Becky's Book Reviews: 62. New Spring

Sunday, July 18, 2021

62. New Spring

New Spring. (Wheel of Time Prequel) Robert Jordan. 2004. 334 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: A cold wind gusted through the night, across the snow-covered land where men had been killing one another for the past three days.

Premise/plot: New Spring is a prequel to the Wheel of Time. It was published after the tenth book Crossroads of Twilight. It provides readers with an origin story--or back story--of Lan, Moiraine, and Siuan. Lan is a soldier without a country--a soldier-king. But the without a country bit matters. Moiraine and Siuan are Accepted and studying at Tar Valon (or the White Tower). They are on their way to becoming Aes Sedai. When we first catch a glimpse of them, we witness a foretelling and a death--a CHILD has just been born who will be the Dragon Reborn. Gitara, the Aes Sedai who prophesied his birth, promptly dies. Only a few witnessed this. It is super top secret classified. But Siuan and Moiriane are among the few--and most likely the youngest--who have seen and heard. Both think that the baby should be found, taken, brought up, raised, guided. Surely this matter is of the utmost importance, right?! But not all the Ajahs are the same. The two fear that the rumors of Black Ajah are true...

My thoughts: When trying to decide WHEN to read this prequel I researched a lot of opinions on the internet. Essentially no one recommends reading this book first. I'd agree with that. A few mentioned that it would be good any time after The Dragon Reborn (book three). A few suggested after The Shadow Rising (book four). Daniel Greene (author and YouTuber) at one point (he may have changed his mind since then) suggested reading it after book five (The Fires of Heaven). I remember one review mentioned that it would be a good fit after The Lord of Chaos (book six). But most fell into one of two camps: read it after Crossroads of Twilight (book ten) OR read it after all fourteen books in the series the last being Memory of Light. I chose to read it after book five.

I wish they'd been a glossary like his other books. Sometimes he'd use his fancy fantasy made up words and I'd be like am I supposed to remember what this means or is it new to this story. I didn't realize how often I flip to the glossary until there wasn't one.

There were a handful of scenes that were EXCELLENT. They truly fit into the series and added depth. It was a joy to discover these bits. BUT. I got to say that most of the book stays in the nice-but-not-particularly-wonderful category. It was nice to read about Moiraine and Siuan training in the White Tower, catch a glimpse of their deep friendship. It was more than nice to spend some time with Lan.

What was good was really good. What wasn't so good was so skimmable/skippable. (Some parts were just CREEPY/GROSS/NASTY.) But I didn't really feel that this Moiraine was *the* Moiraine I had come to know through the other books in the series. She was super immature and petty. I don't know how anyone put up with her really.