Ultimate Nyssa Glass: The Complete Series

Nyssa Glass #1-4

by H.L. Burke

Available for the first time in a single volume, all five Nyssa Glass Adventures. Nyssa Glass is a reformed cat burglar turned electrician's apprentice, settled into a life repairing videophones and radio-sets. However, when her past comes calling, she finds herself on the run for a murder she did not commit. As her quiet life goes up in sparks, she must face killer robots, menacing villains, and sarcastic computers in a race for survival. Nyssa has her hands full just trying to stay one step ahead of the police, but she still has time for adventure, humor, and even a taste of romance.

Genres: Steampunk, Romance, Young Adult, Audiobook, Science Fiction

470 pages, Paperback

Published December 3, 2016

About the author

Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.

An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture.

Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.

She is the author of a four part fantasy/romance series entitled "The Dragon and the Scholar," the Award Winning (2016 Realm Award for Young Adult Fiction) Nyssa Glass Steampunk series, and MG/Fantasy "Cora and the Nurse Dragon," among others .

Sign up for her monthly newsletter at www.hlburkeauthor.com

http://www.amazon.com/H.-L.-Burke/e/B...

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining Steampunk listening 🎶🔰

Another will written romantic family and friends relationships adventure thriller box 📦 set by H. L. Burke Nyssa Glass Steampunk Series. I listened 🎶 to these individually each story line is different with interesting well developed characters lots of action, misdirection, and violence leading to the unexpected conclusions. I would highly recommend this series and author to 👍 readers of paranormal fantasy adventure mystery novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa read books 📚. 2023 👒😀💘🏡

[Kellyn Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Read my review of Nyssa Glass and the Mouse of Mirrors here.

Read my review of Nyssa Glass and the Juliet Dilemma here.

Read my review of Nyssa Glass and the Cutpurse Kid here.

Read my review of Nyssa Glass and the Electric Heart here.

Overall, a beyond amazing series that I really adore! Definitely recommended to all the steampunk lovers out there. Or just ... anyway, basically. :D

~Kellyn Roth, Reveries Reviews

[Nyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read.

Nyssa is a well-written, intelligent, talented character with a personality befitting her age of sixteen/seventeen. Ellis often seemed a little older than his nineteen/twenty years, but not to the point of being distracting.

The series is written for a younger audience, but it has enough action and drama to keep readers' attention of all ages.

The story as a whole rates 4 to 4.5 stars (it can be a bit pushy with its moralizing), but I am rounding it up to 5 because it kept me interested.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

[ARC Audiobook Review]

Ultimate Nyssa Glass, the complete series, is a YA Steampunk collection of stories about a young reformed thief on the run solving mysteries and tech-y puzzles, written from a limited third person POV.
Narrated by: Mary Ann Weathers, who does an absolutely wonderful job of it. She has an easy ready voice that is comfortable to listen to for longer periods, and I enjoyed the different voices she did and her reading pace.

Favourites:
- Main Characters: I loved Nyssa and her partner (no names, because of spoilers!). Nyssa has quite the dark past, but she is a feisty girl who stands up for herself and tries to navigate her way to a better life, with the voices of her former employer and some scripture verses she learned once in the back of her mind. I enjoyed that neither she nor her partner shy away from doing what needs to be done, but they're not dramatic for the story's purposes. Nyssa is kind, brave, caring and practical all in one, and I loved reading a YA story for once about a young protagonist who wasn't a naive idiot!
- Disability rep: without giving any stories, Nyssa's series has a wonderful disability rep who doesn't act the victim, but also doesn't pretend their disability doesn't exist. I loved seeing their inner struggle with their vulnerabilities sometimes, and yet find other ways to be strong. It was clear to me that the author understood how these two things often go together.
- Puzzles & mysteries: I enjoyed the various plot twists, the mysteries and technical problems that Nyssa and her crew needed to solve. They weren't overly complicated, and they were often well foreshadowed so that I found myself guessing at the outcome already, but the great thing was....I wasn't always right! Yay for surprises!
-Romance: these stories have a small romantic sideplot and it was the sweetest thing. For once, I got to listen to a romantic sideplot where the two people weren't just being selfish idiots, but actually genuinely cared about the other's wellbeing first, and allowed time to get to know eachother and grow. I LOVED this sweet, young romance.

