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Nightfaring: In Search of the Disappearing Darkness
Not yet published
Expected 31 Mar 26An exploration of the human connection with the night sky, weaving together narrative, science, and nature writing to investigate the power of the vanishing darkness.
The night sky is disappearing. The constant glow of electrically lighted homes, of headlights streaming across highways, and glaring beams of light from skyscrapers have created enough light pollution that the majority of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way and almost half can see no stars whatsoever. In Nightfaring, author Megan Eaves-Egenes leads listeners to explore the wonder of the vanishing night sky.
The book traces the environmental impact of the loss of night, from pollinating insects and birds thrown from their migratory paths to the detrimental effect on our own health and circadian rhythms. Eaves-Egenes goes further, looking beyond the scientific impact to learn how humanity has interacted with the stars and the night sky, from our primal fear of the dark and our earliest forays into astronomy to the way myths and legends are interwoven with darkness. Journeying from the jungle of Argentina to the desert of New Mexico, Nightfaring is both a call to action to preserve night skies in the face of human impact and a wonderstruck invitation to once more see the stars with enchantment and delight.
The night sky is disappearing. The constant glow of electrically lighted homes, of headlights streaming across highways, and glaring beams of light from skyscrapers have created enough light pollution that the majority of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way and almost half can see no stars whatsoever. In Nightfaring, author Megan Eaves-Egenes leads listeners to explore the wonder of the vanishing night sky.
The book traces the environmental impact of the loss of night, from pollinating insects and birds thrown from their migratory paths to the detrimental effect on our own health and circadian rhythms. Eaves-Egenes goes further, looking beyond the scientific impact to learn how humanity has interacted with the stars and the night sky, from our primal fear of the dark and our earliest forays into astronomy to the way myths and legends are interwoven with darkness. Journeying from the jungle of Argentina to the desert of New Mexico, Nightfaring is both a call to action to preserve night skies in the face of human impact and a wonderstruck invitation to once more see the stars with enchantment and delight.
256 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 31, 2026
3068 people want to read
About the author
Megan Eaves-Egenes
1 book11 followersMegan Eaves-Egenes is a Lowell Thomas Award-winning travel writer whose work explores the intersections of landscape, culture, and the natural world. A passionate advocate for dark skies, she is the editor of DarkSky International’s
Nightscape
magazine and founded Dark Sky London, a community group focused on light pollution awareness. For many years, Megan was the North and Central Asia Editor at legendary travel publisher Lonely Planet and she has written about travel and place for the BBC, National Geographic, AFAR, The Times and others. Originally from the dark-sky deserts of New Mexico, she now lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 28, 2025
I had the pleasure of reading a review copy of this wonderful book and I can’t praise it enough. The discussion on the need to protect the night sky and fight off light pollution is contextualised within a travel log and filled with personal accounts. It made me want to travel to all those places, experience those things, and embrace the darkness!
February 17, 2026
I liked this and have reviewed it for Sky at Night (March 2026 I think). The best way I can describe it (& I say this with love) is as a mix of "The owl who was afraid of the dark" and "Eat, pray, love".
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Nightfaring blends many different things into a single book; memoir, astronomy, archaeology, culture, travelogue and to some extent, self-help. If you are looking for one of these topics specifically this book may not be the right choice for you unless you are willing to expand your horizons some. Consider this my warning to you in the first paragraph of this review. As someone who is a space geek, minored in Anthropology, and enjoys learning about different cultures I knew that I would likely either love or hate this book.
Thankfully I absolutely loved it. Megan Eaves-Egenes centers the book around the idea that civilizations around the world have looked up at the sky for centuries, using it as a guide not only for practical things like planting or harvesting, but also for making life choices. As light pollution continues to encroach on the few remaining dark skies we have left, it not only deprives us of those same opportunities, but can have dangerous effects on our health and the wildlife around us.
If you have never had the opportunity to look up at a truly dark sky, you need to at least once in your life, preferably when you can see the Milky Way. The few stars and planets you can see when you look at the sky from near a metropolis comes nowhere close to the awe and beauty you'll experience when you can see the stars our ancient ancestors could with your unaided eye. I've had the opportunity to do this in areas with very limited light pollution, like the Flint Hills in Kansas as a child, and in national parks like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon as I've gotten older and for me, it was hard not to feel a sense of awe and a sense that my personal problems are inconsequential on a larger scope. I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I still am that my opportunities for observing the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere were dashed by clouds and bad weather in the Australian Outback.
