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Dark Skies: A Journey into the Wild Night
Darkness has shaped the lives of humans for millennia, and in Dark Skies, author Tiffany Francis travels around Britain and Europe to learn more about nocturnal landscapes and humanity's connection to the night sky.
Over the course of a year, Tiffany travels through different nightscapes across the UK and beyond. She experiences 24-hour daylight while swimming in the Gulf of Finland and visits Norway to witness the Northern Lights and speak to people who live in darkness for three months each year. She hikes through the haunted yew forests of Kingley Vale, embarks on a nocturnal sail down the River Dart, feeds foxes on a south London estate, and listens to nightjars churring on a Sussex heathland.
As she travels, Tiffany delves into the history of the ancient rituals and seasonal festivals that for thousands of years humans have linked with the light and dark halves of our year. How has our relationship with darkness and the night sky changed over time? How have we used stars and other cosmic phenomena to tell stories about our lives and the land around us? In this beautifully written nature narrative, Tiffany Francis explores nocturnal landscapes and investigates how our experiences of the night-time world have permeated our history, folklore, science, geography, art and literature.
Over the course of a year, Tiffany travels through different nightscapes across the UK and beyond. She experiences 24-hour daylight while swimming in the Gulf of Finland and visits Norway to witness the Northern Lights and speak to people who live in darkness for three months each year. She hikes through the haunted yew forests of Kingley Vale, embarks on a nocturnal sail down the River Dart, feeds foxes on a south London estate, and listens to nightjars churring on a Sussex heathland.
As she travels, Tiffany delves into the history of the ancient rituals and seasonal festivals that for thousands of years humans have linked with the light and dark halves of our year. How has our relationship with darkness and the night sky changed over time? How have we used stars and other cosmic phenomena to tell stories about our lives and the land around us? In this beautifully written nature narrative, Tiffany Francis explores nocturnal landscapes and investigates how our experiences of the night-time world have permeated our history, folklore, science, geography, art and literature.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2019
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812 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
November 6, 2019
2.5 stars. What is this book? It can’t be classed as nature writing because it’s only partly that. Is it a memoir? I’m not sure. I do know that the title is misleading. My OH gave me this for my birthday because we were going to an observatory in a designated dark skies area with friends that weekend. Everywhere in the UK is desperate to be a designated dark skies area these days. It brings in tourists and therefore money. I can’t help but think the author is trying to cash in on this wave of enthusiasm with her book’s title.
The cover is beautiful and I was really looking forward to an interesting read. She starts off with a walk in the dark to look at stars. She goes to Norway to see the Northern Lights. Promising so far. A superficial discussion about why some birds migrate at night and we were slowly leaving the subject of dark skies behind. Thereafter, there is no focus or purpose to the book. It’s full of potted history unrelated to the subject as it waffles on with reflections on her failed relationship with Dave. I gave up.
The author herself has scored this book 5 stars and so have some of her friends. I have a personal dislike for authors who score their own books. I’m sure they all think they’re 5 stars but it’s up to their readers to decide. I don’t mean to be unkind. The writing isn’t bad but it isn’t great and I won’t be going back for more. It’s just not for me perhaps. I wanted a book about dark skies!!
The cover is beautiful and I was really looking forward to an interesting read. She starts off with a walk in the dark to look at stars. She goes to Norway to see the Northern Lights. Promising so far. A superficial discussion about why some birds migrate at night and we were slowly leaving the subject of dark skies behind. Thereafter, there is no focus or purpose to the book. It’s full of potted history unrelated to the subject as it waffles on with reflections on her failed relationship with Dave. I gave up.
The author herself has scored this book 5 stars and so have some of her friends. I have a personal dislike for authors who score their own books. I’m sure they all think they’re 5 stars but it’s up to their readers to decide. I don’t mean to be unkind. The writing isn’t bad but it isn’t great and I won’t be going back for more. It’s just not for me perhaps. I wanted a book about dark skies!!
December 16, 2022
2.5 stars.
I managed to push through to the end but can’t say I enjoyed it. The book doesn’t have a clear theme although it claims to be a study of nighttime and nature. Too much of it consists of ramblings on the ups and downs of the author’s love life and post graduate two or three day trips here and there in Europe. I assume her freelancing helped pay for some of those experiences in youth hostels and nudist hotels in the Black Forest (nothing exciting). She describes the year of travel and love as “intense” and goes on to tell us about the negatives of the world trying to solve its problems with war although admitting “I am, of course, clueless to what the alternative is.” I can’t help but feel I’ve been lectured by an earnest teenager. Chris Yates’ Nightwalk is a much better book on nighttime and nature.
