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Some series disappoint me because the author doesn't manage to stick the landing. "A Song of Ice and Fire" is heading for that -- in the latest book the story seem to be expanding still, introducing more plot lines and more point of view-characters, instead of starting to tighten up. (I'm ignoring the TV series, as the ending there was really disappointing, from what I've read.)
Another series (just a triology, don't remember the author) was great almost all the way through, with a Joan of Arc inspired protagonist, a gritty description of the machinery of war showing the point of view of camp followers, and Europe literally under a shadow. But in the last fifty pages or so, it turned out that the huge mysterious conflict could have been solved by some key people talking to each other decades ago. That ruined the books for me.
Other series are really good, but it becomes too much work for me to keep up. Aaronovitch's Rivers of London and Brust's Vlad Taltos series are in that category. I fell off a few books ago, and if I want to start again, I really need to reread the whole series to remember what has happened and who the key characters are.
And in other series, the protagonist becomes too powerful for my taste. I really liked the Harry Dresden series when he was just a private investigator trying to deal with magic, but the charm disappeared when he got more powerful.
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