Eona (original 2011; edition 2011)

Eona is the sequel to the book Eon. There may be spoilers in this review for the first book, but not the second.

Eona is a dragoneye – someone who channels the powerful forces of the dozen dragons in the land. She is the only female dragoneye, but not everyone knows that she’s a girl because she was disguised as a boy all through her training (in the first book).

In this book she’s fleeing from High Lord Sethon who wants to use her power along with some other stolen artifacts in order to rule the kingdom. Most of the story is about Eona fleeing from Lord Sethon, and of course it all comes to a head with a big confrontation.

I liked Eona less than the first book, and for me I think that was because there were so many plot elements crammed into the end of this book in order to wrap everything up. I also tend to prefer stories with students who are hiding their identity (like the first book) versus the inclusion of many more fantasy elements in the sequel. The story was still good, but I didn’t feel the same excitement to rush through it like I did with the first book. ( )

The second book in a two book series-- I like that trend. As with the first book, I found the beginning more compelling than the middle and end. It had to end that way, of course, but at least she got some doubt and struggle in there on the way. ( )

There’s something affirming in reading about someone willing to do anything and everything to follow their dreams. However there’s always a degree of selfishness to people with such drive. In The Two Pearls of Wisdom and the Last Dragoneye, we meet Eona, who disguises herself as Eon, a eunuch with a lame hip being trained to be the next Dragoneye. A Dragoneye is liaison between the spirit dragons that guard the lands from destructive weather forces. While the new Dragoneye is set to ascend or take leadership of the Council of Dragoneyes, she is not chosen by the Rat Dragon, whose turn it is, but she is chosen by the Mirror Dragon, who has been missing for 500 years. As Eona begins to discover more about her dragon, her power and her past, she finds herself in the midst for of a battle for the throne and torn between the handsome Emperor Kygo, who has been overthrown by his sadistic uncle, and the ruthless Lord Ido, the Rat Dragoneye, who has killed all the other Dragoneyes and their apprentices, leaving the land in ruin. With Kygo, she sees the chance of lasting love and a healing for the land and with Lord Ido, she sees the pathways to limitless power and forceful of attraction. Eona’s choices will shape the future and which will she choose?

I’ll have to admit I was a little worried reading this book. There are so many stories about the girl disguising herself, but in these two books I was pleasantly surprised to meet Eona and see her humanity. We see the selfishness and the selflessness, so she is a hero who is as we all are…flawed. These two books had me thirsting for more…more romance, adventure and dragons. I give this book 4.5/5 Nerds.
( )

Before I talk about this book, I have to talk about the cover. Why is there a white chick on the cover? This is clearly a book set in an alternate China/Japan mashup, with Asian characters. Who is this round-eyed tall brunette? Certainly no one I was just reading about. It makes me crazy when publishers do this.

Eona was a satisfying second book in what may well be a trilogy, as it has an ending that would be easy to move on from. There were some improbable plot leaps and some odd, throwaway bits (Eona's mom? What was that about?) but the romance/power struggles were involving and interesting. There was perhaps a bit too much agonizing for my tastes. The dragons were magnificent indeed. The Rat Dragoneye was a fully-fleshed, complex bad guy with lots of layers, I maybe enjoyed his character more than the rest. But I didn't like him, which testifies to Goodman's skills as a writer.

I liked it a lot. Except the cover? ( )

Phew, a satisfying conclusion to the duology! I liked the fact that Eona didn’t do the right thing all the time–that in fact, she did some kind of awful things. And yet, she remained a sympathetic character. I was kind of sad about the fate of one character who I secretly kind of loved. [May 2011] ( )