Obvious spoilers ahead.

I recently finished The Forge of God and while overall I enjoyed it, I can’t help but feel like some of my time was wasted with useless information and plot points.

The most obvious one was the alien the Americans found vs the aliens in Australia. What was the point of all that? It’s obvious that the planet eaters didn’t need to confuse the humans in any way, so what’s the deal with those robots that just explode? Is that explained or relevant in any way in the sequels?

What about the bogey they bomb and the way the soldier who carried the bomb could not exit it? Was that just out of spite? Is there more to it?

Is it worth it to pick up the sequel just to get the answers to a few of these questions? I found the first book a bit slow at times, is the sequel the same?