Hello everyone!
I've never before read any of this series, though I've had them on my list for a while, so a new fantasy adventure seemed like just what the doctor ordered, given it's been some time since I've picked one up that I'd end up enjoying.
Did I enjoy this one? Well, the jury's still out on that.
See, I enjoyed the world building for the most part, and the magic, and the majority of the characters, but unfortunately the main one just rubbed me the very wrong way, something I wasn't expecting.
Usually, you like the lead character!
Not me, not in this book at least. However, I've been told by reliable sources that the continuation of the series serves up much better characterization along the way.
So here's to hoping!
Robert Jordan's New Spring, here we go.
With any luck, I'll be working my way through the entire series eventually, but as of right now this is the lone book standing, being the prequel that it is.
And apparently being a prequel that may have been written LATER ON, not as an actual prequel.
But I digress.
New Spring introduces us to a few characters, of which I would highlight three: Moiraine, Lan and Siuan.
The story begins with Moiraine just about to try and test for the shawl of an Aes Sedai, which really doesn't have a good translation into regular English other than they're a group of women, a highly exclusive order who can channel the One Power and is separated into Ajahs, which are sort of coloured sections. There's seven of them (so we think) and each one covers some aspect of life, whether warfare, justice, harmony, etc.
Moiraine and her best friend Siuan have been moving through ranks and lessons (and pranks) in the White Tower together ever since they first joined, and they're also together when a prophecy is revealed that the Dragon will be Reborn.
See, every thousand years or so, there seem to be some sort of devastating wars, and the timeline is coming up right then; most believe it to be coincidence, but it's possible that the Dark One is behind all these wars and devastation, trying to take over the world (as aspiring dark lords generally want to do, of course).
The Dragon Reborn may be the only one who can stop this bad guy, so the head of the Aes Sedai order shushes all possibility of anyone knowing what happened with the prophecy, and then sending out searchers (covertly, of course).
Now, Moiraine and Siuan, not being full-fledged sisters yet, are not included in the actual searches, but they go out to make lists of babies born around this time, and bemoan the fact they can't go looking. Surely, THEY'll be the ones to find the Dragon Reborn! Surely, THEY are the ones who heard the prophecy and know what to look for!
And so on and so forth. The entitlement is incredibly real, if you pay attention, and even if you don't because it's kind of hard to miss, especially in the character of Moiraine who believes the world OWES her something (like another magical character who gets on my every last nerve).
Anyway, no sign of any Dragon Reborn yet by the time both Moiraine and Siuan pass the test and join the Blue Ajah together, at which point there's a bit of an uproar because the head of the order dies in her sleep. A new one is raised, and chances become high that Moiraine will be sent home to assume the throne of her home country (which is currently vacant), when the girl decides nope, you can't make me (which technically they can), and takes off in the dead of night to find the Dragon Reborn on her own, since no one else is capable of doing so (again with that entitlement ...)
It's only months later when she and Siuan reunite, and Siuan explains that there's something else going on - most of the searchers that had been sent out have now died, and it looks as though a secret sect within the order - the Black Ajah - is also on the hunt, the problem being that the Black Ajah can lie and pretend to be part of other sections, whereas regular Aes Sedai are prevented from lying by the vows they swear, among other things.
So the timeline is accelerated when Moiraine tag-teams with Lan Mandragoran to take her to one of her chosen destinations.
Now, Lan is a different kettle of fish altogether, being the last survivor of a dynasty from a fallen kingdom, carried out of the wreck on the back of a retainer. He's been raised in the proper customs of his people, the Malkieri, but truth be told he doesn't believe he can retake a kingdom that is basically dead, no matter that - after delivering Moiraine and the two of them clashing violently because her belief is that all men are basically no better than animals and how DARE he not bow and scrape before her, so she'll bring him to heel - he gets sucked right into some sort of play to try and revive it.
And it's a ploy, let me tell you, concocted by the woman who was his first lover and who, in their culture, still holds all the control in their would-be relationship, which will only ebb once he marries, and she plots on marrying him to her daughter WHILE SEDUCING HIM INTO HER BED.
Listen, I can't even.
In any event, the important part is that Lan and Moiraine find themselves in the very same location and things come to a head when the Black Ajah reveal themselves, killing both the daughter Lan was supposedly going to marry, and the prince and heir to the kingdom, while ATTEMPTING to kill Lan and Moiraine (side note, Lan's retainer ends up with a knife through the heart, making Lan wonder how anyone could have snuck up on the man: Lan, honey, that's not possible, therefore he knew his attacker).
This last, however, doesn't work, and with Lan's help Moiraine covers up what happened, then sends Siuan back to the Tower while she continues the search, but this time with Lan - because she catches up to him, tells him everything, and weaves him to her as her Warder, which is basically a weird connection between warrior and Aes Sedai where they're aware of one another at all times, and each other's emotions, but they aren't exactly romantically linked.
It should be said that she also explains to him at one point that, when Malkier fell, the White Tower actually sent help, but it was too late, and it's not something a regular Joe would know, not even the would-be King of Malkier, which sways Lan to her side, more or less.
He's not HAPPY about it, but he sees the futility of going at this alone, and so together they set off to try and find this Dragon Reborn, which is where we leave them, because the next stop is book one.
But MAN.
Moiraine is a piece of work. I'm clinging to the hope that she gets better as the story progresses, because the level of entitlement from her is absolutely ridiculous, probably because of the fact she's portrayed as a character who comes from noble stock as opposed to just regular people, and would have been arrogant even without her Aes Sedai shawl. Half the time, she's outraged at something someone else does because IT'S JUST NOT DONE, not even considering that she's speaking from a position of someone who's rather privileged. It probably IS done, just not in the higher echelons. And every woman she meets, she sniffs at; and every man she meets, well, they aren't even worth her time.
And her best friend flirting or accepting the fact she has hips? Oh no no no, that will not do, what sort of shenanigans is this? How DARE she? Only Moiraine is allowed to flirt with anyone in this book, with her porcelain doll looks! No one else comes close, so why should they want to, or how would they DARE?
Blech.
I wanted to strangle her all the time throughout the book, not only for the entitlement, but because, when she doesn't get her way - and she expects it to ALWAYS be her way - she resorts to childish pranks to make sure people get the message and come crawling to her with an apology. SHE, of course, is above reproach, because they basically brought this on themselves by not worshiping the ground she walks on.
I could go on, but it's no use. She's just a bad character at this point, and fingers crossed Rosamund Pike does GREAT work with her in the television show, or else we're all doomed.
Lan, on the other hand, is the kind of honourable character one could get behind, but I feel like we've barely scratched the surface with him. Yes, we know some of his history and we know he's a fantastic fighter and loyal and whatnot. But ... that's about it. For the rest, I think we'll just have to wait and see as the story unfolds, but he's the saving grace of this book, let me tell you.
Otherwise, be warned that the action doesn't even really begin until about 60% of the story. I struggled all day with that bit, and then breezed through the rest in about two hours the next day. The world is fairly intriguing, as is the whole magic system and the set-up, so I'll be reading on eventually, but this is definitely not quite the fantasy I was expecting, certainly not at the level I was expecting ... we'll see what happens with more books under my belt!
Until then, I'll see you next time.
xx
*image not mine
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