07-24-2022, 10:42 AM
New Spring (2004) by Robert Jordan
I haven't read The Wheel of Time since finishing A Memory of Light and after the shitshow that was the Prime Video series I decided to reread books. I uploaded a secondhand ebook to my secondhand ebook reader that has all the books in a single file, starting with the prequel, New Spring. Because the prequel takes place before the quel. That's why it's first in the file. Chronologically in the story's world, it takes place first. So New Spring has been set up to be read first. Why am I belaboring the point? Because prequels that are written ten books into a twelve book series aren't supposed to be read before the main story. Prequels depend upon and use the history/legend of the main story and builds upon it, so, for example, when New Spring mentions Artur Hawkwing, the reader thinks, "Oh yeah, him," not, "Who the fuck is Artur Hawkwing?" So putting the prequel at the beginning of the file is an immensely stupid idea.
That said, the novelization of the serial published in Legends: Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy by Tor, half to a third the size of all the books in the series, starts at the very end of the Aiel War, and tells the story Lan Mandragoran being miserable and stoic, and of Moiraine (and Siuan) becoming a Sister beginning her search for the Dragon Reborn, and ends with her bonding Lan as her Warder. Doesn't add anything important to the universe and paints neither Moiraine nor Siuan in a good light, really.
I haven't read The Wheel of Time since finishing A Memory of Light and after the shitshow that was the Prime Video series I decided to reread books. I uploaded a secondhand ebook to my secondhand ebook reader that has all the books in a single file, starting with the prequel, New Spring. Because the prequel takes place before the quel. That's why it's first in the file. Chronologically in the story's world, it takes place first. So New Spring has been set up to be read first. Why am I belaboring the point? Because prequels that are written ten books into a twelve book series aren't supposed to be read before the main story. Prequels depend upon and use the history/legend of the main story and builds upon it, so, for example, when New Spring mentions Artur Hawkwing, the reader thinks, "Oh yeah, him," not, "Who the fuck is Artur Hawkwing?" So putting the prequel at the beginning of the file is an immensely stupid idea.
That said, the novelization of the serial published in Legends: Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy by Tor, half to a third the size of all the books in the series, starts at the very end of the Aiel War, and tells the story Lan Mandragoran being miserable and stoic, and of Moiraine (and Siuan) becoming a Sister beginning her search for the Dragon Reborn, and ends with her bonding Lan as her Warder. Doesn't add anything important to the universe and paints neither Moiraine nor Siuan in a good light, really.
Getting me free admission into gaming conventions for a decade