Eona - Blog Tour

Eona: The Last Dragoneye
by Alison Goodman

Publication Date: April 19, 2011

Eon has been revealed as Eona, the first female Dragoneye in hundreds of years. Along with fellow rebels Ryko and Lady Dela, she is on the run from High Lord Sethon's army. The renegades are on a quest for the black folio, stolen by the drug-riddled Dillon; they must also find Kygo, the young Pearl Emperor, who needs Eona's power and the black folio if he is to wrest back his throne from the selfstyled "Emperor" Sethon. Through it all, Eona must come to terms with her new Dragoneye identity and power-and learn to bear the anguish of the ten dragons whose Dragoneyes were murdered. As they focus their power through her, she becomes a dangerous conduit for their plans. . . . (description taken from Amazon.com)

At almost 650 pages, this conclusion to Eona's story is epic. I received this ARC as part of a tour where you only have seven days to read the book before you pass it on and honestly, I felt really rushed trying to squeeze this book into such a short time frame. I absolutely want to go back and read this one again as soon as it comes out. There are portions I'd like to linger over, to sink into, to really immerse myself in again.

I love, absolutely love the Eastern flavor of Eona's story. One reason that I felt Eon: Dragoneye Reborn was so amazing when I first read it was because it really introduced a whole different cultural feel to epic fantasy...at least for me. I love the connections to the Chinese Zodiac, the clothing styles, the swords, the political structure...in this second book, I loved the descriptions of the fishing villages, then the contrast with the pleasure gardens...I have never really been interested in traveling all the way to Asia and yet, Alison Goodman makes me want to find a way to travel back in time to an earlier Asian era, though I'd be sorely disappointed without the accompanying dragons.

I really enjoyed how Goodman can steep Eona's story with the horrors and terrifying uncertainty of a country on the brink of war and yet counterbalance all of those negative images with small moments of positive personal interactions. Moments of passion, friendship, even just decency and kindness. Eona learns to come into herself as a woman, not just a warrior in this book. She also learns what truly constitutes family - both the blood kind and the chosen.

I must read this book again. The ending is very well done. The spiritual completion of Eona's journey was great and I really want to read it over again slowly to really fully catch all of the nuances. This is not a book to skim. Though I am happy with this book as the sequel to the first, I am sad that there is not a planned third. It's not that I feel anything was left out of Eona's story...I just really love her world and would love to go back!

Well worth the read.

Full disclosure: ARC received from Book It Forward ARC Tours