Hey Wheelies! I derped at the end of this video saying I wasn't sure how long it was between New Spring and Eye of the World even though I know how old Rand was when the series began. It happens. Thanks for not canceling me.

Cadsuane says something very important to Moiraine at one point in New Spring, and its something that really shows what has been happening in the White Tower and to the Aes Sedai for quite a while. She tells Moiraine that she [Moiraine] has the potential to be one of the strongest Aes Sedai currently alive, probably in the top 5, the top 10 at worst. However, Cadsuane also states that this would not have been the case 50, 100, 200 years ago. Back then, Moiraine would have *maybe* been in the top 50 most powerful Aes Sedai. Also, notice the type of Aes Sedai that Tamra sent to look for the dragon; they are all veteran, powerful, and trustworthy, leaders within the tower and the Ajahs. And they all get killed.

My favorite part of the book is when it reveals that the Black Ajah has just been killing lucky men because they dont know what age the Dragon is.

Btw, it's not just that it's your first time reading this series that draws up back to your channel, but also because you are a great speaker and fun to listen to.

RJ loves them dresses. He must of had a Vogue subscription.

I'm SO glad you read this before you read The Golden Crane! In a previous review, I commented that I hoped you would read this before book 11 because it would make certain scenes have more of an impact. Ahhhhh this makes me so happy! New Spring happens basically 20 years before EotW. Gitara's Foretelling happened the day Rand was born and he was 20 when they left The Two Rivers. I like watching the Testing scenes because they're so much character insight. We get so little from Moiraine's perspective in the main series, it was refreshing to get into her head for such a long stretch of time. I'm so ready for the next four reviews and at the same time I'm sad you're almost finished. Have we converted you to a Wheelie, yet? One of Us...One of Us... I'm impressed that the spoiler-free culture WoT fans cultivate has lasted through all of these books so far! I'm so hopeful that will continue and you won't have big spoilers at all through the end!

I read this one at the same place in the series that you did (publication order, coincidentally). My issue is that after a whole book of treading water for the most part, a prequel was somewhat unwelcome to me. I do agree that reading it before book 11 is extremely beneficial. I know the moment you're talking about, I'll still sometimes reread just that section and it still gives me chills. Also, Jordan gets a lot of criticism for his prose, but I have to say, whenever he's getting all prophetic ("He lies in the snow and cries like thunder! He burns like the sun!", etc.), I always get really pumped. The way he ends his books with showcasing the significance of what has just went down in the preceding pages by utilizing that style always makes me want to pick up the next book immediately.

You are right. LAN and Morain talked about heir meeting and the whole throwing in the pond incident in the Great Hunt. When they were staying with sisters Adelse and Vandene and their warden while Morain was doing some research.

20 years between new spring and eye of the world 👍

I am super excited for you to finish the series ... A Memory of Light is definitely the final taste that you want in your mouth when you finish the series ... for me, Memory of Light made me super emotional and there were many times that I had tears streaming down my face because of what was happening to characters that I had grown to love

Thought Suian would have been raised Amyrlin in this book but realized that it would have been too soon. Also Ilyas made a cameo in this book when Moiraine went to the green ajah quarters.

It's funny you calling Nynaeve, Elayne and Egwene " the Super Girls". During the book's initial releases most WOT fan forums dubbed them "The Wonder Girls" . It's nice to see new readers appreciating the books in the same way. 😊

I really enjoyed New Spring a lot more than I thought I would. Was fantastic meeting up with Lan and Morraine again. They have always been two of my favourite characters. Only flaw I had with it is that it seemed rushed at the ending. Really wish we could have got the other two prequels from Robert Jordan. Bet they would have been awesome

Even Kate Reading and Michael Kramer changed their pronunciation of different character names over the course of the series.

New Spring was published between books 10 & 11 so you actually read it in publication order.

You picked the absolute perfect spot to read this book. Publication order is what I always tell people. It makes seeing cadsuane mean something, and what you said about the golden crane.

