re: #87 Aunty Entity Dragon
Yes, that started becoming obvious after awhile.
I think I hit my limit with “Rainbow 6” — which was also a horribly bloated doorstop.
I think the one that really got me looking at the novels to see the blatant politics was _Debt of Honor_. The 2-D Japanese industrialist villains in particular sounded just like some sort of “yellow peril” thing from the 30s.