Nevala-Lee’s debut novel, "The Icon Thief", a conspiracy thriller inspired by the work of artist Marcel Duchamp, received a starred review from "Publishers Weekly". A sequel, "City of Exiles", is partially based on the Dyatlov Pass incident, while the concluding novel in the trilogy, "Eternal Empire", incorporates elements from the myth of Shambhala. On the science fiction side, "Locus" critic Rich Horton has called Nevala-Lee “one of ["Analog" editor Stanley Schmidt’s] best recent discoveries...One of Nevala-Lee’s idea engines is to present a situation which suggests a fantastical or science-fictional premise, and then to turn the idea on its head, not so much by debunking the central premise, or explaining it away in mundane terms, but by giving it a different, perhaps more scientifically rigorous, science-fictional explanation.” "Analog" has referred to him as "a master of…tale[s] set in an atypical location, with science fiction that arrives from an unexpected direction,” while "Locus" reviews editor Jonathan Strahan has said that Nevala-Lee's fiction "has been some of the best stuff in "Analog" in the last ten years." "The Wall Street Journal" has called Nevala-Lee "a talented science fiction writer," and Jim Killen of "Tor" has written that he has earned "a reputation as one of the smartest young SFF writers out there."