I've read them all and I like them. It's definitely better to read them in order because the main characters are often manipulated (coerced) by the more powerful to take on specific objectives and it just makes more sense to see things unfold slowly; more so in the latter books where characters from earlier book reappear. The history isn’t a problem for me, in my mind the balance between history and telling a story is right. They ARE action novels though, akin to watching a good ‘ol Arnie film, it won’t win an Oscar but a lot of people will say cool things and then kick ass!