The Birth of the Dread Remora. Tales of the Scattered Earth, #1

The Tales of the Scattered Earth:Once, long ago, there was one Earth. It was said that many deities gazed down upon it protectively, and there was balance between them all. Then something went wrong. The balance shifted-toward darkness. Earth was shattered, her people destroyed, her remains scattered far and wide. But the gods survived the cataclysm. They scattered as well, each pursuing a fragment of their former domain.
And, when they overtook those shards, the gods drew upon what power remained to them to restore their worshippers to life. These new followers rose from dust and imperfect memory, for the gods too had been injured. Each claimed a new home, and a new life, and each thought itself-at least at first-to be the only Earth. All memory of their former world was lost, except vague memories of the gods who gave them new life.
Then, one day, a single great event drew all their eyes to the stars-and beyond. And each of them felt a yearning. Something in them desired to be whole again, or at least to understand. These are their stories. These are The Tales of the Scattered Earth. The Birth of the Dread Remora: Nathaniel Demming is a midshipman aboard the HMES Remora, the first ship to go beyond their world's waters and out into the ether.
He and the rest of the crew are ready for adventure, eager to explore the unknown and chart a new course for the rest of their world to follow. But what they found changed their lives, and their perspective, forever. The ether was not empty at all, but teeming with life--including vicious marauders waiting to prey upon the hapless Remora. Can Demming help his friends and fellow officers through the crises that await? Can they survive the dangers that surround them? And can he convince them to transform their ship and themselves into the antithesis of everything they trained for, while still holding true to everything they believe in?The Birth of the Dread Remora is the first tale of the epic Scattered Earth saga, and the first in a series of swashbuckling adventures about the space-pirate ship the Dread Remora! Also available in the Dread Remora Cycle, The Honor of the Dread Remora, and Crossed Paths.
Next in line is David Niall Wilson's The Second Veil, and then Keith R. A. DeCandido's Guilt in Innocence. Each author begins with their own world, their own culture, their own story...but there is something out there...something that will draw them altogether. Watch for more from these authors, as well as a brand new world and novel from award-winning author Melissa Scott in the summer of 2014.