So, I bought this Humble Bundle. Which means I have about fifty volumes, including spinoffs. And man, do I hope they get better! This was by no means terrible, but the art was subpar, and just plain weird sometimes. I'm not talking about the way that things are exaggerated to be emotive, as happens in many manga. (Full Metal Alchemist did this, and it was done skillfully; the weirdness I'm talking about is odd postures and over exaggeration, even for the manga style.) So let's get this out of the way: I find the art in Fairy Tail to be the weakest point in this manga. In fact, I find it incredibly off-putting. The forms - the way the women look - are just off enough for me to find it incredibly distracting.
I am into the characters and the world, enough so that I devoured this volume. However, I find the dragon, Igneel, who never shows to be fascinating given that his background seems unusual. (Not much time is spent on him, but the reactions to this revelation show that it's not common.) Unfortunately, I found the mystery of Igneel to be one of the most interesting aspects - and something that isn't dealt with in this volume. What is dealt with is Lucy's magic, and her Gate Keys, and the celestial spirits she can call upon. I'm very interested in seeing where this goes.
I do find this interesting enough to continue, but I can't say for sure whether or not I'll end up loving the series. A lot of this was setup, and I don't have a great feel for the world or characters. If something isn't horrible, I tend to be overly nice during the first volume or so: maybe the author had a shaky start, and I know how rough that can be for ongoing series, so I'd take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.
For now, I'll continue. If I get bored, or find this to be poorly done after more volumes, there's a chance I'll take a hiatus or stop reading this all together.