Hey Mike - Love your Wheel of Time reviews, as always. Two things I think you might have missed, or at least didn't mention in your review of New Spring: 1. Lan was raped by that queen. The text is pretty unambiguous on that fact. As part of a broader pattern, in fact, Lan tends not to think that he has much if any agency when women are involved. It's why, for example, he defended Rand snapping at Moiraine in the Shadow Rising, and why he was so hurt when she revealed his bond would be passed on. This is also why the Sea Folk marriage oaths for Lan and Nynavae are actually fantastic - "whomever obeys in public must be obeyed in private." Lan, who rarely has much agency to begin with (either due to being a Warder, due to his culture, or due to the sheer weight of his duty) can now, in private, actually be in control for once. Nynavae, proud but who has had to struggle and scrap for every ounce of respect (her time as the youngest Wisdom ever was noted as being difficult, she gets so much short shrift from the Aes Sedai), now is able to have someone with whom she can utterly relax with. 2. Moiraine and Siuan were lovers in this book - "pillow-friends," is the term in the White Tower. This puts their meetings in the prior books all in a slightly different context.

Hey Mike, just recently found your channel and have binge watched your wheel of time reviews! love going on the journey with you and hearing your thoughts on the series as you progress! keep up the good work, hanging out for that knife of dreams review now haha

I knew you would like this book, due to you wanting more Lan. This is the spot that I read the book as well, and felt it was a great spot, however I saw someone...D.Greene, or Nae'Blis saying that he might start recommending reading between books 8 and 9, or 9 and 10, to break the slog up a bit. What you will find out about Cadsuane is, Jordan really wanted to keep people guessing about her character until the end. You'll just have to finish the books to find out what she is really all about. Another great review, and never feel bad about being honest with constructive criticism. That is why many of us like the channel.

I believe this is the only time in the story so far that we have seen an Aes Sedai test which is completely different from the accepted test.

Dude your openings are so epic! Keep it up man, I’m up to Path of daggers and always come to your reviews when I finish a book. Peace!

The quality and cut of a garment is what separates the classes, not just in fantasy, but irl, I imagine the drescriptions of the clothes for both men and women should make the costume desight for the show easier.

I read new spring last. It was definitely nice to have a something to read because like you mentioned it felt like a loss of a friend when i finished. I really liked getting to know some of my all time favorite characters better. :)

After Fires of Heaven is probably the best place chronologically, but after The Slog is also great place as well to get back into the game with this book. There's been a Lan drought and you are really feeling the loss of Moiraine. Also........the friggin dresses already!

Heh, when you were lamenting that Lan is AMA in the main series, I didn't even remember that New Spring would be the book for you. This intro here brought it to my mind :-) Bukama swore to not draw his sword when they entered the city, he's just keeping his word.

Finishing book 2 of mistborn today. When i am done with book 3 i am doing a deepdive in WoT. First reread. Cant wait, miss the world

Good video! You definitely get a lot of Lan in this and you get to see Moraine when she was still youthful and filled with wild fire. Looking forward to your last book reviews!

New Spring was my introduction to WOT. I saw it while browsing in a book store and didn't know it was part of a larger story until I was reading it. Thus, my journey began.

This book is good showcase of the nature of the Ajah as representation of government: 1) Red is like a police 2) Blue is like a security/spy organization 3) Yellow is like a ministry of health 4) Gray is like a ministry of external afairs 5) Green is like military 6-7) Brown and White have a lot of crossover, both deal with education but the split is something like material and abstract Also the split of the Ajah and Aes Sedai [both present and past] themselves seems to be what keeps Randland in the feudal state its in.

Keep it up. You obviously doing it right (1st bid to pop up for these reviews). Enjoy your insight and the editing is well done

The reason people got confused when you called it a Novella is that the New Spring novella was published in a large anthology in '98. The version you read is an expanded version in 2004. The anthology includes a lot of works from 90s authors you'd be into, including Steven King and George RR Martin. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_(book)

You are great Mike greetings from Serbis

We all internally pronounce names differently. This is what causes me difficulty with the audio books - I don't always recognize who they are talking about or the city, region etc.

I think other comments mentioned everything I wanted to call out. So nothing to say but I like this video

Omg I so wish the sword battles are as good as Into the Badlands, that would be a dream.

It's around 20 years between New Spring and Eye of the World

Rand's age tells us how much time Lan and Moiraine had to work together, minus a few months I think

I like most of your reviews.

oof, primieres at 6am PST. I'll catch this once I get my kids started on their online classes! (I live in WA, where our district has been shut down for basically two weeks, and will continue to be until the end of April. Yay distance learning, I guess? Lots of time to read, though!)

Hey I finished the series! The last three books totally turned my opinion on the whole series around. Some of the payouts in the last book make the slog worth it.

really liked this story.