Eaves-Egenes has better luck (and more ambitious travel plans!) than me. Throughout the course of the book she travels all over the world to observe the night sky and learn more about how the local indigenous people have their own constellations, stories and cultures associated with the stars, planets and Milky Way. She tells the readers that the Pleiades have always been her favorite constellation, and shares stories from the Dine (United States), Māori (New Zealand), Japanese, and Guari (Argentina) that all tie into the same constellation, but with a different name that fits within their own culture. Almost all are tied into planting season, showing how people all around the world with no connection to each other viewed the same sky and derived similar knowledge from it. No matter how different we are, it's a way of showing how much alike we are too.
She also ponders our fears of darkness and the negative associations that go with it, going as far as doing a full immersion in a dark room for multiple days to reconnect with herself, utilize her other senses, and learn to value what she sees once she is done. This experiment and others are an exploration that while dangerous things can happen in the dark, it's also an opportunity to perceive things and interact with others in a more intimate way than we often feel comfortable with in the bright light.
Eaves-Egenes doesn't advocate for nighttime hours without light, but she does advocate for having dark skies without light that are accessible, and for using light at night in thoughtful ways, not just for being able to see celestial objects, but also for our own health and the wildlife around us that are being impacted by it. LED lights are great for a lot of things, including not using as much electricity, but they are absolutely awful when they're left on all night outside, pointed up at the sky.
I really enjoyed reading a book by someone else my age that has an appreciation for the night sky and what it truly has to offer when you can see it without light pollution, And I felt a sense of beauty and inclusion in her invitation to me to see how people around the world treasure it too, and fight to educate and enlighten people to the beauty it has to offer.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thankfully I absolutely loved it. Megan Eaves-Egenes centers the book around the idea that civilizations around the world have looked up at the sky for centuries, using it as a guide not only for practical things like planting or harvesting, but also for making life choices. As light pollution continues to encroach on the few remaining dark skies we have left, it not only deprives us of those same opportunities, but can have dangerous effects on our health and the wildlife around us.
If you have never had the opportunity to look up at a truly dark sky, you need to at least once in your life, preferably when you can see the Milky Way. The few stars and planets you can see when you look at the sky from near a metropolis comes nowhere close to the awe and beauty you'll experience when you can see the stars our ancient ancestors could with your unaided eye. I've had the opportunity to do this in areas with very limited light pollution, like the Flint Hills in Kansas as a child, and in national parks like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon as I've gotten older and for me, it was hard not to feel a sense of awe and a sense that my personal problems are inconsequential on a larger scope. I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I still am that my opportunities for observing the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere were dashed by clouds and bad weather in the Australian Outback.
Eaves-Egenes has better luck (and more ambitious travel plans!) than me. Throughout the course of the book she travels all over the world to observe the night sky and learn more about how the local indigenous people have their own constellations, stories and cultures associated with the stars, planets and Milky Way. She tells the readers that the Pleiades have always been her favorite constellation, and shares stories from the Dine (United States), Māori (New Zealand), Japanese, and Guari (Argentina) that all tie into the same constellation, but with a different name that fits within their own culture. Almost all are tied into planting season, showing how people all around the world with no connection to each other viewed the same sky and derived similar knowledge from it. No matter how different we are, it's a way of showing how much alike we are too.
She also ponders our fears of darkness and the negative associations that go with it, going as far as doing a full immersion in a dark room for multiple days to reconnect with herself, utilize her other senses, and learn to value what she sees once she is done. This experiment and others are an exploration that while dangerous things can happen in the dark, it's also an opportunity to perceive things and interact with others in a more intimate way than we often feel comfortable with in the bright light.
Eaves-Egenes doesn't advocate for nighttime hours without light, but she does advocate for having dark skies without light that are accessible, and for using light at night in thoughtful ways, not just for being able to see celestial objects, but also for our own health and the wildlife around us that are being impacted by it. LED lights are great for a lot of things, including not using as much electricity, but they are absolutely awful when they're left on all night outside, pointed up at the sky.