What I missed:
- nothing...for the genre, this was absolutely perfect, if you ask me. Some mystery, tension, action, puzzles and a bit of sweet romance all absolutely perfect for anyone who likes to read in the YA genre. If every YA was built up like this, I think I'd read a ton more of it!

Sexual content: none (except for a fade-to-black, non-steamy implied wedding night)
Coarse language: none
Violence and gore: mild violence, extremely mild gore only in book 1


Conclusion:
If you like clean, YA steampunk stories with a young but strong heroine, mystery and puzzles and a sideplot of sweet, heartwarming romance between two people genuinely mature for their age, then this is the next book series for you. And I can highly recommend the audiobooks. The narration was very good.

[Laurie Lucking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nyssa Glass was my introduction to the steampunk genre, and I definitely intend to read more! Fun characters, sweet romance, witty dialogue, intrigue, and adventure all made this series very enjoyable to read - or in my case, listen to on audiobook :) Highly recommended for steampunk fans or anyone wanting to give the genre a try!

[Tricia Mingerink · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, if you at all like steampunk and audiobooks, get the audiobook version of this book. The narrator does an EXCELLENT job and nails Nyssa's tone and wry sense of humor. So easy to listen and totally sucked me in!

I had this book near the top of my TBR pile ever since this book won the Realm Award for Young Adult in 2016. When I saw it was on audiobook, I snapped it up and listened to it over a single weekend.

The writing of this book is really well done! The main characters is a sassy, tough heroine and the steampunk setting is really cool. Ellis is so adorably sweet and a really unique main guy.

This book is a collection of all the Nyssa Glass novellas, but it works really well as one volume. The stories do build off of each other, and the last book does a good job of bringing things full circle.

Content: A few swear words and few references to married life (but nothing explicit at all).

It does have a mild faith theme and the main characters do pray, and it feels very organic to the story but without much of a faith message. This book could easily be shared with non-Christian neighbors or acquaintances or Christian friends and family as well.

I really, really enjoyed this book and will be adding the audiobook to my brother's and dad's TBR audiobook list.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wishing I could give this YA series MUCH MORE than five stars, LOOOOOVED Nyssa Glass!! My favorite part of the story was the end of first book, the House of Mirrors, but every story in this collection is filled with family, faith, romance, and Nyssa's brilliant sarcastic wit :) I laughed, I cried and truly loved Nyssa and her crazy adventures! Fell totally in love with Ellis (for Nyssa), a true hero and gentleman in every way. Nyssa Glass is such a great character, loved everything about her from her clever sarcasm to her incredible heart.

"She tried to find comfort in prayer, but failed. It would've been easier had she been jailed for something she'd actually done. It wasn't as if there weren't enough crimes in her past to merit incarceration, pardoned or not, but to finally be free of that life and then dragged back in, based on the foolishness of others.....that was ridiculously unfair. Especially now that she had Ellis."

Favorite characters were Mr. Calloway and Mrs. H. They truly were an enhancement to the story, even though Calloway is only in the plot briefly, his loving memory lives on throughout.

Can't recommend this YA series enough, one of the best YA I've ever read and completely enjoyed :)

[J.M. Hackman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about this steampunk novel, but ended up loving it. Nyssa is a strong, spunky heroine with smarts. When her normal routine is disrupted by a shocking death, she must keep her wits about her to stay alive.
Ellis was a thoroughly wonderful hero, and I ended up liking him almost more than Nyssa.
If you like speculative/steampunk novels with adventure and romance, you'll love this book!

[Joseph Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty fun YA read. Not the most steampunky but it’s fitting for the target age and it still pays the genre plenty of respect.

I enjoyed that the characters are rather mature for their age and the conflict is generally not causers by petty squabbles.

Also the most impressive bit of foreshadowing I have ever seen was done in the first story and revealed in the final one. Your taste may vary on that but I was impressed.

[Sterling Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first venture into steampunk. Can't say that it wowed me but then I've always read epic and military scifi. Nyssa Glass is definitely YA or middle grade fare, even if it's not listed as such. The first book (four in this set) was intriguing but the others less so. The romance definitely gave it more of the historical fiction feel rather than sci-fi. I'll give the author a B for effort.

[kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a mushy, unimaginative pablum of generic YA tropes, weird Christian prudery/moralizing, one-note characters and drab writing, sprinkled generously with the trappings of a steampunk setting without doing any of the actual work of worldbuilding.

