Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The story starts out with a good premise, but soon gets bogged down in it's own minutia. At the start, we are introduced to one character, Paul, with the promise of going along for the ride as he develops and grows. No such luck. At the end of book 4 I know no more about who he is or what makes him tick then I did in chapter 2. I am serious, there are literally no person interactions between any characters beyond a few casual conversations. The book also needs a good editing. Scenes go on for at least twice as long as they need to, describing every move in minute detail. And since most of the books are centered on our main group of trainees, well, training, in all things athletic and combat related, it is a lot of detail. The story could easily be shortened to about half or two thirds what it is. In the end, 4 books in, and the story has gone no where, with only hints at where it might go. I just don't think I can bring myself to read any more of it. Not unless someone tells me the rest has been tightened up. Also, I almost gave this 1 star as I listened to it as an audio book and the narration was about as bad as can be. The reader could never read more than 3 or 4 words without taking a break. All the character sounded pretty much the same, no matter male or female, young or old. At one point during a "Dark Knight" scene, she seemed to get her act together and read complete sentences, but it did not last. I was so distracted by the bad narration that I almost quit. Oh yes, and as been mentioned here, throw in the goofy bit about how females are just a able to compete physically with males, if not better. It's only that they have not had stiff enough competition. they cover this up by stating that females are not naturally smaller, but for some unknown reason ended up this way. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I won't go into how they know this. Again, a shame as it could be much better.