Eon: Dragoneye Reborn

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn
By Alison Goodman
Viking Press; 2008. 531 pgs. YA F Goodman

Eon has a secret and believes keeping it could mean life or death. This coming of age novel takes place in feudal Asia, during a time when dragons still exist and men are the supreme rulers of everything. Political power is shared by the Emperor and the Dragoneyes (men who control the power of the 12 energy dragons). Each year, one dragon comes into power and chooses an apprentice from a highly trained group of 12 year old boys. Lame Eon is not considered a likely candidate since competition at the selection tournament is extremely grueling. To everyone’s astonishment the Mirror Dragon (missing for 500 years) arrives and picks Eon. Thrust into the powerful position of sitting on the Counsel, Eon, along with a few unique personal protectors, try to keep the power balance away from the brutal and ruthless Lord Ido. Eon struggles to understand how to use this new power and responsibility, at the same time THE SECRET is rapidly taking its toll, UNTIL...

Although I am not a fantasy fan I quite enjoyed this book and definitely will read the sequel. With unique supporting characters, a strong protagonist and a shrewd evil villain, don’t be discouraged when the story moves a bit slow after the opening chapter. Things pick up quite nicely. The author deals with a few mildly uncomfortable subjects very inoffensively. This book has been nominated for the 2011 Utah Beehive Young Adult Fiction Award. mpb