Kerensky is the worst b/c of the trilogy crap . . .
but characters in the last half of the novel set were generally pretty well done- Stackpole's Alaric is off, and I say this as a Warden Wolf Clan player- his presentation of the Crusader Wolves was badly done. Vlad intentionally left many of the unit names of the pre-Refusal Wolves behind, especially if the majority or command structure went to the Wardens. Because he did not even fact check with FM Updates or CC, then the Empire got stuck with a) cumbersome names (4th Wolf Striker Guards Cluster, which was the old 4th Wolf Guards who went with Phelan) or b) units that had not been part of Vlad's expansion or changes.
I do not think we saw enough of Nikol really to form a opinion of how she was portrayed in 3146-3150; Julian, Jasek, Roderick yes . . . b/c the novellas.