I was honestly gonna give it two stars, the first story isn't awful. But they go quickly downhill, and the one about their first Christmas together actively annoyed me (just gets so deep into cliches and heteronormative gender roles and also utterly misrepresents partnered dance).

Avoid. Pick up anything by Cat Winters instead. Odd & True and The Cure for Dreaming would both be good bets.

[Kaley Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll just dump all of my thoughts here, book by book.

Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors:

I listened to this on audible while at the gym, and I'm pretty sure I like doubled my cardio time.

This was so much fun! I connected with Nyssa immediately (she a boss), and I wanted to live in this WORLD! The technology and the mystery and the setting. Just the best way to turn treadmill time into treat time.

There are some darker scenes and heavier stuff, but it never gave me that hopeless feeling of gritty-darkness-for-the-sake-of-gritty-darkness that's always turns me off a book. On the contrary, in addition to being fun and adventure and danger, it actually ended up being a very encouraging read to me.

So. I walked right into Book 2 today. No hesitation.

Nyssa Glass and the Juliet Dilemma:

I love Nyssa Glass.

For me, this book wasn't quite at the level of the first book (still a 5-star read), BUT I know that the things that made me love it slightly less are the things that'll make other readers love it all the more. There's DEF more romance in this one, which, even though the romance elements aren't usually my favorite things to read about, still added an interesting dynamic and depth to the characters. Nyssa's internal struggles made me admire her more for sure. And the more I get to know Ellis, the more I adore him. (He is quite adorable.)

THE AIRSHIP THOUGH!!! I loved the setting of this book. I feel like a sucker for not somehow being on an airship cruise right now.

Adventure and romance and imagination and intrigue. Those are the takewaways here. I have the audiobook, and honestly I want the hard copy for Christmas.

Already delving into the next Nyssa book! As mentioned in the review of book one, these have been my gym-time audio reads. Consequently my anticipation (and now my calves) are mighty.

Nyssa Glass and the Cutpurse Kid:

Looooooooved this!

SO much heart. SO much of everything that made me love Nyssa Glass from the start. She and Ellis both SHINE here. Warm fuzzies galore. But also, this is Nyssa Glass, so you know there's danger and adventure and fascinating steampunkery.

I think this might be my favorite one so far. But I see the next one in the series is a Christmas one. So. All bets are off.

Additionally, it must be said, I will FIGHT anyone who looks at Theo wrong. (He is my son now.)

Nyssa Glass's Clockwork Christmas:

This had just the right amount of warmth and conflict and character moments and holiday stress and family.

The opening had me heart-melting, the middle had me sympathy-wincing (and occasionally rage-glaring), and the ending had me grinning wide. All in all, since I was listening to the audio version at the local gym, people were concerned.

Even at its short length, this book is an EXPERIENCE. And one I'm very glad for. A merry Christmas read that earns its feel-goods. So happy I got my hands on it at just the right time of year.

Nyssa Glass and the Electric Heart:

A satisfying ending (if there is such a thing for a series this fun).

Each installment in the Nyssa Glass series builds on the last, and this wrap-up really makes the whole thing feel so cohesive and purposeful. Everything comes full circle for our characters. It's interesting and notable that for a relatively short series, you feel like you get to see these characters grow SO MUCH over the course of these adventures, and it never felt rushed or like anything got skipped over to me.

Loved it. I listened to the audio version, and it was a delight. Made me want to go grab a paper copy asap.

This series is def going on my faves list.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

•audiobook•

House of Mirrors:
Box Set of 5

This was an incredibly well written and fantastic delivery of the stand alone book in this steampunk series!
"Late! Late! Late!"
It started off with Nyssa late getting to work - and I would have been, too, had I started this on a morning I had anything planned. It was a fast paced tale with villains, foes, and a newfound friend.
I enjoyed it and pray my procrastination this weekend won't come back to bite me!

Juliet Dilemma:

Nyssa and Ellis are onto the next chapter of their lives. In a mostly stand alone book (the arc of her alleged participation of her employer's murder from Book 1 is still unresolved) Nyssa and Ellis both grow independently, as a couple, and branch out to find newer friends and foe.

