Described as "an unusually masterful first novel" by "Booklist", "Primary Inversion" has been called hard science fiction, action-rich drama, space opera, military science fiction, science fiction romance, and space adventure. The book has received praise both for Asaro's development of the emotional lives of the characters and for its innovative use of scientific extrapolation. In an interview at Intel's Moments of Genius web site, Asaro describes how her publisher introduced her books as hard science fiction and how she uses her doctorate in theoretical physics as background for her fiction.