It is~! I found the first half of the first book so hard and struggled with it to the point of giving up, but investing in it really pays off hugely and now I'm flailing at strangers on Dreamwidth about the it.

I'm guessing it might even be possible to just pick up at Part 2 of book 1 and use Sherwood Smith's guide to who's who to sort out any confusion? (There's a lot of background things being set up in Part 1, but I don't think you'd be completely lost without it.)