Cutpurse Kid:

We meet a new addition to the Nyssa Glass series. And we learn more about Nyssa's back story.
Our favorite couple from the Zeppelin in book 2 make an appearance and Amara actually has more depth and becomes more likable. She has a fierce sense of loyalty and friendship (did Nyssa rub off on her?)
Is it only me, or does it seem like the books are becoming shorter as the series move forward?
Nyssa and Ellis grow closer and they have some intimate confessions and discussions, which come off somewhat awkward. Nyssa's final remark to him was really really creepy, given their ages, until one realizes this is a different era, where couples did marry younger.
Steampunk travel accelerates in this book and is taken to new heights.
It's a very light and delightful read for YA and adult audiences.
The first book had deeper and more descriptive world building; this one included more smaller details.
An enjoyable series; anyone new to steampunk should check this out as an intro, because it's not too much a novice would
be unable to comprehend and it's still pleasantly adequate for real steampunkers.

Clockwork Christmas:

A cute holiday short opens with the younger cousin. But the opening paragraphs are slightly misplaced, so what is the common age for marriage and children these days? Did no one take in family members? Did extra family members not attend functions? The direct comment about parents in the audience kind of ... threw a wrench in the wotld building instead of expanding on it.

Amara returns to help with her connections and words of wisdom from her perch in society. Whatever happened to her husband, I wonder?

The jealousy angle seems too played out in books these days, although Nyssa and Ellis hit it head on.

A bit of adult themed conversations. And an year long engagement? Is this typical for this era as well?

Too many questions are raised that deter this from being a breezy read.

Narrator is still perfect for this series!

The Electric Heart:

A very satisfying end to the series! Almost ... (tear jerking ending)
Mysteries are solved and we are treated a previous character resurfacing.
The final book is still shorter than the first :(
And Theo isn't mentioned after the first 10% of the book?

[Got My Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for free. My opinions are my own.

While by no means perfect, I very much enjoyed the majority of these stories. I really liked both Nyssa & her love interest (minor spoiler for first story, so not listing name), as well as the majority of the supporting cast introduced through out the stories. And I was pulling for them to get their HEAs. My least favorite of the stories was NG and the Juliet Dilemma, since I just couldn't like Amara and Reynard. I can't really pick a favorite (I'm never good at doing that), although the last was strongly emotional.

DIVERSITY: A main character is permanently disabled (although he has a nifty steampunk wheelchair that allows him to stand for brief periods, ski down stairs, etc).

CONTENTS (for those who care): Kisses only / A few "d" words / Accounts of some past (pretty awful) murders / Some brief domestic abuse by side character / Christian elements

NARRATION: Gets the job done / Speed was good for most of it, however the computer voice is a bit slow / Distinct character voices / Sound quality is not the highest, although it wasn't anything specific for most of the book, being most noticeable if you have to turn up the volume in a noisy environment. There were some segments, however, that sounded a bit hollow / The narrator repeats the title and the chapter number for every chapter, which becomes annoying.

[R.J. Kingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

My average total is about 4.6

The House of Mirrors 4/5 - I didn't enjoy the first book as much as I wanted to, but I kept going and the characters were known to me at that point.

The Juliet Dilemma 4/5 - I really started to get attached to characters in this one, the plot wasn't my flavor of tea, but I was invested in the story after about halfway through. That last chapter absolutely "blew" me away.

The Cutpurse Kid 5/5 - This is the story I was almost fully invested in and absolutely loved. The characters were well written and the story was compelling.

Clockwork Christmas 5/5 - I heard so many bad things about this spin off story. I rather liked it and loved the story for what it was worth. That part with the dance instructor was what others told me they hated, but I liked that little bit of story. It added layers to their character and the instructor got his justice that I wanted.

The Electric Heart 5/5 - This was an exceptional finale to the series. It sort of helps the whole thing come full circle and wrap up some loose ends, but it was written very well and I loved it.

Thank you, H.L. Burke for such an awesome series to read!!!

[Kayla Krantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quirky fun steampunk series.

Nyssa is comfortable in her new life. After finally leaving her old life of cat burglary behind, she’s not too excited to be thrust back into the world when danger comes knocking on her door.

Steampunk isn’t a genre I read often, but it’s gems like this that make me want to read more of it. Nyssa was a very inspired main character. I loved her humor and her quirky attitude. Her personality in general was easy to connect to. After learning of her backstory, it was easy to understand how she came to be in the situation she was in.

There was plenty of suspense and mystery in this story. Lots of intrigue and mystery too. Nyssa wasn’t the only character that was well-fleshed out, and I loved that each book in the series offered fun new insights to the characters, showing us new perspectives that the other books had not.

