["The Dragon in the Sea"] is a sea story of an imaginary war that comes very close to matching—in suspense, action and psychic strain—any chronicle of real war by C. S. Forester or Herman Wouk. Frank Herbert writes of the next war, a conflict wherein the "curtains" are so impenetrable that the only theatre of action is under the sea. In marvelously convincing fashion, he tells the grim saga of a "subtug," venturing across the Atlantic to raid the enemy's subterranean oil reserves…. In this fine blend of speculation and action, Mr. Herbert has created a novel that ranks with the best of modern science fiction.

J. Frances McComas, "Water War," in The New York Times Book Review (© 1956 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), March 11, 1956, p. 33.