Contemporary reviews of the novel were favorable. Shildes Johnson in
Library Journal "highly recommended" the book, calling it "[a]n intriguing novel" and a "fascinating historical romance which is a worthwhile addition to any library." The author "makes his characters live, and the reader can almost imagine the social, economic, and religious milieu of this period in Grecian history." Jackie Pettycrew in
The Arizona Republic deemed it a "rousing piece of fiction" with an "abundance" of action whose "pace is rapid and unrelenting." She rated it an "[a]ltogether, highly entertaining, lightly informative" book bringing ancient history "vividly to life."
Booklist noted its "[a]uthentic background and synthetic [sic: sympathetic] characters mingle easily in a story where action, color, page, and plot have the virile appeal evident in the author's The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate|
The dragon of [the]
Ishtar Gate." Edith Farr Ridington in
Classical World called it "an adventurous, breezy tale" with "exciting and quite believable adventures" written "in a colloquial style that helps to make ancient times come alive" and which "uses to good advantage the author's special interest in ancient engineering." She notes that "[t]he book is spiced here and there with some frank sexualities; otherwise its appeal would seem to be especially to young people interested in a story combining mechanical devices with adventure." The book was also reviewed by
Fritz Leiber in
Amra v. 2, no. 35, July 1965. ==Notes==