Asimov writes clearly and fluently, starting the plot on an exciting note—a mysterious death in a restaurant—and proceeding swiftly along the familiar lines of the mystery-quest. The simple and straightforward plotting mirrors the "we-versus-they" outlook of the cold war period in which the book and its five sequels appeared; the optimistic view of technology as a cure-all for the world's problems also marks this as a work of the 1950s.

Though some ideas set forth in David Starr, Space Ranger are dated, the basic themes of good versus evil and of the expanding frontier of human knowledge have just as much relevance today. As in most space operas, the characters are relatively simple, but the nature of the galaxy is not, and Asimov adds interest to the book through descriptions of planetary geography, scientific concepts, and gadgets of the future.

Asimov's wonderfully...