Dangit, Bishop, make something happen! Go write something! Your kids are in bed, right (or is it a single child)?
Oh, by the way, Bishop, I more or less "polled" all the writer friends I (cybernetically) know and they say the preferred usage of toward vs. towards is "toward" in America. I'm just lettin' you know because the last time we chatted you were eating popcorn waiting for the answer and I didn't want you...well, you know, still sitting there eating popcorn.
F.M., even though I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, I love epic scale tales no matter the genre. I like the name of the prequel. If the characters are there, then I think it sounds like something I'd like to read regardless of genre. Great characters will make anything palatable to a reader who's not even into the genre you're writing.
This is a lesson for all you young whipper-snappers. The best kind of "promo" is good writing.