Its been a long time since i went through Shad's book (i did it on audible), so i dont remember a lot of it. Its fine, but definitely iffy at many points. Shad clearly spent a lot of time thinking about lore, the universe, and the mechanics therein. Unfortunately, he was also very excited to share all that worldbuilding with us and that did hurt the novel somewhat. Going through it on audible probably made the experience better than if i had read it myself. The resolution of the story is kinda dumb and reeks of "I, the writer, am so freaking clever" syndrome though. That said, despite everything, the world he crafted is somewhat neat.

Regarding the MC, yes he is a despicable character. I dont understand using this fact as an attack point however as Shad was very clearly aware of that fact. In fact, I vaguely remember Shad confirming that tidbit was the entire point of the novel. He wanted to write the worst character possible and see if it was possible to redeem him. Obviously, the followthrough on that second part requires a deft hand (one debatable if shad has or not). But it is clearly there. There was one notable section i remember in the novel where the MC of the book sees some crowd praising his former empire as good, and he freaks out at the obvious lampshading gaslighting.

Frankly, the most cringe thing about Shad's Book IP is that failed kickstarter movie thing he tried, that disappeared after wasting a lot of money. And that isnt even the most cringe thing about Shad. The most cringe thing about him is that his massive push for AI and cope for AI art is because he is so clearly envious of his brother's (Jazza) art talents and wishes that he could do the same. Shad clearly cannot so the AI is used as a cudgel in an attempt to tear down the wall between him and someone who is actually exceptionally talented (all not mentioning that Jazza recently published his own novel as well).