Eon: Dragoneye Reborn is the story of Eon(a), a 16 year old girl whose circumstances require her to masquerade as a boy. Eon is competing for the highly coveted position of Dragoneye apprentice. The Dragoneye acts as a human link to one of the twelve energy dragons. It is a position of power and the competition is fierce. Girls are not allowed to compete – if Eon is discovered, she will be put to death.This book is nothing like the usual young adult fare. There are transgender characters and eunuchs. The main character is far from perfect – she has a maimed leg which causes her much pain throughout her training. Eon struggles with her identity throughout the novel, as did I. I liked her in parts of the book and grew frustrated with her in other parts. The writing is beautiful, even lyrical. The descriptions of the dragons were amazing. You really get a sense of the dragons’ beauty, splendor, power, and even their personality. The magic added a nice touch. I enjoyed reading the training and fight scenes in the book. They had me imagining scenes from the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”The politics and court intrigue held my interest. There were some pretty ruthless characters in this book. It was fascinating watching the characters align themselves in positions of power. At first, I tried to place the mythology. The story has elements from Chinese and Japanese lore, but the names were not Asian. A quick glance at the author’s note confirmed that the author did combine the Chinese and Japanese mythologies. Eon makes for an unlikely, if not reluctant heroine. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series to see how she fares.
