New Spring: A Wheel of Time Prequel (Wheel of Time)

Being a prequel this sheds light on only some of the characters backstory.
it deals with Lan, Moiraine and Siuan.

I read it straight after reading Lord of Chaos from the main series and i think this was a perfect time to read as it helps to make the next book in the main series (Crown of Swords) more easily understand and emotionally resonant.

Overall this is great, although it does take a while to get going and could be considered slightly anti-climatic.
Still a great entry into a flawless fantasy series.

as great as the others (1/2 people found this helpful)

Being a huge fan of the WoT series I found this book great, it really does give you an inside look into the world of Lan and Mouraine and even Siuan. Its fast paced and packs a lot in and having read it after finishing book 11 i really can't wait now till the final book comes. if you are a real fan then you'll love this.

Not what I expected (5/5 people found this helpful)

Being a great fan of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, I was definitly going to get this.
Then I read the reviews about it and changed my mind I couldn't be bothered.
Then someone bought it for me for Christmas, I can't believe what people have written in the reviews. I think it's really good, very fast paced for Robert Jordan (cue cynical sniggering), and since it's about two characters from whom we don't hear their point of view in the main series, it makes a great story. The story reads like most of the other WoT books but it comes in from a different angle, with all the good bits of the other books (chases, channeling, swordsmanship, and urgency).

In my opinion there isn't another book like it in the series mainly because a lot of action happens across all 300 pages of it, with a lot of depth to the story.

If you loved books 1-3 and got bored at book 5 read this it's great.

well i rather enjoyed it (7/8 people found this helpful)

In Jordans world of time series it all starts quite suddenly with us being thrown in at the deep end, we are expected to know the past histories of moiraine and lan. These very intricate and complex characters (moiraine who we are hoping to re-appear in the next book) are unexplained, they are the only main characters within the series not to have been set-up or backgrounded. I think that every wheel of time reader should in all honesty be reading this book, not because it is a serious and well thought out story, but because it gives us a little bit of the coveted relationship history of these two memorable characters. The story is relaxed and cheerful, it is easy going and if you have not yet read it but have read the wheel of time series then read it. Hey we all need something to do in the next five years while he's writing the twelth book, at the very least this will take up a couple of hours of that time.

First and long (17/20 people found this helpful)

When you have a series that is going nowhere fast, it's not a good idea to dangle a prequel in front of readers. Formerly a short story in the "Legends" collection, "New Spring" is another dud for Robert Jordan, as he stretches a good novella into a ponderous, boring novel, which moves as fast as a brain-dead snail.

It goes back in time a few decades, to when a very important fortune is told: a baby has been born, and this boy child may be the key to defeating the evil Dark One once and for all. But the Shadow is trying to kill the still-helpless Dragon Reborn, and so the good guys have to rescue him and keep him hidden away until he's old enough to fulfil his destiny.

Moiraine Damodred is becoming a full-fledged Aes Sedai (sort of a female wizard), and Lan Mandragoran (Aragorn, anyone?) is the lost king of an equally lost kingdom. And together they will try to search for the Dragon Reborn and hide him away -- but their quest is not going to be that easy.

Expanding short stories into novels is always a risky idea. For every "The Gunslinger," you'll get ten novels like "New Spring" -- strained and stretched-out to the breaking point. In its original form, "New Spring" was pleasantly written and well-paced, but Jordan fills it in with... well, filler. So we have too little plot and too much writing -- a lethal combination for any book.

The writing itself would be nice if two-thirds of it were pared away. Unfortunately it's full of weird physical quirks (hair-pulling, straightening clothing) and facial expressions, or details about the rooms/furniture/dishes/random inanimate objects sprinkled through the novel. And the actual content of the book takes place very late in the plot, with an obvious "to be continued" tacked on for more inevitable prequels.

With a plot moving as fast as a glacier, Jordan has plenty of time to expand his characters -- but he doesn't. Moiraine was one of the most interesting characters of the Wheel of Time series, and it's good to see her "early years," although it does take away from her mystique. Lan is good at brooding and doesn't have much more of a personality, and the Aes Sedai sniff and whine and snipe a lot. In other words, not much is new.

While Jordan's "New Spring" in its original form was a pleasant background read, the expanded novel is a bloated, sluglike mass of dull writing. Not recommended except to die-hard fans.

New Spring: A Wheel of Time Prequel (Wheel of Time)

Robert Jordan

Reader Reviews:

When to read it (0/1 people found this helpful)

as great as the others (1/2 people found this helpful)

Not what I expected (5/5 people found this helpful)

well i rather enjoyed it (7/8 people found this helpful)

First and long (17/20 people found this helpful)

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