I absolutely enjoyed the series, but if it hasn't grabbed you enough to finish it faster than a few months then its probably not a good series for you. You may just not have much time to read, and thats fine, its not meant as a criticism towards you, but if you find it difficult to go back and read more, then you most likely would be better off finding another series to pass your time. Listen to the audio books while you drive to and from wherever or something like that if you want to continue the story. I enjoyed Faith of the Fallen and seem to be one of the few in this thread that did. The S&M girls are there through the whole story, but their purpose in it all changes while their tactics do not. The more you begin to understand them, the more you realize they don't do the things because they want to, they just dont know of any other way. The pillars of creation was a good read as well, and could technically be read stand alone for the most part. Knowing the main characters from the series should be enough, if I recall, to not have any "what the hell was that" moments.