The Iron Dragon's Daughter is a novel by Michael Swanwick, published in 1994. The main character is Jane, a human girl who's a child slave in a factory that produces parts for Iron Dragons - that world's equivalent to fighter jets. One day, during a failed escape attempt, she finds a discarded grimore, which turns out to be a operational manual to an Iron Dragon. This leads her to to discover an old, broken down dragon who's Not Quite Dead. Melanchthon, Dragon #7332, offers to help her escape if she helps him restore his basic functions.