There was an article on BUZZFEED a while back, entitled 25 Book Series That Actually Got Better As They Progressed. I was pleased to see the Cirque Du Freak series in among the mix (at #20), although I frowned at the comment "They lost it around Books 7 through 9." :-) :-) :-) You can check out the full list, and what they had to say about Cirque Du Freak, by clicking on this link:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/noradominick/book-series-got-better-as-they-went-on

It's my sincerest hope that ALL of my series improve as they go along. I design each one to read as one massive story line, and put a lot of thought and work into the overall structure, carefully building up as I go along, not merely replicating what has already worked in the early books. I try to take my characters on ambitious story arcs, and use readers' familiarity with them to my advantage -- with many series, you always know that the main characters will sail through each book intact, which can lead to a dilution of interst in later books, where the writers can simply be going through the motions and allowing all their big money-earners to escape death YET AGAIN. But that's not the case with my books, and that Sword Of Damocles which hangs over the head of every Shan character allows me to play with readers' nerves in a way which most authors don't. Those readers don't always thank me for what I do to their favourite characters, but hey, I think my willingness to treat even my major players the same way I would a minor player -- i.e. they're expendable!! -- is a large reason why my books have resonated with so many readers and stuck in their memories so solidly. We never forget the ones who break our hearts, eh?!?