I very nearly threw the last Company book against the wall (regarding highly spoilery sex, gender, romance, and reproduction issues), and even before then they had pacing problems. Alas, because I enjoyed the first few (reviews).

(Oh, and from what I recall of the novella "Empress," you'd probably also like _The Anvil of the World_ (review), but I'm told that its prequel should be avoided at all costs.)