NEW SPRING (The Wheel of Time #0.5) by Robert Jordan ⭐⭐⭐

There are neither beginnings nor endings in the turning of the Wheel of Time. But New Spring is a beginning...before the beginning.

*Alluding to some spoilers ahead*

I really didn’t need to read this extra novel in the series, and unless you care about a bit more White Tower and Moiraine/Lan/Siuan history, you don’t either. But do I feel like I’m checking every box and learning every facet of this universe on my way to the Last Battle? Absolutely.

I questioned if this was worth it many times through the middle. If I really needed to take this pit stop that wasn’t offering any groundbreaking revelations (as far as I can tell anyway, 4 books to go). I actually wasn’t even planning to hit it until I finished my copy of Crossroads of Twilight and saw the ad for this prequel on the back cover page. I researched and heard that you figure out “what happened to two important characters”, and got excited it may be alluding to Moiraine and Lanfear’s intense exit a few books ago. That still feels...open-ended to me. And I’ve been waiting for Moiraine to make a miraculous return any page now. Soooo I had to see if this would give any clues. Needless to say, I’m still waiting. Hoping maybe there’s some big twists coming soon.

By the end of this graciously short prequel, I’m genuinely pleased with the side quest. Each of these books is a challenge, no matter the page count, but there’s always value in the journey. I don’t think there’s any way to enjoy Lan Mandragoran more, but this helps. And experiencing the birth of an epic power couple — plus Moiraine going from an almost character-ruining young Accepted to the cold, calculating Aes Sedai we know — actually reads more satisfactorily than I expected.

It can’t be easy to toil with beloved characters and their back story. This attempt sneaks by mostly unscathed.

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Update 12/31/21:

Called it.