Holy cow, 12 Kingdoms is awesome

No, really, holy cow, 12 Kingdoms is awesome.  I had two volumes saved up, and I was right to save them until things calmed down because they have consumed most of my weekend.  Yes, the copy-editing errors are still there (some of them just embarrassingly bad), and the author is still kind of clumsy handling the timeline with multiple point of view characters, but did I mention how awesome this series is?  Because it's awesome.

You know what's not awesome?  That Tokyopop licensed this series, so it is very possible that I will never ever see another volume of it ever since TP is gone now.  And we were just getting to the new content!  (Insert rant about wishing publishers would start publishing these novel series where the anime that's already been released left off to keep interest in the franchise from dying.)  Totally not awesome.  I could seriously read several more volumes right now and not get bored.

If you like epic fantasy with an increasingly sprawling and highly complex world and content that makes you pay attention or risk getting lost, buy these books now.  Since they're out of print, who knows how high the price will soar?  The good news is that, to some extent, each book stands alone, so if you didn't know there were more volumes, you might be better able to cope and just enjoy the story you do get.

I don't think I can drag out volume four much past tomorrow because I don't have that kind of self-control right now, but what can I possibly read after this that won't feel like a letdown?  Maybe I should try some of the classic Tezuka I have on my "literature" shelf.  Anyone have any other suggestions?