With the release of The Gathering Storm announced for November of 2009 it is time once more to read all the preceeding books and reimmerse oneself into the rich and complex world of Robert Jordan. I am older now than when I first began this journey. Middle aged instead of a young adult. I see the world differently and not as recklessly as before.

That may have changed my feeling for the writer, who has gone. In the first paragraph, '...fat sickle of the moon hung low, giving barely light...' Right away i am taken out of the story and forced to wonder why the words sounds horrible in my ears. For they do. Here is a writer who at this time has 2 proofreaders to catch this and there are several other blatant mistakes like that throughout.

In any event we start with Lan as young man around the time of Rand's birthing. The Aiel War. One chapter later we are in the midst of Tower politics and wondering if any of what we read contradicts what has been written elsewhere. It does seem to do so. We stay with the tower and the beginning of Moiraines quest to find the Dragon.

That Moiraine finds the Black Ajah, fine, but that they don't find her, rubbish. They Black have no compunction about killing. Two very strong Accepted don't lean their way. Both attended the Amyrlin who they kill when the critical information came to light. Questioned and killed out of hand. The entire Black Ajah piece, and why the rulers of Kandor are brought into it for no gain for the Black is all rushed and ill thought out. Trying to tie to gether the Legends short story, but in the end fails.

Further, writers learn about show, don't tell, but Jordan has used his fame and ability to sell books to a produce this short piece for full price. And to use exposition to the detriment of development.

The book would never stand on its own. And only should be kept in your collection to complete the series. If you can get away without having a tactile copy in your hand, then you could save a great deal of space for something better. In all New Spring is a disappointment, and it was a great disservice. The entire last quarter is something that Jordan normally would have spent his time expanding and enriching. In all it seems like an outline he rushed together. ( )

This is a good prequel. It expands on things we knew about Lan and Moiraine, and adds a lot of things we didn't know. It also fills in a lot of detail about the White Tower. If you read the Wheel of Time series, this is a must read. Its also much shorter and more complete than the books in the series. ( )

New Spring is a prequel to the entire Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. This is a stand-alone book that takes place 20 years before Eye of the World, focusing on Moiraine and Siuan who have recently been raised to full Aes Sedai. ( )

This was the first Robert Jordan book I read, prompted by my seeing it advertised in the Wall Street Journal and being intrigued to know what Sci-Fi would target that profile of reader. It's pre-quel to the main series, introducing the main characters and their first relationships. Unlike the rest of the series, it's a tidy work and able to stand on its own. ( )

Really, really fabulous. This book expands the short story of the same title that was included in Legends. I was afraid it wouldn’t present anything of value over that which was included in the original story. I was very wrong though. This book goes into a lot of detail on the inner workings of the White Tower. It was so fascinating to have so many mysteries revealed. Also, I think it may even be the first time the inner parts of the Tower have been described so well. It was also really fantastic to read something new from Jordan that actually had some plot movement in it. Of import is that Moiraine is fairly certain that Cadsuane is Black Ajah. That does not bode well for Rand in the present storyline of the series. ( )