I thought it was quite good, though it was nothing like Old Man’s War or Ghost Brigades, it was more lighthearted and focused on interstellar diplomacy. Not quite in the vein of Keith Laumer’s Retief stories, but occasionally I got a bit of that feel.
I think that’s about right. It’s also not the first time that Laumer and Retief have been namechecked vis a vis Android’s Dream. Glenn’s right in that the storytelling is rather different than in the Retief series, but inasmuch as that series is science fiction’s best-known series involving interstellar diplomacy, SF-oriented reviewers are likely to triangulate off of it when talking about TAD, especially since both have a satirical edge to them. Not counting Baen’s 2002 posthumous collection of Retief stories, it’s been more than a dozen years since the last novel featuring the character. This particular SF field has laid fallow for a bit, which makes it fun to play in.
Those of you who have not heard of or read the Retief series, the Baen Free Library has the 2002 Retief! compilation for your perusal. Have fun with it.