The Chasm by Branwen OShea (Finding Humanity #2) | Spotlight, Excerpt, Giveaway | YA Science Fantasy Hope Punk
A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me with the information for this tour.
Book Details
The Chasm by Branwen OShea Series: Finding Humanity #2
Published by Sigma Orionis Publishing on 06/24/2022
Genres: Fiction, Dystopian, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 466
They thought the biggest problem they faced was each other.
After Bleu, Rana, and their new friends narrowly prevent war between the star beings and humans, they hope the upcoming negotiation will secure the peace. Newly emerged from their subterranean haven, the Northern Haven humans are clearly not suited to Earth’s ice age, and require assistance from the enlightened star beings to survive long-term on the Surface.
But Commander Savas doesn’t trust the suspiciously kind star beings and their unexplainable abilities. When both sides reluctantly negotiate a joint mission to find the other Havens, Bleu must somehow cooperate with the manipulative commander to keep his friends safe.
As their team confronts unexpected dangers, Bleu and his teammates begin to suspect the star beings don’t know as much about the Surface as they claimed, while Rana is torn between remaining true to her nonviolent ways or becoming more human to survive.
When an unnatural predator attacks, even the nearly all-knowing Kalakanya can’t explain it. Now the team must pull together or their new discovery will pull them apart, limb by limb.
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Excerpt from The Chasm
As the sun descended behind the mountain and darkness crept across the frozen field, a strange dread seeped into Bleu’s bones. It felt like a warning, an alarm that danger lurked nearby.
He had known safety in Rana’s village, and he’d lost the spatial anxiety caused by the wide-open spaces of the Surface that differed so much from the cozy walls and tunnels of home. No, this unease wasn’t spatial anxiety to the openness of the sky and horizon.
This was different, and perhaps a bit similar to what Kahali feared. Bleu had never faced the possibility of other humans with guns. His team sat out in the open, exposed. The meager light from the cooking fire did nothing against the shroud of blackness surrounding them. No safe walls protected them from physical attacks or bullets. And then, there were the unknown predators of the region.
His earlier excitement of finding the footprints evaporated, leaving behind a gnawing awareness of their vulnerability. The darkness beyond the campfire could be punctured any moment by monstrous claws or gunfire. Childhood tales of the evil Undescended crowded his mind with images so ludicrously terrible that he wanted to laugh at himself.
Instead, he checked that they were all armed and sent Savas and Neviah to make sure the helicopters were locked. Animal calls and crunching footsteps drifted down the mountains as if something were encircling them. Even the confident star beings kept glancing out into the night. They should be comfortable in such wilderness, right?
Excerpt provided by the author/publisher for use in this post.
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Purchase Links for The Chasm
Amazon – OneLink for every country
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Guest Post
Conflicted Characters
Commander Savas of Northern Haven is the villain of the series, or so you are led to believe. He has sworn to protect the few human survivors of the new ice age, and he takes his vows very seriously. In THE CHASM (book 2) we start to learn why he’s so extreme in his views and why the newly discovered star beings threaten him on many levels. The star beings undergo a spiritual metamorphosis in their late teens or twenties, in which their new enlightenment gives them psi powers they use to create harmony between themselves and all life on the planet. Kahali, a fun-loving teen star being becomes so traumatized by the humans that he questions if he is now a danger to those he loves. Kahali begins to lose control of his new skills and becomes Commander Savas’ worst nightmare—a super powered being that’s potentially dangerous. Kahali is nonviolent by nature, so he’s as horrified by this development as Commander Savas is. And yet the two of them are forced onto the same expedition team where they discover and accidentally enrage a third terrifying species.
In case you couldn’t tell, my favorite characters to write are those at war with themselves, the ones that you never know quite what they’ll do next and whether or not the other characters should trust them. Put those people together in situations where they must trust each other or die, and you’re in for a real adventure, both as a writer and as a reader.
