John Balzar writing in the "Los Angeles Times" said that ″Essential to the gift he (O'Brian) gives is authenticity″. He commented on the series, the "most improbably wonderful series of grown-up literary-historical flights of escapism." The plots, including the plot of this novel, are of less importance to Balzar, as they "are like grapes to wine: pretty much essential, but not by themselves sublime." He finds that the writing shows its virtuosity "when a sip of the story actuates the senses and stirs cravings that become habits, no matter where you find yourself being taken."