Kirkus Reviews described the sequel as "more somber in tone", and as "sometimes too talky but richly detailed and expertly plotted.
NPR considered the sequel to be the more accomplished novel for being less weighed down with exposition but no less rich or realized, and perhaps the better point of entry to the series. The sequel, City of Blades, subverts readers' initial expectation of a narrative retread, according to Tor.com, whose reviewer highlighted the novel's "standout" protagonist, who as "an older woman with a significant disability (.) carries the entire narrative single-handedly". NPR's reviewer noted the novel's slow start, but considered the "original and unique" setting and the main characters' "modernist magnetism of a post-feminist Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser" to make up for that. Strange Horizons likewise appreciated the complex worldbuilding for its "coherency completeness that precious few fantasies can match", as well as the conflicted, nuanced characters of the "masterfully balanced and tremendously tense text". The New York Times highlighted the novel setting of City of Stairs, evoking " czarist Russia and Mughal India" rather than medieval Europe, as "what makes the whole thing worth reading", while considering the espionage plot and the characters less interesting.
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