I just finished reading it after Crossroads and it definitely is a mouthwash. I absolutely loved it and now I really miss Moraine and have high hopes for Lan. Lan fighting the six guys in the stable yard was so well written almost poetic

I know I’m super late but I loved New Spring and would have loved a short series of short books about Lan and Moraine’s adventures! Great reaction

This book was a very worthwhile detour.

On my reread I just read the New Spring short story in the Legends anthology. It is much shorter, and basically just has the good stuff.

Yes, the pond thing was mentioned earlier, me neither not sure which book, and I started the series this January, not last year. But the series is very long, and I'm literally bing reading it.

As a grandfather, father, and husband, and being fifty something years old, I appreciate a good story now. I’ve often been accused in my life as being long winded. Some people say I beat around the bush. What I used to hate in my youth. I appreciate Tolkiens songs more. It comes from the experience of knowing that eventually a very good thing will come to an end.

Hey Mike! I promised I would come back to this video after I finished "New Spring" which is appropriate since its new spring now but cold right now in CA. Considering we're in a world wide quarantine you would think it wouldn't have taken me long to read 200 pgs. Well I'm sure you know things don't always go according to plan. For me It's been a 3 week quarantine that started with a cold (no corona). Since there wasn't much for me to do save for rest I spent the time working on my own story. I promised a friend I would have the pages to her to send to another author before the school year was over and she went on sabbatical. As such I've been wearing two hats, the reader and the writer. The time spent on those pages pretty much consumed me and burned a lot of creative energy. So for various reasons, that among them I read a "New Spring" in spurts. First things first, this damn series really needs a compendium with definitive pronunciations of the places and characters in WOT! :P You do far better than I initially did with pronunciations. The second, while I did not ever want to read a prequel with Lan and Moraine once it got going (after a long stint) I found their relationship quite endearing. If they were dudes I'd call it quite the bromance. So the good for me was seeing Siuan, Moraine, and Lan in a different light. I actually liked and cared for them in a way (particularly Siuan) in a way I did not in the main series. The bad? The damn length! You mentioned the dresses but I have to say it was damn near everything! I excused Jordan's excesses in terms of lengthy descriptions when it was an 800 page book but for a supposed short story that is unacceptable! It should not take 138 pgs for a story to pick up in a 200 pg novelette! It was the dresses as well as the excessive descriptions of bridges of all things. I really hope they stream line the story for the live action series. I see why a friend of mine called Jordan a hack. At some point you have to know what is necessary in a story and when to edit out. This story did not pick up for over a hundred and thirty eight pages and really it was the last 30 or so in which stuff actually happens. I have to say this: Those same pages really go for to illustrate that the WOT is just as adult and graphic (in different ways) as JRR Martin by showing a little boy get thrown to his death. That was pretty hard. Also one of the things that watching your reviews does for me is really highlight a lot of the flaws in Jordan's writing. Thee last book "A memory of Light" left me very dissatisfied, so much so I have felt no need to go back and re-read the series. However that is just me. You may have a different opinion when you are done. One last thing: after reading "A New Spring" there is no way Lan is Korean lol. Not trying to open a can of worms but as a Black man I think I can say that I find some of the diversity hires for the live action suspect.

You know I always felt that Harry Potter fans would like the wot series because of the white tower stuff. It felt like that for me too for some parts.

...wheelies? :P How about wheelers? Like the guys from Return to Oz.

Been over 6 months since i reread NS, but as I recall I was mixed on it. While it had cool events and filled in some history between Lan and Moraine, from the middle of the book to basically the end, I kept on thinking "where is this going?" In fact, in many of these WoT books after book 4 or so, I often have no idea how Jordan is going to end the book. Usually 3/4 of the book characters is milling about, and in the last quarter Rand decides to go take out a forsaken but there was no buildup to this fact. I thought New Spring suffered even more so from this.

It was about 18 years. Rand had just been born for a couple months here, and he was 18 when they arrived at Emond's Field.

I love New Spring! It was supposed to be a trilogy and I wish Brandon would finish the prequel for us. I want to know what happens. Maybe the show will do that. I thought this was a great book and it's the only time we see inside Kandor in the series. I want more! (I mean, there are so many spin-offs that Robert could have done with this world. He could focus on so many places. I hope the show will expand on things.)

I found it an enjoyable read. After someone is used to main series Lan and Moriane does make it a little weird.

