I've been looking for a new fantasy series to read. I want to try out The Wheel of Time series. Should I read the prequel, New Spring, first or start with The Eye of the World? Which one will give me the better idea of what the series has to offer.

 I am sure you'll get better answers than mine, as I have only just started at the beginning, myself.  I will say that I looked up old threads on the subject, and the general advice seemed to be to start with Eye of the World.  I can only think it had to do with getting into the head space so to speak.

I would start the series with Eye of the World. I would look at the authors website and see when the book came out and read it in that order. You should get about 3-4 books in before new spring. You get to read about certain characters and their agendas...then you get to go back and see why they did everything they did. You also may not understand some of the things they are refering too without the background info.  I have read the all the books that are out and the beginning was great IMO. I actually read the 3rd book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. I hope this was helpful.

Thanks a lot to you both.

It never occured to me to see if anyone else had pondered this same thing, Angie.

Azrael492, you make good points.

I hope the series lives up to all the great things I've heard.

Read them in the order of publication. Dont forget the short stories in the Legends anthologies.