I really enjoyed reading a book by someone else my age that has an appreciation for the night sky and what it truly has to offer when you can see it without light pollution, And I felt a sense of beauty and inclusion in her invitation to me to see how people around the world treasure it too, and fight to educate and enlighten people to the beauty it has to offer.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Megan Eaves-Eugene tackles what it’s like to be in total darkness and shares some surprising effects. However, first, she gives readers an overview of the downsides of artificial light.
She resides in London and said on a clear night you might see ten stars. Yet, when it was truly dark hundreds of years ago, one could see maybe 5,000. She visited the Royal Greenwich Observatory recently that began as a premier establishment in 1675 and helped with the navigation of ships. However, the observatory went through huge changes and had to close due to light pollution. It’s now a museum.
Megan gives us a lot to contemplate with the effects of total darkness. Who would think it’s great when many of us believes that light keeps us safe. Most people assume that it’s good to have more street lights in big cities with crime. She said, however, if that was true, then Las Vegas would be the safest city in the world.
She reveals how light influences all sorts of animals, birds, fish and plants. People fear seeing mountain lions, snakes, coyotes and wolves that come out at night. How many people are actually killed by these animals? She said a lot of fear comes from the fairy tales like “Little Red Robin Hood.”
She uncovers points about religious beliefs. In Christianity, light is truth, wisdom and goodness whereas darkness represents immorality and evil. She went to Nepal to learn about the Tibetan cosmology and modern astronomy. She mentions Chinese Daoism based on opposites that attract: yin and yang, dark and light.
Megan took a highly complex subject and brought it down a few notches so it’s easy to grasp. She shares her experiences learning about astronomy and going to dark locations to see the stars. She said, “Humans can see in the dark. It’s just that we rarely do.”
She ends by saying that the next generation is challenged by what’s ahead with light pollution. She mentions a group of students who are collecting data and writing reports. This is a topic that should be of interest as it affects all of us around the world.
My thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC with an expected release date of March 31, 2026. The thoughts presented are my own.
She resides in London and said on a clear night you might see ten stars. Yet, when it was truly dark hundreds of years ago, one could see maybe 5,000. She visited the Royal Greenwich Observatory recently that began as a premier establishment in 1675 and helped with the navigation of ships. However, the observatory went through huge changes and had to close due to light pollution. It’s now a museum.
Megan gives us a lot to contemplate with the effects of total darkness. Who would think it’s great when many of us believes that light keeps us safe. Most people assume that it’s good to have more street lights in big cities with crime. She said, however, if that was true, then Las Vegas would be the safest city in the world.
She reveals how light influences all sorts of animals, birds, fish and plants. People fear seeing mountain lions, snakes, coyotes and wolves that come out at night. How many people are actually killed by these animals? She said a lot of fear comes from the fairy tales like “Little Red Robin Hood.”
She uncovers points about religious beliefs. In Christianity, light is truth, wisdom and goodness whereas darkness represents immorality and evil. She went to Nepal to learn about the Tibetan cosmology and modern astronomy. She mentions Chinese Daoism based on opposites that attract: yin and yang, dark and light.
Megan took a highly complex subject and brought it down a few notches so it’s easy to grasp. She shares her experiences learning about astronomy and going to dark locations to see the stars. She said, “Humans can see in the dark. It’s just that we rarely do.”
She ends by saying that the next generation is challenged by what’s ahead with light pollution. She mentions a group of students who are collecting data and writing reports. This is a topic that should be of interest as it affects all of us around the world.
My thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC with an expected release date of March 31, 2026. The thoughts presented are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Full disclosure: I am friends with Megan. However, I also really genuinely loved this book.
