Why is the spy school series failing?

THIS REVIEW IS BY NO MEANS DESIGNED TO ATTACK STUART GIBBS ON A PERSONAL MATTER. I STILL HAVE FULL RESPECT FOR HIM, THE PUBLISHERS, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO PLAYED PART IN MAKING THE SPY SCHOOL SERIES. Sorry that I had to all caps that. People will go crazy, however, if they don't notice what I said. Either way, let us begin.

The spy school series is Stuart Gibbs most popular and considered by many, most successful series. I mean, who doesn't like reading about a kid trying to take down an evil international organization all while being a kid and spending time with his friends? Sounds awesome! You get to read a book about spies AND kids at the same time! Most spy novels these days are adult books, and therefore, aren't very engaging for younger readers. It was very clever of Stuart Gibbs to come up with this brilliant idea. When I first started reading the series, I was very interested and it quickly became one of my favorite book series ever made. However, perhaps it was me growing older, or maybe something else, but each spy school book after Spy Ski School seemed to be getting kind of bland and uninteresting. I thought that it was just me for a while, and found myself trying to lie to myself, persuading myself that it was just an illusion and that in reality, the books are only getting better and better. It worked for a while. However, when I opened our discord server, I realized that other fans were thinking the same things as I was. I had a revelation that perhaps the books really WHERE getting worse. Unfortunately, my suspicions were quickly turned into real, full-fledged, powerful thoughts when I read Spy School Goes South. That was the moment when I realized: "WOW! The spy school series is really failing!" However, the reason why seems to be a bit harder to explain. Obviously, SSGS experienced a significant drop in quality in comparison to its predecessors, but it isn't just that. I think that the answer is that Spy School is facing the same problem some TV shows and the Marvel series are facing. The thing is, all of these series are about the same characters going on interesting adventures many times, over a very long set of interlinked stories. The problem with that is that authors, when creating the first parts of the series, and seeing the idea succeed, start trying to get the most out of it and playing it mundanely safe. Let me explain. The spy school series is about Ben Ripley and his friends, and how they have been to multiple missions and saved a lot. However, the series started getting boring for me because Stuart Gibbs didn't apply any key plot changes that last more than a single book. In the next book, everything is just back to normal, and the plot sort of resets. That way, I stopped caring about what was about to happen. I knew that whatever happened, Ben Ripley would always survive unscathed, thwart the bad guys, save his friends, save the day, and have Erica like him for a moment but then in the next book, she pretends none of that ever happened. This safety really makes the spy school series less entertaining to read. How about instead of just stretching it out and making the most possible money out of it, Stuart Gibbs could actually make the series somewhat interesting. Yes, it would eventually lead to the series ending. Yes, some characters might die. Yes, we might get surprised for once. If you guys all think deeply about it, it is only for the greater good. Would you rather read a series of three books, but having the story actually move ahead and be interesting (a great example is the Last Musketeer series), or read a series of like ten books with nothing interesting going on what so ever, and a plot that will make you redefine mediocerness? The answer isn't that hard. I know Stuart Gibbs would much rather just make the money out of the books, but I will still make this article just to share my feelings about the situation with you guys. I am afraid that the next book won't turn out any better than SSGS, because it will once more, shove the mundanely safe and uninteresting plot in our faces. This is a great problem, and the worst part is that it will probably permanently ruin the spy school series. I know it isn't hard to accept that a series you guys have enjoyed reading for so long is failing, but you have to accept the facts. I am not very happy about making this, but I do what I think is right, and I will do whatever I can to put an end to this. The reason why it will permanently ruin the spy school series is that I can't imagine it recovering in any way. What will Stuart Gibbs do, suddenly start adding key plot points? It would make the situation better, but imagine what people would think 20 years from now when looking at this series. It will seem awfully inconsistent with the story, and hardly anyone will like it. I think that Stuart Gibbs will eventually realize that his series has failed, and do what he did to the Moon Base Alpha series: close it in a very abrupt and poorly thought out way. The problem is also, unfortunately, starting to consume the FunJungle series as well. Does it mean all hope in Stuart Gibbs books is lost? Definitely not. Stuart is starting a new series in which I dearly hope that he will learn from his previous mistakes and make the plot and story more interesting and won't implement so much mundane plot safety. So yeah, in the end, the Spy School series is facing some serious problems, and I think that it is getting too late to fix it. I hope this article was an interesting read. Vote in the poll I posted in the beginning and say whether or not you liked it. Also, your decisions should only be influenced by whether or not you want more articles of this style. If you disagree with my opinion in the article, don't go automatically saying that this article is awful and that I wasted my time. With that out of the way, see you in the next article that I will be making!

-E1ite Z