Damn it, you playin' with me BOY? Where my knife of dreams at?

"That's one powerful vision there..." hahah I choked on my water. I love your channel. You give the best reviews, mature insights; And as an added bonus you are the only popular book-reviewer here on youtube to give credit to Robert E. Howard. Don't know why the other big guys refuse to acknowledge him and his impact, but it's sad on their behalf if they consider themselves voices of fantasy. Back to the video... You have inspired me to finish the Wheel of Time series, I've been on book 5 for about 15 years, Ready to pick it back up again but oh man I forgot about all the dresses lol!. Going to buy New Spring next. Thanks for the great channel man! Can't wait for more

In that action scene where Merean is throwing people off of the ledge, she throws Prince Brys and his son, but the girl she throws over is actually Iselle, Edeyn’s daughter. I feel like that made the scene even more poignant for both Lan and Moiraine because it was the loss of a girl who can channel who was also the daughter of Lan’s carneira. New Spring takes place around when Rand is born. When Moiraine and Lan show up in Emond’s Field, Rand and the other boys are about 20yrs old. So they’ve been searching together for around 2 decades.

Nertz. I'm going to be at work when this drops.

Just an FYI I am watching the adds all the way through to help with your monetization $$$$ profits!!! 😉

Lol . . . The moment you mentioned book eleven I paused this and read the last Robert Jordan book first :P I did the same thing you did and read New Spring chronologically by release after book ten :3

It was supposed to be a trilogy prequel with the last one ending with them either entering Emond's Field itself or the Two Rivers broadly. But you know how things turned out. I'm sure if RJ hadn't gotten sick, he might have finished those 2 books. He was also planning a spin-off series about Mat and Tuon retaking the Empire.

So can we talk the golden crane if we can do spoilers for the first 11 books? Or are you counting New Spring in that 11? I liked new spring, it gave you more background on why Moraine is so determined, she’s been on the path of the dragon reborn & getting him to the final battle to win from the moment Rand was born. So although it’s all new to us as the reader & Rand & the emonds fielders, it’s been half of Moraines life, as Blue her cause is to find the dragon reborn & ensure he gets to the final battle to be in a position to save the world. It is eluded to by herself & Lan in the main books but I think A New Spring really brings that message to the forefront Also you get to know why LAN is so determined to go fight his battle

I love Wheel of Time...but this one not so much. Interested to hear your review.

The testing in this book is different to the other books as they are from novice to accepted and this has accepted to aes sedai

I reckon it's about as much time between new spring and Eye of the World as Rand is old by that point. seeing how they set out days after he was born.

bukama swore that oath because malkieri are known to be agressive and guards were worried about fighting. he swore not to use sword to fight in town walls and due malkieri and allmost all borderlanders hold oaths to high regard because of honor he realy could not fight in walls. i think NS happen 19-20 year before EotW its bit muddy how old rand execly is in EotW but its around 19-20 year

Young Moraine is a firecracker

I always thought it was sad that Siuan wanted to travel the world as Aes Sedai but she ends up being stuck in the tower for 20ish years while Moiraine gets to travel the world.

I was hoping we would get some lead towards Tam finding the infant or something but I guess if moraine found out during this time it would’ve taken less time to find rand (18ish years difference between books)

