EON DRAGONEYE REBORN by Alison Goodman
The world-building in this one is mind-bogglingly fabulous.* If ever there was a book you have to read twice, the first time just to find out what the frell happens—and EON is over five hundred pages of court intrigue, power struggles, dangerous madmen, dying emperors, lies, betrayals, and fatal masquerades—and the second time to pick up all the details that make the world a true, real world and don’t give me any guff about fantasy, this is the book.**
It begins with an introduction: ‘From the Primer Scrolls of Jion Tzu: No one knows how the first Dragoneyes made their dangerous bargain with the twelve energy dragons of good fortune. The few scrolls and poems that have survived the centuries start the story well after the deal was struck between man and spirit-beast to protect our land. It is rumored, however, that a black folio still exists that tells of the violent beginning and predicts a catastrophic end to the ancient alliance. . . . Each dragon is aligned with one of the heavenly animals in the twelve-year cycle of power that has run in the same sequence since the beginning of time. . . . Every New Year’s Day the cycle turns, the next animal year begins, and its dragon becomes ascendant, his power doubling for that twelve months. The ascending dragon also unites with a new apprentice to be trained in the dragon magic. . . .Every New Year, twelve boys, born twelve years before, face the ascending dragon . . . One of them is chosen. . . .
‘Women have no place in the world of the dragon magic. It is said they bring corruption to the art . . . ’
Eon is one of the candidates for Dragoneye apprentice; he has been training for two years, and the New Year at which he will be chosen, or not, is very soon. But Eon is a cripple, with a damaged hip; he was only accepted because ‘I was the only candidate who could see all of the dragons at will, not counting the Mirror Dragon, of course, who had been lost long ago. . . . full dragon sight was rare, although, as Swordmaster Ranne liked to remind me, no guarantee of success.’
Eon is, of course, a twelve year old boy. Except he is not. He—she—is a small slim sixteen-year-old girl who, if she were found out, would instantly be put to death. Her master and sponsor, a retired Tiger Dragoneye, chose her because of her dragon sight and has taught her how to hide her sex—by presenting herself as a Moon Shadow, a eunuch.
But the New Year ritual does not go as expected: The herald announces: “‘Twelve await to show their worth . . . worth will not be found in exhibition this cycle. Worth will be found in combat!’ Eon must go up against Ranne: ‘Leaning my weight back onto my good leg, I lifted the right sword above my head, stretching the left before me in a straight line aimed at his throat. Ranne mirrored me, his smooth grace fearsome. . . . Ranne’s blades hit mine. The impact resonated through my arms. . . . He was not pulling his blows. . . . The crashing force of steel against steel pushed me back. . . . I heard the crowd start to shout down Ranne. I didn’t have enough strength to push. . . . I fell backward, pulling my swords with me. . . . As I hit the sand, I saw his mouth gape in surprise . . . the crowd howled with excitement; the cripple was fighting back. . . .’
But it is not enough; Eon is knocked unconscious; she has failed. She nonetheless stands with the other candidates when the dragon emerges to choose his apprentice: ‘. . . in that moment of union—and only for that moment—all men can see the dragon in all his glory. . . .’ Another is chosen: ‘In that moment, hate flared through me like a sudden fever, burning everything in its path. . . . And then, just as fast, the hate froze into a vast, aching emptiness. . . .’
There is a last ritual to be borne: each of the candidates must bow to the emperor: ‘dressed in royal yellow and enthroned above the darkened mirror of the Lost Dragon.’ When it is Eon’s turn:
‘A line of light flared suddenly at the top of the mirror, burning downward like a fuse. . . . Crackling energy sheared across my skin. . . .The ground shook as sand flew into the air and showered over the arena. Men were scattering—officials, audience, candidates—stumbling and falling in their panic. . . . I finally recognised the shapes: a graceful length of muzzle and the curve of a nostril. . . . Another dragon. A dragon I had never seen before. . . . He was the Mirror Dragon. The Lost Dragon. . . .
‘I raised my hands. . . . I heard a rumbling acknowledgement from the crowd. They could see him, too. They could see the Mirror Dragon choosing me—Eon, the cripple. . . .’
But that is only the beginning of Eon’s troubles. Since the Mirror Dragon has been lost for so long, no one knows exactly what his Dragoneye should do, and there is no current Mirror Dragoneye to teach the new apprentice how to handle the overwhelming power of his dragon. What is known is that the Mirror Dragon was once the leader of all twelve of the energy dragons—and the Dragoneye of this year’s Ascendant Dragon, Lord Ido, has no intention of sharing power with anyone, certainly not a crippled apprentice. Indeed, the rumour is that his secret ambition is to sit on the emperor’s throne himself, and that he does not care how much blood he spills to get there. Eon’s final confrontation with Lord Ido at the end of this book is terrific—and there’s still a sequel to come.
* * *
* It is so fabulous that she’s given you a reading list of the high points of the research she did on her web site: http://www.alisongoodman.com.au/research.html
** And may I also put in a word for her first novel, SINGING THE DOGSTAR BLUES, about a girl and her alien, which I enjoyed a lot, way too many years ago. When I registered that EON was by the same author, it was an oh! Squee! moment. This is how DOGSTAR begins: ‘I saw the assassin before she saw me. She was eating noodles at one of the hawker bars. . . .’
It gets better. Our heroine is chosen as the partner of the first Chorian student at the University of Australia—by Chorian mind-scan: ‘There’s a lot of tox floating around about Chorian mind scans. You know the stuff. Heads exploding, faces falling off, brains being wiped. Garbage like that.’ Joss is one of only three students who agree to be scanned: ‘Forget the rumours about mind scans; all you feel is warmth and a slight pressure. That’s it. . . . Suddenly the four Chorian Elders went crazy: harmonised gabbling, bouncing up and down on the spot, ears flapping. . . .’ Joss and her new partner Mavkel have their first conversation two pages later: ‘It absently stroked the vertical ridges along its noses.
‘“Where are you going?”
‘“My people want to finish my preparation.” It paused, the first joint of its ears flattening outwards as it concentrated. “Your slangsounds would call it a major yawn.”
‘“I can believe it,” I said, smiling.
‘Mavkel leaned even closer, watching my mouth. Then it tried out a double-barrelled smile. Not easy for someone with no lips. The result was hideous, but ten out of ten for effort.’
I may have to reread this one while I’m waiting for EONA THE LAST DRAGONEYE.
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