Noble Metals by LA Witt is an intriguing mix of historical romance (maybe 90 percent) and steampunk (maybe 10 percent, perfectly placed). Its breathtakingly vivid descriptions of the harsh pioneer wilderness of the Alaskan Gold Rush years make it a fresh and unusual variation on most steampunk fiction, which is set in overcrowded Victorian metropolises like London.

At the same time, there are wonderful steampunk images such as the “mech,” a giant mechanical spider that the prospectors use to carry their supplies over the ice. The steampunk touches give the world building the flexibility to introduce concepts such as male prostitutes working alongside their female counterparts in bordellos, which wouldn’t be accurate in a strict historical. The story is told in first-person from young Robert’s viewpoint with a smattering of first-person diary entries from John, the scientist. Both characters are three-dimensional, appealing, capable, and deeply caring individuals. As they fall in love with each other, they (and the reader) are swept away with emotion.

Robert first meets John when he is working as a prostitute in a rough bordello within the hardscrabble logging town of Seattle. He was once an aspiring prospector, but lost all his capital while in Seattle, swept up in gambling and bad investments, and now he’s barely hanging on for a chance to get to Alaska before the gold rush is over. After John hires him for a steamy secret night of pleasure, Robert talks him into taking him on as an assistant. As they travel onward, falling in love, they must stand together against threats to John and his mysterious “platinum detector,” which he hopes to take into the gold fields on scientific research.

Val for AReCafe ( )