I have friends who have written books but I have never had a friend write a book quite like this! Megan immersed herself in the topic of darkness and light pollution and traveled the globe to consider darkness within different cultures, seeking out "dark sky" areas where the sky is more visible. As Megan visits new locations, she considers the history of astronomy, evaluates our ideas about safety, spends time in a darkness retreat, and shows how cultures are connected through their ideas about the stars. Sometimes when you read this type of experiential or immersion story, there are noted weak chapters, or chapters with a tenuous connection to the central theme, but I did not find that to be the case here. I was deeply impressed with the way she moved around the topic of darkness by examining it in several different ways and in different places, skillfully balancing her research and her travel. The book closes with Megan visiting young people in Chicago who are working to eliminate light pollution in their area and to give people in their community the opportunity to see the night sky in a new way, far from the lights of the city. It was a fitting ending to her travels, to see the work being done by the next generations.
I work as a minister, and I share Megan's concerns that in the Christian scriptures, light is praised and darkness is vilified. Instead, we need a balance. I reflected throughout the book on ways that the dark is restful, healing, and makes things visible in a new way. I once mentioned the dangers of light pollution in a sermon (in fact, quoted Megan in the sermon) and a congregant pushed back that light keeps us safe from predators. The chapter on the fear of the dark would have made an excellent response to that comment. Nightfaring is a wonderful resource for those who want to reconsider their relationship with the darkness.
I have friends who have written books but I have never had a friend write a book quite like this! Megan immersed herself in the topic of darkness and light pollution and traveled the globe to consider darkness within different cultures, seeking out "dark sky" areas where the sky is more visible. As Megan visits new locations, she considers the history of astronomy, evaluates our ideas about safety, spends time in a darkness retreat, and shows how cultures are connected through their ideas about the stars. Sometimes when you read this type of experiential or immersion story, there are noted weak chapters, or chapters with a tenuous connection to the central theme, but I did not find that to be the case here. I was deeply impressed with the way she moved around the topic of darkness by examining it in several different ways and in different places, skillfully balancing her research and her travel. The book closes with Megan visiting young people in Chicago who are working to eliminate light pollution in their area and to give people in their community the opportunity to see the night sky in a new way, far from the lights of the city. It was a fitting ending to her travels, to see the work being done by the next generations.
I work as a minister, and I share Megan's concerns that in the Christian scriptures, light is praised and darkness is vilified. Instead, we need a balance. I reflected throughout the book on ways that the dark is restful, healing, and makes things visible in a new way. I once mentioned the dangers of light pollution in a sermon (in fact, quoted Megan in the sermon) and a congregant pushed back that light keeps us safe from predators. The chapter on the fear of the dark would have made an excellent response to that comment. Nightfaring is a wonderful resource for those who want to reconsider their relationship with the darkness.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is a beautiful, illuminating book about darkness. Including history, astronomy and travelogue, the author describes her experiences exploring the night. Why do we find the dark so unsettling? Is it cultural, instinctual or just a fear of the unknown? Eaves-Egenes travels around the world, learning and experiencing darkness, from the Ulugh Beg Observatory in ancient Samarkand, to many Dark Sky parks and locations and a resort in Okinawa. I traveled vicariously through her stories, told in a compelling, casual manner. My favorite were the four days that she spent in total darkness, in Germany. How can someone survive that? Fascinating. I’m very blessed that I live rurally and there is not much light pollution, so almost every night and early morning I love to stargaze. I could completely relate to the author in that way. She’s now given me even more to think about.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Grand Central Publishing.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Grand Central Publishing.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 stars.
I enjoyed this, but it was a little different than how it was described. Part travelogue, part romance, part look at darkness, part historical study of ancient astronomy and astrology, part look at indigenous peoples of the world. I get that the author is a travel writer, and those parts were the most interesting to me. I expected more of a study of light pollution and dark skies, which were talked about but not the main focus, which was personal travel.
It was a little hard to follow the timing throughout the book -- I was sometimes not sure when events were occurring or when they had occurred.
I didn't know that this was an issue; now I know that to many folks, it is.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.
I enjoyed this, but it was a little different than how it was described. Part travelogue, part romance, part look at darkness, part historical study of ancient astronomy and astrology, part look at indigenous peoples of the world. I get that the author is a travel writer, and those parts were the most interesting to me. I expected more of a study of light pollution and dark skies, which were talked about but not the main focus, which was personal travel.
It was a little hard to follow the timing throughout the book -- I was sometimes not sure when events were occurring or when they had occurred.
I didn't know that this was an issue; now I know that to many folks, it is.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews