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 chance 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.
Firstly, I will start this review off by saying that Eon is almost exactly how I like my fantasy - action, intrigue, magic and a fantastic setting, all that was missing was the romance (something that I think will come into play in the sequel, Eona, which I also have for review on my TBR pile.).
What grabs you straight away about Eon is the setting. The Asian influences are visible quite early in the book and the description given of this world is breathtaking. I was, at the beginning, expecting the setting to be completely Asian but we later see that Goodman has created a completely unique setting with just the asian influence, which creates that recognisible, imaginable world whilst also providing an amazing fantasy experience. What also struck me as spectacular was how intricately Goodman created this setting with its own culture and politics and how well she wrote it all. This book is just as much about the setting and the politics as it is about the magic and mystery.
I totally loved the story telling as well. While I would have enjoyed a little more on Eona's struggle to convincingly act as a boy, I did feel that the narrative had me convinced at times that Eona was a boy and I was snapped back to reality when the refernces to her as a girl appear. Whether this was a good or bad thing, I'm not sure, but I did really enjoy Eona's voice itself. I did sometimes feel that Eona did stupid things, and didn't catch onto what was going on sometimes but all in all she was a pretty kick-ass heroine, especially at the end. "I AM EONAAA!" (I was so expecting that line!)
I loved the political intrigue aspect of the story, it was intricate enough to be convincing but not crazily confusing so that you can't follow the story. I also felt that the bad guy was pretty convincing and I totally enjoyed his part in the climax of the book! Lord Ido makes my best baddies list (below the likes of Voldemort and Darth Vader).
There is a lot of action in Eon and while I felt that the story got a little slow towards the middle the beginning and the end are full of action, which I put down to the fact that this series is made up of only two books so Goodman doesn't have to stretch out the events.
Overall, Eon is an amazing read that I would totally recommend to fans of oriental fantasy and high fantasy. The story is full of fantasy and intrigue and will captivate readers from the first page!
Overall rating: A-
Stand alone/series: First in the Eon series
UK Release: 1st January 2009
Publisher: David Fickling books (Random House)
Book obtained via: Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
I've only heard good things about this. I need to get my hands on it! Great review :D
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Looking forward to hearing back from you,
Cory @ Anti-Drug Reads
I loved this one too, I read it when it first came out 2 years ago, I've been waiting for book 2 for ages but haven't come across it.
ReplyDeleteHope it's as good as book 1.
:D
Ive never really tried dragons but I think I might have to! Some stories, like this one, sound awesome!
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