It is nearly twenty years before Rand Al'Thor leaves Emond's Field, and Siuan and Moiraine are just Accepted, doing their best to complete their studies and become Aes Sedai. However, they are in attendance when another Aes Sedai has a foretelling in which the Dragon Reborn has been born. This unleashes a series of events that will have the White Tower, home of the Aes Sedai, frantic in its attempt to control events before they go too far.
I liked that we got to see Siuan and Moiraine before they became Aes Sedai. It really opened up their characters and made the reader understand why they did what they did. And you were also introduced to a lot of other Aes Sedai that you only saw briefly mentioned in some of the books. Lan I wasn't as thrilled with. His personality seemed too different than what it was in the main series. I just didn't see it matching up with what we already knew about him.
I enjoyed that we got to learn more about the Tower and training that is done for Aes Sedai. We also learn a lot more about the Ajas, which was interesting. But I wish he hadn't of put as much as he did in because again, it doesn't line up with the series. Especially the testing of Aes Sedai to obtain the shawl. I know that the main series doesn't allow for certain things to happen, but we don't even get a whiff of Egwene, Elayne or Nynaeve training for it and in this book, Siuan and Moiraine are obsessed with it. It just seemed odd. I also thought that after the Tower, the book went a little too swiftly. None of the regular detail was there and it made things a bit haphazard.
Interesting for the background but not among the best of Jordan's work. Especially when it comes to the Wheel of Time series. I think he just wanted to get background out there but didn't concentrate on the story so much.
New Spring
Copyright 2004
334 pages
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