Librarian's Note: this is the updated cover; the original cover edition also exists. Dane, in line to become Southshaw's thirteenth Semper, knows of the nuclear war that devastated the Earth three hundred years ago. He understands the Book of Truth and has heard his father's sermons every Sunday since he could walk. But as his sixteenth birthday approaches, he's faced with a choice he never expected to have to make: Should he obey his cruel, fundamentalist uncle and twelve generations of Southshaw Truth, and take his rightful place as Semper? Or should he follow his heart, risking exile and death, to seek and unearth the real truth? An exotic huntress, a mythical ghost-man, and a tailor's daughter hold the keys to his answer. And to the survival of Southshaw itself. https://www.facebook.com/semperbook