New Spring: A Wheel of Time Prequel (Hardcover)

This is a prequel to the Wheel of Time series, now 10 books long. In Jordan's most recent interview (Jan 04) he states that he anticipates being able to finish in perhaps two books (he has been saying this since 1994 however, so be warned). While it has been advertised as an entry point to the series, I would not recommend it as such. Concepts are not sufficiently explained and to be honest the Eye of the World, the first book in the series, can work as a stand alone book. Try that before this.

The book comes in essentially two parts; the first concerns Moiraine and Siuan, two young women who feature later in the series. The story documents how they become fully-fledged Aes Sedai after many years of training and how they come to begin a search for the Dragon Reborn. This part of the book is great for fans in that we see a lot more of the White Tower than previously. We also see what could be deemed 'normal' AS training as opposed to that shown for Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve in the main series. Jordan's writing style, in contrast to his more recent work, is concise yet retaining his trademarks to a sufficient degree to be interesting.

The second part of the novel is essentially the novella in Legends. If you've already read this, then the last 100 pages will simply be the same old material.

If your a fan and haven't got Legends, see this as simply more material. An enjoyable read even if it does not progress the series. As a non-fan, this could be a confusing novel that in the end stops before the real action begins.

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Leaving aside the necessity or otherwise of further bloating an already mammoth series, examined on its own merits _New Spring_ has more to recommend it than the last few instalments in the series proper. Without the need to buoy up a multiplicity of storylines, Jordan produces a fast-paced, engaging tale. It's Lan and Moiraine: The Early Years, essentially; set twenty years before the other books, this deals with Gitara's Foretelling of the Dragon's rebirth, and how a young Cairhienin Accepted gains the shawl and finds her Warder.

The problem is the very 'expansion' that is responsible for this tale being republished. The original 'New Spring' novella from _Legends_ is included here with few changes (bar some extra incidents on the road to Chachin), and as such remains well worth the read - if you don't already own a copy of _Legends_. The new material tacked onto the beginning, however, will appeal only to real WoT masochists. An account of Siuan and Moiraine's ascent from Accepted to full sisters, it's sometimes entertaining in its portrait of the series' key players in their youth, but on the whole it's too redolent of the later books in the WoT - full of unmemorable characters and info-dump exposition, devoid of tension or much in the way of humour.

Newcomers should go to _The Eye of the World_ and its immediate successors, where the exploration of the White Tower is pulled off far more gradually and elegantly. Fans will probably buy this one anyway, but be warned: if you've read the excellent original story, there's little new here.

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A lot of the "padding" (e.g. long and pointless descriptions, women drinking tea and clutching and smoothing skirts etc.) has gone, which means that New Spring is much shorter than the more recent novels, which is a good thing in my opinion. There is also a lot of action and the storyline canters along at a good pace.

OK, some of irritations are still there (in particular, Jordan appears unable to develop female characters very well, as the younger Moiraine and Siuan as Accepted and new Aes Sedai are a little too similar in behaviour and character to Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve and almost unrecognisable from the older versions of themselves portrayed in the novels that follow), but all in all a good novel that will be enjoyed by fans of WoT.

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