Primary Inversion has been described as an exemplary novel in the hard science fiction genre from sources such as Stanley Schmidt, the long time editor of "Analog" magazine, who wrote that the book is "an impressive first novel; not just a good story, but the kind of speculation we too seldom see—really new science that just might be possible". Asaro is also noted as one of the few female science fiction writers who also has a doctorate in hard science, specifically a Ph.D. from Harvard in theoretical Chemical Physics.