| Posted: 08 April 2026 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | 8
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Norman Spinrad's "The Iron Dream" has Hitler become a well-regarded science-fiction writer. Which isn't interesting on its own as much as the way Spinrad presents it - a metafictional essay from that alternate world about Hitler's final novel, "Lord of the Swastika". The novel is included in full, though I confess I couldn't get through it, as it ironically succeeds at being the kind of sci-fi that Hitler would credibly write.
Of course, the essay reveals that the USSR has overtaken Europe in this alternate timeline, and all the usual stuff. But to me the heart of the thing is the multi-pronged satire; on the nature of sci-fi fans, who love all the Nazi stuff in the novel so much that they cosplay as SS officers at conventions, on the obliviousness of critics, and possibly on the pro-military thrust in some fellow authors.
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