Reading this, it's easy to see why space opera gained its reputation for being overly melodramatic.

With archetypal Good fighting Evil for nothing less than control of life in the universe, the story (eventually) centers on the monstrous fish people against humanity in a struggle to control the power of the iron atom - a common enough element on Earth (including human blood) but lacking elsewhere.

Personally, I try to meet a work where it is rather than trying to impose my own perceptions of what I want it to be. The huge stakes, melodramatic plot, the formulaic application of rising danger, and flat characters made it difficult for me. I couldn't rid myself of a tendency to think of the campy Batman TV series with its comic use of Pow! and Bam! or a Tom Swift and His Electric Xylophone Of Doom style novel.

From a historical perspective, it's an interesting read. It helped me understand the early criticism of space opera more than the facile explanations offered by the famous fan letter equating it to horse opera - itself a bit of a knock on the Western novel of the day.

Recommended - if only for its historical significance.