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Truthmaker ('The Severed Land' #2) by Tony Chapelle    {Reviewed by STELLA} We are back in the world of the severed lands. Fliss, happy yet restless, enjoys the wonderful wildness and calmness of the north behind the wall. Keeping an eye on the activities outside — the families are still vying for power — but secure with her friend Minnie by her side and Lorna — the Nightingale — holding the wall with her powerful insight, life is just fine. Yet rumours of unification are circulating. A charismatic young man is gathering the people to him, promising a new way forward — peace with the south, and, under the banner of ‘one people, one land’, his followers are growing and rising. When Fliss sees the Truthmaker she is entranced like those around her, but it doesn’t take long for questions to prick her and her fervour is quickly vanquished when she realises that unity means the wall falling and Lorna under threat. To break the spell of the Truthmaker, Fliss must find proof. Lorna entrusts Minnie and Fliss with this task. They are both well equipped to make their way to Galp, to seek out the resistance and find out the truth behind the Maker. Who is helping him and why does he want to alter the peaceful lives of the northerners? The ruling families are stronger than ever, particularly the Morisettes who are determined to conquer all. Minnie's and Fliss’s journey will be more dangerous than ever. To get to Galp they will need help, but who can they trust when anyone could turn them in or sell them as slaves? With the resistance keeping a low profile, is your guide friend or foe? For Minnie and Fliss, help will come from those they least trust and the unexpected will give them hope, but can they complete their task before it’s too late? The Truthmaker is gaining ground and his followers are ready to bring the wall down. The sequel to Maurice Gee’s The Severed Land plunges you right back into the world of adventure and danger, with the feisty Minnie and the thoughtful Fliss. Sequel writer Tony Chapelle has captured the voices of the protagonists and extended the world a little more for us, deepening the relationships between the characters and giving us the promise of more to come with an ending that is satisfying but open-ended. So, luckily for the readers, we may be able to meet Fliss again in this intriguing world where the battle of the people over the repressors and the saving of the land from exploitation is a hopeful story of countering power, greed and corruption.