That makes me want to read Very Bad Deaths very much, which was probably not your intended effect.

his didactic tone and self-righteous presentation continued even when he was describing horrible and outrageous actions, cold-blooded murders on the parts of the protagonists, etc.

Are you sure you're not making the mistake of confusing a character's beliefs with the authors?

As far as the murders, have you ever seen an action movie?

it demonstrated his ability to justify (and even advocate for) ridiculous excesses

please give me more details on this. I take it you're not a rational anarchist and don't support Michael's revolution? What ridiculous excesses?

I'm just very surprised that you think it's didactic or self-righteous; I didn't see it that way at all.

Just curious, have you read Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"? Night of Power is full of allusions to it and it may not make as much sense if you haven't.