Narration was fantastic. The narrator did a good job of differentiating character voices, even the robotic ones.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series was...okay, probably a 2.5 overall.

I had listened to a snippet before committing to the full series and thought it sounded cute, but I was pretty disappointed. I was expecting a LOT more out of the steampunk world-building than I got. There were barely any attempts to change place names (e.g. Paris & Italia were both mentioned outright) or to really build new concepts, monetary systems, cultures, etc. The "twist" was always easy to spot or given away too early in the story. AND don't get me started on the bizarre intrusion of Christian prayers into each book. In most instances, the inclusion of prayer, felt forced and off-putting, and in some it was outright offensive, like these characters more than anyone else deserve divine intervention for impossible situations. It made it feel like their own ingenuity had little to nothing to do with their ultimate success.

I was given this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[Kimberly-Dawn Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

just read/listened to the entire Nyssa Glass series. I really thoroughly enjoyed this series as a street urchin orphan becomes a young woman whose icy heart thaws under the consistent love. This has all of the wonder of steampunk with the twist of being a sweet clean romance with a hint of Christian spirituality. It doesn’t ever come off as proselytizing. It’s more of quick whispered prayers sprinkled with a lot of “thank God”.
The mystery is initially Nyssa being accused of a crime for which she claims she is innocent. It’s not a perfect book. For example a 17 year old no matter what her life experiences is not mature enough for a couple of the integral scenarios. In spite of that I thoroughly enjoyed the series and will miss these characters that I came to care about—-and that’s what makes a great book to me.

**I was given a free copy of this book in lieu of an honest review

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.

This book is all the Nyssa Glass novellas, except the prequel. I liked this compilation as each stories builds off of the previous one. What I liked best is that the last book brings the story back to the beginning to bring the readers full circle to the end.

I loved Nyssa and her growth in each story. How she learned to trust and love was very touching. I absolutely loved how Ellis came into Nyssa's life and how that was brought back again in the final book of the series.

All of the books are narrated by Mary Ann Weathers. She did a wonderful job in giving each character a distinct sound and personality. Her narration made me empathize even more with Nyssa and the characters of her world.

[Denae Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll review them individually more thoroughly. I loved Nyssa and Ellis together, although they seemed waaaay too old (adopting a kid at 17 and 20? Opening a shop at 16 and 19?) for their ages. I'm ten years older than that and just can't fathom trying to juggle that much responsibility. The romance was sweet and light. The steampunkiness was fun and bit fantastical (downloading memories?). I love the them of trust and acceptance, that people with broken pasts can still change and grow into new life.

[Karson Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Nyssa Glass! I stumbled upon the first while scrolling through steampunk books while on vacation and spent way too much time (while I should have been enjoying the beach) reading! These books are simply irresistible. They are fun and unique and, of course, steampunk! What more is there to say than that?! This is in my top five steampunk series ever!

I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review from the author/publisher/narrator.

[Adam Eizen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of fun Steampunk adventures.

This series is definitely a fun to read set of interconnected Steampunk adventures. It features realistic characters and a subtle but complex storyline with interconnected story arcs woven through all the individual books in this collection. I hope the world of Nyssa Glass will be revisited in the future.

[Jennifer Gaylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m 13 almost 14 and I these are some of my absolute favorite books. I love the steam-punk genre it’s so fun and exciting to read! The first book had me hooked by chapter 2, I think I finished it in about 3 days! I’d suggest this series to anyone 12-16 or older. Please read these if you like steam-punk or are looking to get into it.

[Berita · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I wasn't all that comfortable with Nyssa and her stories, but she and Ellis really grew on my and in the end I liked them both. This is my first meeting with steampunk, and it was an easy beginning. It hasn't not that much "tech stuff" in it, it won't scare anyone away - it's more or less like a love story between two young people who are interested in mechanics.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, clean steampunk!

I'm so sad to be finished with this series. May have to go right back to the beginning.

Nyssa and Ellis share adventures fighting bad beginnings, false accusations, and nefarious villains attempting to keep them apart... simply delightful.

[Lee Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun series of novelettes.

[Sarah Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read!

Likable characters, fast moving plot, good for teens and adults. Its an excellent story with just the right amount of twists and turns

[Kandi J Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read the whole series as a complete story, this is the way to go.

[Kristin Wallin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this series with the steampunk elements and the main character.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun series to read. The books where a quick read. 2nd chances, adventure, a bit of romance woven through.