Tim O'Neil at The Hurting asks (as a tangent on a post that really deals mainly with the DC relaunch):

(Just a quick aside because I don't think the series deserves any more attention than I've already given it: how weird is it that [Fear Itself] would almost certainly read better if the main series had not been published - if all we had to read was the crossovers in the Avengers family of titles and a few of the satellite minis? Think about that for a minute.)

Well, that's how i've been reading it. And all i can tell you is that i started off enjoying it but it went on way too long. Based on the premise - the daughter of the Red Skull makes an alliance with forgotten Asgardian Gods, powers-up a bunch of super-villains, and launches a major attack on the cities of the world with giant Nazi mechs - it ought to have been awesome. In practice, it was interesting at first, except for the books that focused too much on the god aspect (Hercules) or where the bad guy was built up as a major baddy but then taken out in a couple of panels (Alpha Flight).

It's created some interesting stories for Thunderbolts and Avengers Academy.

And then there's the talking heads in the Avengers books. I liked it at first as an unusual storytelling device but felt like it dragged on for too many issues (in part because it was happening in both New and regular Avengers). On the other hand, if it didn't feel exactly like an exercise in treading water and was simply an unusual way of depicting the main plot, it might have been tolerable for longer.

But yeah, i can say that i'm probably enjoying it more than people who are actually reading the main book by Fraction (which isn't to say that i won't probably pick up the main series eventually for completionist's sake).

I am reading the main story. Maybe I'd enjoy it if I was only reading the crossovers. Then again, I'd probably be confused because they have major plot points taking place in Fear Itself that they only reference in the crossovers....you know...like that whole Bucky getting killed thing.