Basically yes. Back in the day they were one of the most popular books for "concerned parents" to try to get banned from school libraries because of the sex scenes. And the anthropology wasn't that accurate even for the time, although it was amusingly correct in its assertion that Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens were amorous together, long before people like Svante Pääbo showed that with actual genetics.

I read the first chapter and then got bored and read the synopsis on Wikipedia. That kinda ruined the magic for me.

Just like with video game skyboxes, it's more fun sometimes to look at the cover and imagine that the book is profound and would deeply resonate with one's soul. In Skyrim you can actually visit the mountains on the horizon, and they're just boring mountains. What a letdown!

If you only made in through one chapter you saved yourself a lot of time. The first book is by far the best of the ones I read, and the series goes downhill very quickly. But I know what you mean. It's an amazing concept.