Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman

From The Week of August 15, 2010

This first installment in a duology from Ms. Goodman, an Australian author of SF is very nearly the perfect coming-of-age novel. Not only does it illustrate the isolating awkwardness of adolescence, it empathizes with women and girls across the span of human time who have been shackled by societal prejudice against their gender.

In a realm patterned on Chinese mythology, the twelve energy dragons of good fortune operate, through their human representatives, and in accordance with the sitting emperor, to maintain balance and order in the realm. The human representatives of the dragons are always boys, chosen at the age of 12 to apprentice with their dragon's human master. When the master retires, the apprentice takes his place and assumes much of the dragon's power. After being plucked from the empire's slums, Eon has become his master's last and best hope of being chosen by a dragon, an honor which conveys much prestige upon the chosen's teacher. But Eon has a secret that only his master knows, that he is, in fact, a girl masquerading as a boy. A girl has not been chosen for generations, a consequence of society's discriminatory policies towards women. Eon initially fails at her choosing, but this defeat sets into motion a series of events which, if Eon can bring herself to embrace her identity, will see her shape the future of the empire.

Though Ms. Goodman's plot is simplistic, with many of its outcomes obvious, this book is about self-discovery, not complexity. The setting here, with its emperors, and its dragons and its mysticism, is to service Eon's evolution from a fearful and powerless girl, hiding behind a boy's mask, to a brave and composed young woman who can stand on her own and accept her identity in spite of her society's disapproval. Ms. Goodman's allegory, through Eon, is delightfully poignant. She has used the attainment of mystical powers as a stand-in for self-acceptance, teaching us that confidence and personal power only come through the embracing of ones true nature. It is beautifully done. But for a few moments on the harrowing side, for teenaged readers, this is a must-read for struggling adolescents. (4/5 Stars)