There are five points of view in THE CHASM and the other three also have major internal conflicts. Rana, another teen star being, is completely kind and compassionate but finds herself influenced by the human chaos surrounding her. Bleu, a Northern Haven teen thrust into a leadership role by the star beings way before he’s ready, must negotiate between his human urges to protect his team and his respect for the star beings’ nonviolent ways. And young Atsushi is caught between needing a gun to protect himself from the monstrous creatures they discover and his star being mentor’s insistence that he’ll be safer learning nonviolent ways of protection. Even the new monstrous creatures are mysterious as in why they do what they do.
The Finding Humanity series as a whole is an exploration of the age-old conflict: can humans change and stop the endless cycle of violence, wars, and destroying the environment, or are we doomed to be our own worst enemies? In this future ice age adventure, humans emerge from their subterranean haven to discover they’re no longer the dominant species. Star beings, a powerful society of enlightened humanoids now rule the planet, and insist humans change their ways. In The Chasm, we learn that there’s an intelligent predator that threaten the tremulous peace between the star beings and humans of Northern Haven. All sides have conflicted motives and secrets, yet all must either live together or destroy the others before they themselves are exterminated.
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I love my Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription. So many books, so little time!
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About Branwen OShea
Branwen OShea has a Bachelors in Biology from Colgate University, a Bachelors in Psychology, and a Masters in Social Work.
She lives in Connecticut with her family and a menagerie of pets, and enjoys hiking, meditating, and star-gazing.
Her published works include Silence of the Song Trees, The Calling, The Cords That Bind, and The Chasm.
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Purchase The Chasm online from a local bookstore.
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Easy Amazon Info Link for The Chasm
Amazon – OneLink for every country
The Chasm: Book 2.0 of the ...Shop on Amazon 
The Calling (Finding Humani...Shop on Amazon 
The Cords That Bind: A Limi...Shop on Amazon
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Giveaway!
Branwen OShea will be awarding $30 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Visit more stops on this Goddess Fish tour for extra chances to win!
Official Tour Page for The Chasm
Full Tour Schedule:
July 13: Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
July 20: Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!
July 27: Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
August 3: Literary Gold
August 10: All the Ups and Downs
August 17: Read Your Writes Book Reviews
August 24: Kit ‘N Kabookle
August 31: Fabulous and Brunette
September 7: Gina Rae Mitchell
September 14: Candrel’s Crafts, Cooks, and Characters
September 21: The Avid Reader
September 28: Andi’s Young Adult Books
October 5: Splashes of Joy
October 12: Westveil Publishing
October 12: Jazzy Book Reviews
October 19: Sybrina’s Book Blog
October 26: Sandra’s Book Club
November 2: The Pen and Muse Book Reviews
November 9: Natural Bri
November 16: The Faerie Review – review only
November 16: Long and Short Reviews
November 23: Books in the Hall
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Goddess Fish Virtual Book Tour Host
[…] Gina Rae Mitchell […]
Have you bought any pumpkins yet? I haven’t because my kids inevitably carve them too early and they are gone before Halloween 😂
The cover looks great thanks for sharing.
I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend. I’m putting off all of my responsibilities until Monday so I can relax and read.
Who is your favorite author?
Do you think you could survive and thrive in a dystopian society?
Which authors would you say your writing is inspired by?
What was your favorite book when you were a child?
I enjoyed the guest post.
I hope everyone has a good weekend!
[…] The Chasm by Branwen OShea (Finding Humanity #2) | Spotlight, Excerpt, Giveaway | YA Science Fantasy… […]
This sounds like an incredible read.
Thank you for sharing a peek inside
Thank you for sharing your guest post bio and book details, I have enjoyed reading about you and your work and my teen-aged grandchildren and I are looking forward to reading your stories.
I enjoyed reading Conflicted Characters and I enjoyed reading the excerpt, The Chasm is definitely a book that my granddaughter will enjoy!
Thanks for sharing it with me and have a wonderful day!
I liked the excerpt.
Thanks for hosting!