I didn't realize how harsh my review sounded until re-reading it just now. I enjoyed the books too. Because the first one was so amazing, the rest were still good even though I felt like they got progressively worse with each book. I was pretty frustrated by the last one, and I was ready for it to end long before it did, but it was still entertaining. The series is a big achievement, it just needs tighter editing like you said, and I didn't enjoy the mental health exposè. I don't read fantasy to get messages about real world problems, I read fantasy to escape from the real world. All that said, I still strongly recommend WoK to people, I just let them decide on their own if they want to read any of the sequels.