Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre, which is better than CoT, LOL
Review: I am a sucker, I bought this book.It is better than CoT, and is a quick read. It is not extremely interesting though. Siuan is much better in the latter half of the WoT series, and doesn't do much in this book. Moiraine isn't half bad, but I just don't think she can carry a story by herself.
Lan and his Malkier custom are just plain wierd. You will see when you read them. The story kinda has a good pace throughout, then the story gets really crammed for the climax. It is not a extremely interesting climax unfortunately. Lan and Moiraine meet, *shrugs*. They should have slept together and regretted it, would have been more fun, hehe. Anywho, if you really like the series, go for it and read it. If your not a junkie though you'll won't love it though.
Rating: 
Summary: Why?
Review: How about finishing what has become a overly-bloated series before starting a three book prequel!
Rating: 
Summary: A great return to the original WoT
Review: I have to admit, Moiraine was alwyas one of my favorite characters and I was extremely dissapointed to see her go. I still have faith that she may return! This novel is a wonderful return to the more simple and fast-paced plotting of the earlier WoT books. Like many readers, I have been dissapointed with the last couple of books, especially Crossroads of Twilight. It was the first installment in the series that I didn't finish in a matter of days. In fact, I still haven't finsihed it and I bought it the day it was released. But New Spring has reminded my why I loved the series so much in the first place and has inspired me to tackle CoT again. It focuses mainly on Moiraine and Siuan and how they come to know of the prophecy spoken by Gitara concering the birth of Rand. It was a lot of fun to get to see the lighter side of Moiraine and Siuan, before they become the serious Aes Sedai we come to know in the novels. We are also told how Moiraine and Lan meet and how and why he becomes her warder. This was one of my favorite parts! It's also interesting to see some of the other familiar characters like Elaida and Cadsuane and how Moiraine reacts to them before she has perfected the Aes Sedai composure. I don't really have any complaints except that it ended to soon (but even that was a nice change from the regular length of the books!). If you are a new reader, get used to Jordan giving most every single character you come upon an exotic sounding first AND last name and a lenghty description. He will expect you to remember this info later! The cast of characters in the novels surely numbers in the hundreds, if not thousands. I'm looking forward to the promised other two prequels and I hope writing them inspires Jordan to use a fresher tone in the rest of the novels. This book is a must have for any WoT/fantasy fan!
Rating: 
Summary: New Spring
Review: New Spring is, contrary to other reviews, and entertaining book. Even though Jordan has written pointless plot that is growing into more without even seeming to stop I am an avid reader/fan. Anyone who says Jordan is a bad name on fantasy is not true fantasy reader and, no doubt, reads books such as "The High Druid of Shanara" which are not worth anyones time, and skipped the good series such as "A Song of Ice and Fire", probably even Tolkein. You are a disgrace to fantasy readers. You deserve your Terry Brooks books, leave Jordan to true fantasy readers. New Spring is a good, short read. I suggest it
Rating:
Summary: What's the point?
Review: A rehash of an already published chapter in the Wheel of Time series, anyone whose read the Legends compilation will probably agree with me when I ask, "What's the point?" Mainly involving characters that are no longer central to the plot of the series, New Spring retells, or rather, regurgitates a small portion of back story readers have already learned while reading the core books. The plot of New Spring expands on the information in the original short story, but even with this additional content most readers would be better served by sticking to the actual series. For those who are very interested in the events preceding Eye of the World, I would still recommend only buying Legends. You can get that novel at most used book stores and for only a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately, with the release of this "prequel" novel, it's becoming very hard to justify buying anything even remotely connected to the Wheel of Time series or even Robert Jordan in general. Do yourself a favor and spend your money on something that will actually entertain you.
Rating:
Summary: A Fun Read
Review: "New Spring" reminds me of why I started loving the Wheel of Time series back when I first made my way through "The Eye of the World." This is a fun, quick read, with plenty of action and a nice, quick plotline. It is, in short, a refreshing change after the glacial progress of the last few Wheel of Time books. While certainly exciting for devoted fans of the series, this prequel still is accessible to newcomers. Its plot is self-contained, and while it certainly gives old fans new insights on characters from the main series, no knowledge is prerequisite to enjoyment or understanding of this book. Don't hate this book without trying it because of Jordan's recent less-than-stellar works: that's ridiculous. Look on this as what it probably is--a fun novel that Jordan has written while he recreates the life and vitality that he will hopefully infuse into the remainder of the Wheel of Time.
Rating:
Summary: sad
Review: It's hard to believe that after 10 progessively worse books, there are still people who will give a prequel novel a good rating. Despite the fact that there may be a change of pace in this book, it can't, in any way, redeem the fact that this so-called author has managed to waste thousands of pages with completely useless text. It is people such as him that cause the rest of the literary world to have little or no respect for the fantasy genre. The end could never justify the means of this series. Taking entire novels to supposedly build up the suspense is the mark of a charlatan. He's only after one thing at this point. Stop giving this man a chance. You'll simply find yourself having lost precious hours as well as your money.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it, try it, you won't regret it.
Review: If you are any kind of Wheel of Time fan, this is a definite buy. Seeing as how Jordan's last few books have been pretty dry, this book takes a turn for the better. Hopefully when these prequel books are finished, Jordan will be ready to get back into the great writing he has shown us in the first several WOT books.
This book has no Rand, Matt, Perrin, Egwene or any of the other great younger characters we all have come to love but there are a great many older characters that are mentioned (ie. Elyas Machera) that I think will give a great background to the regular series and will make it that much better to read yet again. It's also really great to see some of these characters when they are younger and not so emotionally reserved as you would always think. All in all great book, and I will be looking for the next.
Rating:
Summary: a glimmer of hope?
Review: I read this book based on some of the other reviews, and frankly, I am glad I did. Like many fans of the Wheel of Time, I have been bored senseless by the last couple of books. I had no intention of buying the next Robert Jordan book until I had read it from the library. I took a chance on this one simply because it was going back in time. I believe it works as a standalone book, but it is also an enjoyable insight into the history of Robert Jordan's world. It isn't great. It isn't the 'ripping yarns' that the early WoT books are, but it is a fun and easy read. It's main use from my view, is that it gives me some hope that the rest of WoT might start to return to the enjoyment given by the early books.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting expansion on the short story "New Spring"
Review: Several years ago, Jordan contributed a short story "New Spring", to the "Legends" collection. Now he expands it into a short novel. The short story told the story of the meeting between Moiraine and Lan. The expanded novel includes the incident, related in the WoT books, of Gitana's Foretelling of the birth of Rand, overheard by Moiraine and Siuan, and what happened because of that. Perhaps the most interesting part of this book is that we finally get to see what happens when an Accepted tests for the shawl, and the ceremony as one is raised to Aes Sedai. Also valuable are the insights into the characters of Moiraine and Lan--who spend almost no time as point of view characters in the WoT books. You start to feel you know what makes them tick. Also important and interesting is the extensive amount of exposure we get to the young Siuan Sanche--Moiraine describes her as "born to lead", and so we know it will all transpire. I suppose you could read this as a stand alone book. But it really helps if you have read at least one of the Wheel of Time books. You don't have to have made it through them all yet in order to enjoy this one. Recommended.
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