Twenty years before the beginning of the series Gitara Moroso, the Keeper of the Chronicles, Foretells that the Dragon has been reborn.

This really interesting concept is brought up in a couple of very obscure hints in the first couple of books and then barely ever mentioned again: a minstrel telling stories of ‘Lenn, who flew to the moon in the belly of an eagle made of fire, and his daughter Salya’ (corrupted accounts of John Glenn and Sally Ride); the battered remnant of a Mercedes logo appears in a museum. Yeah, Siuan being a featherbrain and painting a red, flashing target over her head for the Black Ajah to see was aggravating, but it can't compete with the misdeeds of others, so why bother? In fact have taken notes each time I've listened to the books, waiting for the next release, and hope to put together a script for the first double-episode of Season 1 (which will cover Books 1 and 2) 'Beltine'. Not the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows’ sons?This starts out decent with the foreseeing that ‘The Dragon is Born’ and the events that started Siuan and Moriane on their lifetime journey to find him. With all this criticism I have made, a reasonable question is why these books are successful and have obtained a substantial and enduring fandom.

I totally admit the Robert Jordan has a fantastic and complex world full of intricately detailed world building with cultures, religions and landscaping. Anyway; in 2004, in between the much-panned “Crossroads of Twilight” and the final Jordan-penned book “Knife of Dreams”, he released an expanded version of this novella under the same title. The marketers knew what they were doing in the former case, as the only reason I learned about many other fantasy authors was because I had to have Pratchett’s story, “The Sea and Little Fishes”, and read the others out of curiosity. Suggestions If you aren’t that far into the series and really attached to a few of the characters then this is maybe a good thing to read for a little Aes Sedea back story and a little more depth to Lan’s character.And Moiraine Damodred, a young Accepted soon to be raised to Aes Sedai, and Lan Mandragoran, a young soldier fighting in the battle, are set on paths that will bind their lives together. As I said, the biggest problem with “New Spring” is the timescale, and more broadly how Moiraine’s backstory is interpreted.

I have read and loved the entire Wheel of Time series so it was fun to read the prequel to the whole affair.

She requires aid in a desperate quest to prove the truth of a vague and largely discredited prophecy – one that speaks of a means to turn back the shadow, and of a child who may be the dragon reborn. During an attack by Trollocs, which are Trolls combined with Orcs, our main protagonist Rand al’Thor’s father is wounded and he discovers that he is adopted, found on a battlefield which bears a suspicious resemblance to the Battle of Five Armies from The Hobbit , a battle fought against the desert warrior Aiel people who are the Fremen from Dune . By the way, it is worth looking up the different covers to see how different the same collection can be presented in different countries: the UK version put Terry Pratchett prominently in first place and used Josh Kirby Discworld cover art, while the US version doesn’t even mention Pratchett at all on the cover! Since this is a four-hundred-page novel however, I actually probably would have liked for there to be bit punchier and more exciting, and while I know that the second half of the book picks up considerable, it wasn’t by much.