Kinda episodic, sorta YA, definitely pulpy.
Picks up considerably toward the end with some intergalactic jurisprudence and genocide inflicted per court order. The tribunal admits that it is not a court of justice, but rather a security council (232). Narrator is cast into the role of attorney for humanity. (This is where, incidentally,
Star Trek : The Next Generation got its opening and closing frames.)
Certainly can see that Adams took books like this one as the primary target of his mockery in the
Hitchhiker's Guide, as both partake of the douchebag-leaves-Earth subgenre.
The book is self aware enough, too: "It was the wildest space opera I had ever seen, loaded with dragons and Arcturian maidens and knights in shining space armor and shuttling between King Arthur's Court and the Dead Sea Bottoms of Barsoom," a dream of the narrator's (63).
Good sense of humor--e.g.: "A thousand million billion miles. I refuse to have anything to do with such a preposterous figure. It may be 'short' as cosmic distances go, but there comes a time when the circuit breakers in your skull trip out from overload" (205).
Some hard scifi content on occasion (including Einsteinian stuff); generally low on RAH's politics; includes the usual pithy commentary--e.g., "library science is the foundation of all sciences" (186).
Recommended for man-eating wormfaces, members of the committee of vigilantes, and Skyway Soap sloganeers.