I said to me it was a mystery, and reading it as a political novel is also accurate. :)
At this point you've read enough to know if you want to continue. I think the only throughline for the series is Jame's journey, because each book is so different. I stalled out after book 4. The series got picked up by Baen after that, so for all I know their editors made it more even, but I don't know how much I want to find that out. Anyway, book 4 is more "Jame Goes to the Citadel" military school fantasy. So it's back to being something different again.
At this point you've read enough to know if you want to continue. I think the only throughline for the series is Jame's journey, because each book is so different. I stalled out after book 4. The series got picked up by Baen after that, so for all I know their editors made it more even, but I don't know how much I want to find that out. Anyway, book 4 is more "Jame Goes to the Citadel" military school fantasy. So it's back to being something different again.