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Monday, January 10, 2011

Cover Lust (23): Eon and Eona

A separate Cover Lust post in its entirety for the breathtakingness that is all of Alison Goodman's international covers for her book Eon: Dragoneye Reborn and its sequel, Eona: The Last Dragoneye (at least, those are its American titles. They are varied slightly throughout the world.) I don't speak enough about this series because I truly believe that Alison Goodman has written a fantasy series as great as anything by the legendary Tamora Pierce. (The fact that Pierce likes Goodman's books should be a good sign.)

Here is the cover I first saw for it, the US hardcover:


Amazing already, no? It's shiny in person, too.

It was already published as The Two Pearls of Wisdom in Australia and the UK:


Not my favorite color scheme, and the eyes are a little much, but still lovely. And you can kind of tell that Eon/Eona is Asian.

Here are some other editions of the first book:

  
UK paperback // US paperback // Spanish hardcover

 
Polish edition // French edition

Here is the US hardcover for Eona:


I like how it matches the US paperback of Eon. Doesn't hurt that it's so utterly badass. Although it's questionably, potentially whitewashed (is it? I can't really tell; my eyes are kind of tired at the moment, sorry). Here are some more covers for Eona or its international equivalents:

 
Australian hardcover // German edition

I love them both; the German edition kind of reminds me of the video cover for Mulan. But my favorite cover of all is the UK edition, titled The Necklace of the Gods:


zomgzomgzomgzomg that is almost exactly what I think Eona should look like! So badass.

I know there's been some flack regarding these books in the blogosphere in the past, about them taking exceptional liberties with the Asian inspirations of this fantasy, but my stance on this matter is that these books are Asian-inspired. They are not meant to follow a strict set of rules or be representative of the entire Asian mythological culture. I do believe that Alison Goodman has created a world thorough enough to exist on its own, in its own little universe somewhere we don't know about. Perhaps you will be intrigued enough to give this series a try? :) I know I am definitely waiting impatiently for the sequel to finally, finally come out in April.
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11 comments:

  1. Alex Bennett from Electrifying ReviewsJanuary 10, 2011 at 10:05 AM

    So many awesome covers, it's hard to choose one set I like best!

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  2. UnknownJanuary 10, 2011 at 10:49 AM

    Wow, that last cover is incredible. Love it.

    Also, I'm really glad to hear your stance on these. I was really excited to read Eon when it came out, but then pretty much everything I read after was negative, and not about the actual book or writing but about how it was wrong that Goodman "appropriated" Asian myths and how she had done it badly (again, not craft-wise, but disrespectful, I think was the word I kept seeing, which seemed very strong language). It didn't exactly put me off wanting to read them, but it did make me feel guilty for wanting to read them, and I think it's fair to say that the guilt did prevent me from picking Eon up.

    But your stance is exactly what mine tends to be when confronted with criticism of that sort, if I've read the book before I hear the criticism. So I'm feeling a little relieved, honestly, and I will pick these books up. I think your statement there just kicked me into realizing that how I've been feeling is irrational, given how I usually respond in cases like this.

    Anyway. Sorry for hijacking your cover lust comments with my angst! I do love these posts. It's really cool to see the different covers from different countries.

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  3. Golden EagleJanuary 10, 2011 at 2:04 PM

    I read Eon and I loved the book, despite the Asian theme throughout. I never really thought of it as "disrespectful" or anything like that--I agree with your viewpoint.

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  4. April (BooksandWine)January 10, 2011 at 3:32 PM

    I love the US cover for Eona. I also really like the Two Pearls of Wisdom cover, it looks so adult.

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  5. UnknownJanuary 10, 2011 at 3:45 PM

    Ooh, I love those covers. I especially like the US hardcover of Eona.

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  6. SandyJanuary 10, 2011 at 3:56 PM

    Oh wow lots of beautiful covers. I love the US hardcover for Eona but I agree I think its sadly whitewashed. I also love the US paperback edition for Eon and the Polish edition as well as the Australia and UK edition.

    I will definitely be checking these books out I love Asian inspired anything ^_^

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  7. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2011 at 4:42 PM

    Such amazing covers. They are all similar in a way too.

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  8. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2011 at 11:32 PM

    Can I just say that the Polish edition's cover is amazing? Holy crap, I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

    Eon is still in my tbr-pile. Maybe it's about time I dig it out.

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  9. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2011 at 7:24 PM

    I LOVE this book so I really cannot wait for the sequel to finally arrive ! My favorite cover is definitely the German edition <3333

    ~Alison

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  10. Emy ShinJanuary 12, 2011 at 5:56 PM

    I love the UK cover. That's gorgeous!

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  11. UnknownJanuary 13, 2011 at 11:46 PM

    THose are hot covers. THanks for putting them in front of my face! I need that.

    Mad Scientist

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