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What exactly is the relevance of Robert Jordan's "New Spring" novel to the Wheel of Time series?

From what I have read of reviews, it seems to be almost fan-fiction'ish, even though it came directly from original author. Does it expand on any major plot points?

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    One very relevant thing is: it shows the Aes Sedai test for the shawl.
    – o0'.
    Mar 13, 2011 at 9:31

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It's basically a prequel book to his mainline Wheel of Time series with how Lan and Moiraine started out. I think it takes place about 20 years before the first mainline book.

Here is the obligatory Wiki page

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This novel tells how the events in the beginning of the Eye of the World came to be. How Moiraine (and Lan) started the quest for the Dragon Reborn, and why she knew it must be a kid from the Two Rivers. It also shows some great scenes which are reminisced about in the main books, like (tFoH) Moiraine talking about finding a pond to teach Lan humility or the test to the shawl and generally more about Accepted life, or the Foretelling of the Dragon's birth, the Aiel War/Bloodsnow, etc, etc... We encounter some of the important Aes Sedai in the main series (Verin, Elaida, Cadsuane, ...) with new insights on their personalities and personal history.

For me, it was a relief to read New Spring after books like 8-10, because New Spring is fast, things unfold really quickly, the storyline is simple, it doesn't jump in dozens of POVs, etc... I love the deepness of the main series, but coming into Crossroads of Twilight, it had nearly come to a halt, like 1000 pages telling about 2 weeks, no progress on many plots, etc...

The bad news is, nobody knows yet if the missing 2 books will be written, far less by who, and when...

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  • We know who, Brandon Sanderson, and he's been posting status updates semiregularly. link
    – Don Simon
    Aug 30, 2012 at 15:53
  • Could you provide a specific link where Brandon Sanderson says he will complete New Spring? I've seen interviews where he explicitly stated he had only accepted the job of completing the main storyline.
    – jv42
    Aug 31, 2012 at 7:29
  • brandonsanderson.com/blog/1101 => 'my involvement as a writer in the Wheel of Time has come to an end.'
    – jv42
    Aug 31, 2012 at 7:30
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    Sorry, I misunderstood your reference to "missing 2 books", thought you were referring to the mainline books. I wasn't even aware there had ever been plans for additional Spring books, my d'oh.
    – Don Simon
    Aug 31, 2012 at 17:24
  • @DonSimon 'it's gonna be a trilogy' again :)
    – jv42
    Aug 31, 2012 at 18:37

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