Eon by Alison Goodman ★★★☆☆

Dragons, Emperors and Girls in Disguise, Oh My!

Fiction -YA - Epic Fantasy

Reading level: Ages 12 and up

531 pages

Original Title: The Two Pearls of Wisdom

Publication Date: August 31, 2010

Eon #1

Literary awards:  Victorian Premier's Literary Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction Prize (2009), James Tiptree Jr. Award Nominee (2008), TAYSHAS High School Reading List (2010), Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel & Nominee for Young Adult Novel (2008), ALA Best Book for Young Adults (2009) Bank Street College Best Book of the Year (2009)

Crippled Eon is in training to become a candidate for the Rat Dragon’s apprentice; one of the greatest honors in the kingdom.  Gifted with rare full dragon sight Eon can see each of the dragons, except of course the Mirror Dragon who has been missing for 500 years.  On the day of choosing no one in the kingdom expects the “cursed cripple” to be chosen, but Eon has another reason for thinking he might not be chosen, Eon is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl.  Females cannot take part in the Dragonseye ceremonies, on pain of death.  When the Mirror Dragon resurfaces and chooses Eona everything in her life is thrown into chaos.  Plunged into a dangerous world she doesn’t understand and unable to call upon her dragon, Eona must carefully navigate the twists and turns of the palace for the sake of her allies and the Prince Kygo, otherwise much more than her life will be lost.

I purchased this book without knowing practically anything about it on the recommendation of a very enthusiastic store employee during a book buying frenzy.  So when I started to read it I only knew the very basics without my usual research and couldn’t help, but be concerned.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised.  The mythology is very well developed and thought out.  Goodman even managed to nicely mix the mythological elements with the political intrigue.  Her characters are charismatic, multi-dimensional, and each one has their very own agenda.  The story is rather complex with a large host of characters interacting and contributing so you do really have to pay attention.  I would not call this book a light, easy read, but it is worth the effort to keep everything straight.

This book is very interesting and did a good enough job pulling me in that I am now in search of “Eona”, the next one in the series.  The recommended reading age says 12 and up, but personally I think a little older would be better, at least 13 or 14, so the reader can fully grasp the content.

ISBN-13: 978-0142417119

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini's ★★★☆☆

Paolini's Ambitious Effort

Fiction – YA - Epic Fantasy

Age level 12 and up  Grade level 7 and up

860 pages

Publication Date: November 8, 2011

The Inheritance Cycle #4

Inheritance the fourth book in the cycle brings to an end a very ambitious series.  We once again join Eragon, Shapphira and the other’s that make up Alagaësia to find out if Galbatorix will be defeated and at what cost to our heroes.  I will leave it to others to recount the book and instead focus just on my opinions and thoughts.

I found this book a nice read and for the most part a good conclusion.  Paolini allowed his characters to reach their potential while keeping the pace and excitement at a high level through much of the story - though I must admit I did find myself starting to get fatigued with the story around the 500page mark which is not something I noticed occurring with his other three books.  The varying viewpoints

interweave a complex series of events into mostly digestible pieces while making them more personable.  Paolini largely achieved the delicate balance between the action with reaction, however, on occasion I had to reread passages to understand all of the actions taking place. 

Other reviews have complained about the rather long ending and I would have to agree with them.  A much shorter ending – about a third the actual size - would have been more to my liking and definitely attainable.  There have also been many complaints of not enough resolution about smaller things like Angela or the Belt of Beloth the Wise.  To them I would say, people a little mystery in life is good.  Something I would have really liked was a better ending for Eragon and Arya.  Perhaps the actual introduction of some real romantic element between them, besides the acknowledgement of Eragon’s desire would have made it more satisfactory.  I also, like others had a difficult time with Arya becoming Queen, especially coupled with her becoming a dragon rider.   Her agreement to take the position seemed off to me, no matter how dedicated she was supposed to be to her people.  I kind of felt like Paolini did that to put a final nail in the coffin of her and Eragon’s possibility of finding happiness together.

Something I liked was the writing in this book.  While I have enjoyed Christopher Paolini’s writing throughout the series, the level of comfort and maturity attained in the last book was very gratifying.  He was able to craft an interesting complex story while incorporating style and beauty into his writing.  No easy task. 

From a personal view point one thing I would have changed is to have the book broken down into two separate ones – ending the first one right after Nasuada’s abduction-, but then again that is just my personal opinion and not a complaint about the story itself.  Something I did enjoy about all of the books were the appendixes which included a pronunciation guide.  I wish more fantasy and Sci-Fi books had these!

Over all I am impressed with Christopher Paolini’s progress as a writer despite my critiques and look forward with high expectations to his next project.  I am giving the book three stars out of five, instead of four I would have otherwise, due to the fatigue factor and the long unnecessary ending.