I by chance started the series in Book 3, thinking I HAD already read Books 1 & 2, but references to the earlier stories were not jogging any memories of the story lines.  So I stopped reading Book 3 and purchased Book 2.  Again references to Book 1 were not triggering any memory of the plot (something I'm usually very good at). Yet I knew I had a hard copy of Book 1 somewhere in my physical library and was pretty sure I'd read it and intended to continue through the series. Finally I discovered there was a 10 year break in the writer's producing Book 2.  I bit the bullet and decided to go back and re-read Book 1.  I'm glad I did.  Now I'm eager, again, to move on to Book 2 through Book 5 without having to wait through the publishing process! I recommend this series with high hopes for the adventures to be encountered.