 Scholar George Slusser described the book in 1986 as the "ultimately convincing space-war epic", praising in particular the "precisely imagined" weapons and tactics, while a 1979 science fiction encyclopedia referred to it as the "slickest" of Heinlein's juvenile books.Criticism of the style of the book has centered on its political aspects.Heinlein's discussions of his political beliefs were criticized as "didactic", and the novel was derided for "exposition [that was] inserted in large indigestible chunks".