The only novel-length prequel to The Wheel of Time, set twenty years before The Eye of the World. New Spring follows two storylines: Moiraine Damodred and Siuan Sanche, newly raised Aes Sedai navigating the politics of the White Tower while hunting for a child born on the slopes of Dragonmount who may be the Dragon Reborn; and Lan Mandragoran, last king of the destroyed nation of Malkier, riding with a mercenary company and trying to forget that he was born to a war he cannot win alone. The two stories converge when Moiraine finds Lan and bonds him as her Warder - the beginning of the partnership that opens The Eye of the World. For readers who have finished the main series, New Spring reframes everything known about these two characters: Moiraine's twenty-year search for Rand, the weight Lan carries, and the relationship between them that cost Moiraine so much to establish. It is best read after the main series rather than before it, despite being set first chronologically - the emotional payoff depends on knowing where the story ends.