The Two Pearls of Wisdom/Eon (Alison Goodman)

Author Biography

Alison Goodman is an award-winning author of YA fiction, including Singing the Dogstar Blues, the Eon/Eona duology, and The Dark Days Club. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Published By: HarperCollins

Year: 2008

ISBN: 987-0-7322-8800-6

Reading Level: Grades 10 and up

Reader’s Annotation:

No man in the Empire of the Celestial Dragons has more elemental power than a Dragoneye. Can the newest Dragoneye, the crippled, unassuming Eon, possibly fulfill all his duties – and do so without revealing that “he” is actually a girl?

Plot Summary:

In the Empire of the Celestial Dragons, twelve powerful men known as the Dragoneyes live in alliance with the twelve energy dragons: elemental beings, invisible to most mortals, that can control the Hua (life force) within all of nature. Each year, a twelve-year-old boy is chosen to become a Dragoneye’s apprentice and eventually succeed him. Among this year’s candidates is Eon, a crippled orphan with the rare ability to see all the dragons. But his lame leg makes him an unlikely candidate, as does his secret: “he” is actually a girl named Eona, who would be killed if her true gender were revealed. No one is more astonished than Eona when the mighty Mirror Dragon chooses her, not as an apprentice, but as a full-fledged Dragonye.

Now “Lord Eon,” Eona is thrust into the imposing world of the imperial court, with duties for which she feels woefully unprepared. But with them come new allies, such as the Contraire (transgender) Lady Dela and her bodyguard Ryko. Yet enemies appear as well: first and foremost Lord Ido, a power-hungry Dragoneye whose scheming endangers the whole empire. How can Eona escape the threat he poses – particularly after he discovers her secret?

Critical Evaluation:

This book just might hold the record for “YA Fantasy Novel with the Most Names.” Originally published as The Two Pearls of Wisdom, it’s since been retitled Eon: Rise of the Dragonye, Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, and simply Eon. But regardless of what it’s called, this book is an absorbing new spin on the time-honored plotline of “girl disguised as a boy becomes a hero.” Set in an empire inspired by ancient China and Japan, it offers a fascinating Chinese-inspired variation on dragon mythology, depicting them not as monsters but as energy beings, effectively gods, who grant humans the feng shui-inspired power to control the life force in everything.

But for all its mythic enchantment, this is no easy book to read. It’s a dark fantasy, set in a world of brutal social restrictions, political intrigue and power struggles, in which villains and heroes alike frequently resort to graphically described violence. Author Goodman’s fairly melodramatic prose style makes the action all the more disturbing. Nor is Eona a feisty warrior a la Mulan or Tamora Pierce’s Alanna, but a realistically terrified, miserable victim of a bleak backstory, disability, exploitation, abuse (including two near-rape scenes), and constant looming danger. But her traumas and fragility make the payoff all the stronger as she ultimately finds a Dragoneye’s courage and power within herself.

Like Pierce’s Alanna, Eona rejects all femininity at first, but eventually realizes that embracing her womanhood makes her stronger, not weaker. And lest any reader worry that this theme is gender-essentialist, Goodman provides a stroke of genius by making Eona’s staunchest court ally a transgender woman: the iron-willed yet fully feminine Lady Dela, always referred to by “she/her” pronouns and whose transgender status is important but never defines her. Dark though this story may be, its feminist themes shine.

Curriculum Ties:

•Fantasy worlds

•East Asian mythology

•Feminism

•Transgender studies

Challenge Issues:

•Violence

•Abuse

•Disturbing imagery

•Infanticide

•Sexual and castration references

•Attempted rape

•Menstruation and bodily function references

•LGBTQ themes

Why This Book?

While the action might be too dark and disturbing for some tastes, and some of the prose too melodramatic, this book’s feminist message, its transgender and realistic trauma representation, and its perfumed atmosphere of Asian-inspired mythology make it a captivating page-turner all the same.