The early part of Beyond Canon is indeed a slog to get through if you don't want to read all of Dirk's long-winded prattles. But the ending of it and certainly the beginning of act 2 really have me hopeful that things are turning around for the better.

I will say that I think the beginning of Beyond Canon also suffers from the fact that we don't get to see the new kids shine all that much because so much time is taken up by the other previous characters who all have dumb, petty drama with one another that could be solved if all of them like went to therapy or something.