This is a great Heinlein book, but should definitely not be read early in your Heinlein consumption. A real appreciation requires a familiarity with the characters and the history present in previous books. As this was one of the last written, its best to wait to read this one after you’ve been through most of the rest. You should at least get through Stranger, Time Enough for Love, and Number of the Beast, although there are probably more that I haven’t read yet either.

I did feel the end flagged a bit as it got bogged down in the backstory, and I would have liked to see this book stand alone from the previous Lazarus universe. But it was still quite good.