyed. The flaw in this work is that Spinrad's Hitler-author is a hack science fiction writer. The result, thus, IS a hack novel. As an artifact, it's fascinating. As a straight read, it (by design?) falls short. Let's just say that THE IRON DREAM is convincingly bad! A good buy for those that are into odd reads.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating literary exercise
Review: This is a remarkable book and I think it succeeds on every level it tries for. The parallels to Hitler's real-life obsessions are clear and yet the book is queasily crowd-pleasing in its battle scenes and depiction of the hero. The prose is appropriately pulpish, muscular and visceral -- second-rate yet compelling.I have never read nor seen Battlefield: Earth by L. Ron Hubbard (or his ghost, in any of that word's several meanings), but the concept of near-cavemen defeating a technologically superior enemy and bootstrapping themselves into fabulously high tech levels within a short period of time because they are led by a pure and righteous hero -- which is what I understand Battlefield: Earth to be -- could have been lifted directly from The Iron Dream. This would be an interesting response to Spinrad's thinly veiled broadside against Scientology in The Mind Game.
Rating:
Summary: A bad book thats really quite good
Review: What would have happened if Hitler left Germany, came to the states, and wrote sci fi? The question will sound absurd, but only until you read this novel. Many people describe Iron Dream as satire, but I think it is far deeper for such a term. Rather, Spinrad forces the reader to imagine the world in the way Hitler saw it and then makes you hope his side wins (in this book they are the good guys). As an intellectual exercise, reading this novel is both exciting and perverse but well worth the read.
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