" This apocalyptic time travel novel was enjoyable and easy to read. It is hard-boiled genre fiction with much less of the sensitivity and nuance that make some of Heinlein's other books so incredible. The characters are flat and unbelievable, developed only enough to support the story, technology, and social allegory which are the real meat of the book. They are archetypes, even the most well rendered of them, the main character, Hugh. However, Heinlein is not simply telling a fancy story. His novel is actually a well thought out satire about race, power, slavery in America, the Cold War, and gender. Just because these philosophical roads are explored through sci-fi's speculative universes rather than realistic dialogue and character development does not take away their importance. The archetypal characterization did occasionally get too heavy handed and convenient, however. It was a good story, but there were moments where our hero was just too good, or his leading lady too accommodating to be believed. Those moments kicked me out of the fantasy and are the reason this book gets 3 stars and no more. Heinlein has done better, but fans of Heinlein, time travel, speculative sic-fi, will not be disappointed if this book is in the beach bag. "
— Aaron, 1/12/2014