Ari Jade has dedicated himself to following the strict tenets of his Order. Like the other priests, he dresses in black, covering as much skin as possible and often hiding his face within a dark cowl. As a Shield of Heaven, Jade is a seasoned fighter trained to protect the innocent. He doesn’t hesitate to kill if necessary, even though each life he takes means he must suffer a painful branding as atonement. Orphaned at a young age and nurtured by the Order, he finds its ascetic values, austere rituals and firm rules comforting rather than burdensome.
Selena also belongs to a religious community, but of a very different sort. She and her fellow priests and priestesses worship nature, enjoying the sensual blessings of physical existence. Her commune honors the earth and its bounty with song, dance and deeds of kindness. Devoutly pacifist, they eat no animal products and their most solemn vow is to never to take a life, even if that means sacrificing their own.
When a cultural exchange project brings the two religious adherents together, they find little common ground. They come from separate worlds – literally, but also in terms of their beliefs and values. Selena views Jade to be unsociable, arrogant and violent. Jade thinks Selena’s an empty-headed, naïve sensualist. As they work together, however, each starts to appreciate the other’s strengths – and to question their own limitations and prejudices. Little by little, an initial uncomfortable fascination deepens to mutual love. Still, how can a priestess strictly forbidden to kill make a future with a priest whose beliefs may require murder?
Warrior Priest by Kate Hill is an erotic romance with a doozy of a conflict. Selena’s and Jade’s world views are so radically different that only the greatest of loves could bridge that chasm. Ms. Hill does an excellent job making their gradual rapprochement plausible. Both suffer serious doubts about the wisdom and practicality of their committing their lives to one another. Since this is a romance with the required HEA, they do ultimately marry, but this requires some adjustments on both sides.
The premise is believable at least partly because one sees the same issues in the real world. What happens when a Muslim man falls in love with a Hindu woman, or a Jew with a Catholic? At very least, there will be societal friction, community and family pressures, and so on. (In Warrior Priest, some of Selena’s comrades attack Jade for what they see as his murderous ways.) If the individuals involved are deeply observant, they need to search their souls in order to determine which mean more to them: their religion or their relationship.
As a romance, Warrior Priest works really well. It’s less effective as science fiction. The world-building is sketchy at best. Given the speed with which people move around, I found it hard to believe they were journeying between different planets. The “shuttles” they use are “shot down” by enemy fire, not something that makes sense if they were traveling in outer space. Meanwhile the political situation, with “world governments” on the friendly planets while the totally evil Kimbrians try to take over, seemed simplistic and cartoonish.
Fortunately, the scifi background is not terribly important to the story. The whole book could have taken place in different locations on the same planet without any real change. Certainly Earth contains as much diversity of beliefs, customs, environments and societies as the fictional universe in Warrior Priest.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel and the heart journey of Selena and Jade. There were a variety of creative details that I especially appreciated. For instance, I loved the character of Soar, the mystical Tirips monk who seems to have the ability to bend space and time and alter perception. The Ceremony of Honor, where the Covenant priests are marked in recognition of both their courage and their guilt, is a brilliant concept.
If you’re looking for a realistic science fiction romance, in which future technology or society plays a major role in the plot, you might want to choose some other book. If you’re focused mostly on the romance, though, and want a story where true love overcomes the obstacles of bias and inflexible ideology, you’ll adore Warrior Priest.
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