John Clute described Swastika Night as "a scathing feminist anatomy of war, sexism and power" and lists the novel as one of the "classic titles" of inter-war science fiction.[1] Adam Roberts stated "Burdekin's pre-war story reads as horribly prescient and its feminist emphasis ... provides a very valid critique of fascism."[5]
In his monograph Desire and Empathy in Twentieth-Century Dystopian Fiction, Thomas Horan argues that Burdekin introduces sociopolitical enlightenment, ethics, and hope via "queer desire".[6] Swastika Night has been described as a "pioneering feminist critique".[7]
Swastika Night was a Left Book Club selection in 1940—one of the few works of fiction thus honoured.
