[hhmc]

The ideas are far from complex enough to require people to suffer through the first book, just to get the necessary context.

I think there's probably a decent short story to be extracted from the key idea in the second book.

[dobladov]

Is not a science book, what is the level of complexity needed for a book to be interesting?, In my opinion, just with the first book that is quite simple since the title gives you the main topic, made my mind wonder about many of the topics, like how another civilization adapts to the hardships of their environment, the naivety of humanity on contacting aliens, the cult behaviour that comes from it.

At no point it felt for me like a waste of time, I agree most of the characters are bland, but the questions opened in the book are all societal, not about the individuals themselves.