Review by Alex: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman

Twelve-year-old Eon has been in training for years. His intensive study of Dragon Magic, based on East Asian astrology, involves two kinds of skills: sword-work and magical aptitude. He and his master hope that he will be chosen as a Dragoneye a " an apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune.

But Eon has a dangerous secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been masquerading as a boy for the chance to become a Dragoneye. Females are forbidden to use Dragon Magic; if anyone discovers she has been hiding in plain sight, her death is assured. When Eona's secret threatens to come to light, she and her allies are plunged into grave danger and a deadly struggle for the Imperial throne.

Eon must find the strength and inner power to battle those who want to take her magic...and her life.

A good fantasy read. Based on the Chinese zodiac, and taking elements from China and Japan from waybackwhen, Eon's world is rich and fascinating. Actually... in some ways, it reminds me of Mulan. :D Just the strong heroine, disguised as a girl, fighting. And Eon has a lot to contend with. The book starts with Eon attempting to become Dragoneye, and at first it's a bit confusing. All the names at first were just like... WAAAH? to me. Luckily, there's a helpful little chart at the beginning of the book with all the Dragoneyes names and important info like that.

So basically, there are 12 Dragons, and 12 Dragoneyes, chosen humans who wield the power of the dragons to help the land and people. Each dragon is an animal from the Chinese zodiac, so there's like the Rat Dragon (the one currently in power- as most people should know, the chinese zodiac rotates, etc. etc) and the Ox Dragan, and the Dragon Dragon, otherwise known as the Mirror Dragon, thank god. Imagine the whole book, reading Dragon Dragon, instead of the Mirror Dragon. Mirror Dragon sounds so much better.

Anyways. After the dragoneye ceremony, where one young boy is picked to be the future Rat Dragoneye, and -ahem- other important events happen, Eon is forced into this world where he (really she) doesn't want to be. I won't tell you how exactly... since I don't want to spoil much. So this is a story of how Eon becomes powerful and key in politics. There is a sequel that follows and will deal more with fighting back, where no doubt there will be more action and excitement. And hopefully romance. Eon: Dragoneye Reborn was sadly lacking in the romance department. I was kind of hoping with the Prince, as there were tiny hints every now and then, but alack, no. Hopefully in the next one. ;)

I also found it quite unpredictable, which is a good thing. I also didn't always know what was going on, which is bad. The descriptions of the Dragoneye powers could have been better done in my opinion, since I found it mostly hazy and blah. So much so that I sometimes skimmed over the descriptions.

So while I do have complaints about this book, those being above and that the story drags at points, Eon is an interesting fantasy read. Interesting setting and the familiar plot of fighting against the government, or whatever, be it emperors or whatnot. Recommended for lovers of fantasy, girl power, and lugging around big books. Eon: Dragoneye Reborn is something like 570 pages, which is why I put off reading it for so long; I didn't want to have to lug it to and from school.