New Spring Novel confusion

[Guest shadowmaster1951]

Hi, I'm completely new to the wheel of time series which I have to say is one of the greatest book series I have ever started reading, but, I am a little confused on how the "New Spring Novel" ties in to the wot series. I was wondering if this Novel ties into the series the same way as say for exmple the way that "The Hobit" ties into the LOTR series as a starting point for how the ring of power ended up being passed down and everything that happens with the LOTR's book series by J. R. R. Tolkien. What I am trying to ask is, is the "New Spring Novel" the beginning of the wot series or is it Something else entirely and my confusion is for nothing at all.

 

I was not sure if this was the right place to ask this question since I am new to this Forum, and if it isn't right area then I do apologize.

 

~Don~

[Leala]

New Spring is the prequel to the series, yes. It tells the story of how Moiraine and Lan met, twenty years before the Eye of the World is set.

[capuga]

New Spring is the prequel to the series, yes. It tells the story of how Moiraine and Lan met, twenty years before the Eye of the World is set.

 

But despite the chronology of it, I still prefer to read it where it was published (after Path of Daggers came out I believe). The reason for this is that you have a better understanding of the world and characters and can enjoy the prequel more.

 

And its really just a stand alone prequel to add a little back story for WoT fans. If you don't read it at all you will not have missed any information that cannot be found or is needed in the main series of books.

[Feral]

Yeah if you want to read New Spring I'd suggest you leave it until you've read the series through. Simply because it's not that action-packed (which some find off putting), so I wouldn't want anyone put off the series before they've finished it. If that makes sense...

[hankscorpio]

Also another issue with reading New Spring before the rest of the series is it's written assuming you are already familiar with some of the concepts explained in the main sequence. If you read New Spring before the rest of the series you really won't know what an Aes Sedai is, or a Warder, or The One Power, etc.

 

A lot of the characters in New Spring are in the main sequence also, and it's probably good to know a little more about them before you read their back stories.

[yoniy0]

Yet it ties with the main sequence of books much more tightly than the Hobbit does with LotR. I would definitely recommend to every WoT reader to read NStN, while someone who liked LotR wouldn't necessarily like the Hobbit (nor would I necessarily recommend reading it).

[Basel Gill]

Also another issue with reading New Spring before the rest of the series is it's written assuming you are already familiar with some of the concepts explained in the main sequence. If you read New Spring before the rest of the series you really won't know what an Aes Sedai is, or a Warder, or The One Power, etc.

 

A lot of the characters in New Spring are in the main sequence also, and it's probably good to know a little more about them before you read their back stories.

 

I read NS before the rest of the series, and had absolutely no trouble figuring out what all that stuff meant. It seems fairly easy to tell from the context what Aes Sedai or the True Power were. While I don't know if he ever made any statements on the subject, I felt that RJ wrote it with the expectation that some people would read the series in the order it takes place, and thus NS would be their introduction to WoT. But if I had it to do over again, I would have started with Eye of the World. I normally prefer to read a series in publication order, even when I know the author has gone on record as preferring it to be read in the order that it happens (I think R.A. Salvatore has said he feels the Drizzt prequels should be read first, I chose to not read them his way.)

[Terez]

Aside from being a story worth reading, New Spring has a number of world-building and character-building elements that are very important to understanding the main series. I'd read it for sure - it's short, and an easy read.

[Agitel]

I highly suggest reading the series according to published date. Definitely start with EotW.

i

[Byzantine279]

I read it first, so it took me awhile to understand some things but I did put everything but one thing together until I read EotW

(i couldn't figure out why male channelers were bad, the taint was not mentioned directly once in NS)

 

 

I would recommend reading it, but do it in publication order so you have a better understanding what is going on.

[yoniy0]

I don't know why you consider this a spoiler, but what the heck:

 

 

(i couldn't figure out why male channelers were bad, the taint was not mentioned directly once in NS)

Actually, according to Ideal Seek NStN Chapter 3 says "Saidin bore the Dark One's taint".