He has worked as an analyst for an energy market intelligence company, done web design, and taught mathematics.
Dozois wrote that Lee is "one of those helping to move science fiction into the twenty-first century".
Aliette de Bodard wrote the introduction for Conservation of Shadows and has twice recommended one of Lee's stories in her best of year-round-ups: she selected "Ghostweight" as a favorite of 2011[7] and "The Knight of Chains, the Deuce of Stars" was chosen in her 2013 eligibility and recommendations post as "the one that most blew me away this year".
[11][12][13][14] Revenant Gun, the third novel in the Machineries of Empire series, was nominated for a 2019 Hugo Award.
[15][14] Dragon Pearl, the first book of the middle grade Thousand Worlds series, was released on January 15, 2019, and published by Disney Hyperion under the "Rick Riordan Presents" publishing imprint and became a New York Times bestseller.