Eon
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn (Eon #1)by Alison Goodman
Eon has been studying the ancient art of Dragon Magic for four years, hoping he'll be able to apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune. But he also has a dark secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living a dangerous lie for the change to become a Dragoneye, the human link to an energy dragon's power. It is forbidden for females to practice the Dragon Magic and if discovered Eon faces a terrible death. (goodreads.com)
I am not entirely certain how I missed out on knowing about Eon when it came out a year ago. I think it was one of those things where I just glazed over the cover of the book because it didn't catch my eye. I know that's horrible to admit, but I am pretty certain it was true. However thanks to Penguin Group Canada I have the opportunity to rectify my awful judging a book by its cover faux pas and have now read both this book and its sequel Eona.Eon is a long story but it's a good one. If you like high fantasy and if you like your fantasy spiced with an Asian feel then this book is for you. It's rare that I read great YA high fantasy but Alison Goodman hit the nail on the head with this series.You know from the start that Eon is actually a girl whose master sees fortune and power in her ability to be able to see all celestial dragons so he trains her to be a boy. What struck me as I was reading was even though I knew Eona was a 16-year old girl in actuality I was reading the story as if she was really a 12-year old boy. I found it harder to adjust to her as a girl near the end of the book than I did having to pretend she was a boy. I liked that a lot about the book.There are wonderful side characters in the story as well, such as Ryko and Lady Dela. Lord Ido, the Big Bad was a pretty convincing creepy guy as far as I was concerned and he made my skin crawl. However I was certain he was fairly old until I read in Eona that he was only in his early 20s. My mental image of him did not coincide with how he should have looked.There were parts of the story I found a little long. I remember saying to my husband "This book is long, but I don't think it needed to be" at one point. It didn't drag in a horribly boring way but I think some events progressed a little slower than I found necessary. At the same time the entire world that Eon lived in was vibrantly described and I could almost picture it perfectly. (Unlike how I pictured Lord Ido!)I sort of knew what was going to happen with the Emperor and his son, because it just followed the normal fantasy path but I wasn't disappointed in any way because the way the story is told everything unfolded like a beautiful woven tapestry and I felt more content and entertained by the plot than bored. ;)It was such a blessing to have the sequel at my fingertips once Eon was finished. Rather than write my blog post as soon as I was done (which I try to do every time I finish a book) I started Eona because I needed to stay completely immersed in Goodman's fantasy world. It was just that addictive!Eon series