I liked it, but I wouldn't recommend it. It could have easily been half the size. Many of the characters are caricatures, which, given the length of the book,

I liked it, but I wouldn't recommend it. It could have easily been half the size. Many of the characters are caricatures, which, given the length of the book, I'll concede is more annoying than it is humorous. I did think Hank was solid. Almost all of the antagonists are, as you say, ridiculously shallow, which goes to your point about her agenda. She did a shockingly better job with The Fountainhead (which I liked less) - but still far from perfect. Finally, about the plot being obvious. That's true of most stories. It's a big book, and there were plenty of small plots and paths that I wasn't sure how they'd turn out. Reductio ad absurdum could have been entertaining in a ~300 page package (I'm thinking Animal Farm).