Eon: Dragoneye Reborn got a rave review from Orson Scott Card so I picked it up at the library this week. I am supposed to be reading Seven Storey Mountain and Les Miserables but I needed something light and quick. Funny how some 500 page books are light and quick and others are ... not.
This was a great book. It speaks to every female who has wanted to be the hero but knows it doesn't fit in the rules. Eona is masquerading as Eon, a candidate for Dragoneye Apprentice. Training is harsh and losing is not a real healthy option (they don't kill them, there just isn't much other hope) so the candidates are not friends. Eon isn't chosen by the Ascendant Rat Dragon so things look dismal. Then suddenly the Mirror Dragon appears and chooses him (or her). That's when things get really dangerous.
It's lie upon lie and secret upon secret as Eon tries to find out how to access the power of the Mirror Dragon while trying to learn what it means to be a Dragoneye without the benefit of being an Apprentice for 12 years. Not to mention learning to be a Lord after being a peasant all his life. What's a girl to do but try to be even more male and wonder who to turn to for help without revealing anything that earns a death sentence (oh, like being a *girl*, which is immediate death, no passing go).
This, of course, is all happening in the midst of a major power struggle and the power of right and good is depending greatly on Lord Eon's power as the Dragoneye of the Mirror Dragon. That's a lot of responsibility for a 12 year old boy (or even a 16 year old girl) with a very tenuous grasp on the power and no understanding of how to make it all right.
The characters are very interesting, and I found them well developed. The world and the power of the Dragons is interesting and introduced well. I read a lot of stuff like this, but I found this story easy to follow and get in to. Yes, Eon is hiding a lot of stuff, but it all makes sense and there just isn't time or place for sharing. Alison Goodman provides charts and details, but they aren't necessary to understand and follow the story. They are a nice whipped cream topping on a very tasty dessert.
I'm looking forward to the sequel, Eona the Last Dragoneye .
Sounds really good. Just added it to my wishlist. Thanks.
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