Aside from "The Golden Crane", there is another plot-related reason to read _New Spring_ right before _Knife of Dreams_ , and even a somewhat obvious one if you think about it: the letter. Gitara Moroso is a legendary Foreteller in the WoT world. Not only did she Foretell the birth of the Dragon Reborn; before her tenure as Keeper of the Chronicles she was the Aes Sedai adviser to the previous Queen of Andor (previous to Morgase, that is), and was the one who had the Foretelling that sent then-Princess-Heir Tigraine to the Aiel Waste "because the fate of the world depended on it". Tigraine, of course, being Rand's biological mother. By the way, I forgot: did you ever figure out over the past 10-12 books who Moiraine's niece is? The Aes Sedai test might be more original than you gave it credit for. But it is a detail easily missed, so I understand. The aim when taking the test it to remain totally stoic and in control, performing 100 very complicated Weaves at a designated spot, while all kinds of "distracting" (often scary and/or painful, but sometimes embarrassing or emotional) situations are thrown at the testee's way. Now, it is true that, in Moiraine's case at least, the Weaves coalesce into a form that just so happens to be able to solve the circumstances that surround her while she is performing the weaves. But it's unlikely this is true in most other cases of women who take the test, because the 100 Weaves are always the same, but the 100 scenarios in the middle of which the potential-Aes Sedai are to perform said 100 Weaves differ each time (they are determined by the Aes Sedai monitoring the test and keeping the _ter'angreal_ active). The Story of The Pond was told in either _The Eye of the World_ or _The Great Hunt_ , yes. I'd pronounce "Brys" as "Brees", to be honest. Seeing as how Rand is 19 or 20 at the start of _The Eye of the World_ , that is the amount of time that has passed between _New Spring_ (when, quite obviously, he was a newborn) and TEotW. Speaking of which: take that last moment of Moiraine failing to save the kids (quite young ones, too, actually -- around 10 if I recall correctly), and then imagine *20 years* of those moments, desperately struggling to stay that one step ahead of the Shadow because otherwise the entire world will literally end, and you will understand why she is the way she is by the time _The Eye of the World_ rolls around. Actually, the only _Wheel of Time_ Review that was significantly longer than this _New Spring_ one was the Review for _A Crown of Swords_ , clocking in at a whopping 48 minutes. The Reviews for _The Path of Daggers_ , _Winter's Heart_ and _Crossroads of Twilight_ were 28, 35 and 32 minutes respectively, which is very close to the 30 minutes you spent on this one. All I will say at the end of this post is: colours of dresses. I will *NOT* , under any circumstances, tell you which part of the Review this is referring to. But just: colours, dresses, and colours of dresses. Look forward to it.

I wanted to read wheel of time, so I started with this one given how it’s the first book in the story continuity. I wanted to like this but thought it was very boring & didn’t even finish it. I then tried part of Eye of the World & got a few pages into it before I also quit reading it because it was just boring to me. I’m not saying it’s a bad or anything, just not my thing. I’ve only read one book in my life that I thoroughly enjoyed so much I finished it that day & that was when I was 6 or 7 years old. 15 years later, I’ve yet to read another one. I will say though, while reading it, I saw how it clearly took ideas from Frank Herbert’s Dune & expanding upon the Bene Gesserit sisterhood with the Aes Sedai by showing how they operate & their hierarchy.

When you say spoilers for books 1-11 do you include knife of dreams as 11 or new spring? Just finished NS and haven’t started KoD so don’t want to be spoiled on anything there

It was an enjoyable read, but the end felt rushed. The leap in the conclusion did not feel logical to me. Up to there I really enjoyed the book.

There is never too much Moiraine 😁.

Best intro yet?

I read the first three books 20 years ago and now intend to read the whole series from the beginning. Is it an idea to start with New Spring or should I wait until later in the series?

Where’s the KoD review? Can’t wait to see that one

New Spring happened before the story in the 14 books.

“The land any more than the man” RJ special right there. Reread the series for yourself my friend

The audio mix with your voice and the music seemed a little off in the intro.. Was hard to understand you.

When it comes to pronouncing things properly I always thought it might be handy to have pronouncement breakdowns in the back of each book.

That thing with Lan and the cougar took me the hell out of the story and left a bad taste in my mouth. _What the frick Mr. Jordan_

I guess I better stop watching this video. Currently I am reading a "New Spring." I know how that sounds considering I have read the series. However for various reasons such as when it first came out it was part of a complication book that was $40 which I didn't think worth buying. The other was that after picking up the book in Barns and Noble (you remember those right?) and saw that it was a story about Lan and Moraine my excitement turned to instant disappointment and disinterest since I had no desire to read a prequel starring them. When I heard that Jordan was doing a prequel story Naturally I thought (more like hoped) it was going to be a prequel about Artur Hawkwing or the war of power. At the time a lot of us Jordan fans were clamoring for that. Imagine my surprise when I opened that big book and saw it was about Lan and Moraine :/. Needless to say I never read "A New Spring." A few months back as a promotion they offered a free download of the prequel so I thought "What the heck, its free." I'm 50 pgs into it and IRRATATED! My GOD JORDAN MEANDERS ON! Why in the hell do we have to have so much damn detail about a Fu@$ing bridge?! I forgot about his long winded and at times unnecessary descriptions, particularly about things the reader already knows! Jordan was the Rose Niland of fantasy at times with his meandering descriptions his version of a Saint Olaf story!

You are so clever it's not even funny.