I managed to push through to the end but can’t say I enjoyed it. The book doesn’t have a clear theme although it claims to be a study of nighttime and nature. Too much of it consists of ramblings on the ups and downs of the author’s love life and post graduate two or three day trips here and there in Europe. I assume her freelancing helped pay for some of those experiences in youth hostels and nudist hotels in the Black Forest (nothing exciting). She describes the year of travel and love as “intense” and goes on to tell us about the negatives of the world trying to solve its problems with war although admitting “I am, of course, clueless to what the alternative is.” I can’t help but feel I’ve been lectured by an earnest teenager. Chris Yates’ Nightwalk is a much better book on nighttime and nature.
dnf
December 31, 2023I'm being brutal with the DNFs at the end of 2023 lol.
Even though this was one of the 23 nonfiction books I made a point of wanting to read in 2023, I'm still choosing to put it down because it really isn't the book I thought I was placing on that list. I thought it was going to be a discussion of humans' relationship with night and the night sky. Turns out it only includes snippets of those conversations within larger stories of the author traveling different places and pondering things in the middle of the night.
It has some gorgeous writing, I'll say that. But I don't know that I'm in the mood for nature writing right now. I realized that while trudging through The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year - and I love Margaret Renkl! I'm just not in the headspace for another quiet reading experience during this very quiet time of year. Like, eerie quiet. I'm getting bored.
Even though this was one of the 23 nonfiction books I made a point of wanting to read in 2023, I'm still choosing to put it down because it really isn't the book I thought I was placing on that list. I thought it was going to be a discussion of humans' relationship with night and the night sky. Turns out it only includes snippets of those conversations within larger stories of the author traveling different places and pondering things in the middle of the night.
It has some gorgeous writing, I'll say that. But I don't know that I'm in the mood for nature writing right now. I realized that while trudging through The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year - and I love Margaret Renkl! I'm just not in the headspace for another quiet reading experience during this very quiet time of year. Like, eerie quiet. I'm getting bored.
July 18, 2019
This is mine so I’m giving it all the stars... 😘
October 15, 2019
Didn't like it, I'm afraid. This is probably due to my expectations based on the way the book is sold and described.
I thought that it was self-absorbed, shallow and trite. There were many minor factual inaccuracies that annoyed the fastidious, middle-aged man in me to make enjoyment possible. I am not sure of the right way of describing it but there were, to my mind, many poor choices of adjectives that grated with my mental images of what was being described.
It seemed like an article for a coffee break magazine expanded to novel size.
Avoid if you are actually interested in the night skies in detail. (No, I don't mean exclusively stars). Most of the descriptive passages centre completely on the author.
I thought that it was self-absorbed, shallow and trite. There were many minor factual inaccuracies that annoyed the fastidious, middle-aged man in me to make enjoyment possible. I am not sure of the right way of describing it but there were, to my mind, many poor choices of adjectives that grated with my mental images of what was being described.
It seemed like an article for a coffee break magazine expanded to novel size.
Avoid if you are actually interested in the night skies in detail. (No, I don't mean exclusively stars). Most of the descriptive passages centre completely on the author.
June 22, 2021
I very much enjoyed Sigri Sandberg's An Ode to Darkness when I read it back in 2020, and have been on the lookout for similar books since. When I spotted Tiffany Francis' Dark Skies: A Journey Into the Wild Night, I was suitably intrigued, and reserved a copy from my local library. In this, her second book, Francis 'explores the nocturnal landscapes of Britain and Europe and investigates how our experiences of the night-time world have permeated human history, art and folklore.'
Dark Skies has been marketed as Francis' account of travelling around 'different nightscapes', from witnessing 24-hour daylight in the Gulf of Finland, to the Northern Lights in the Arctic Circle amidst three months of constant darkness. Francis aims to delve into the history of 'ancient rituals and seasonal festivals that for thousands of years humans have linked with the light and dark halves of our year.' At the outset, she writes about the reasoning behind her exploration, and also poses quite poignant questions: 'Everything we do depends on the sun rising every day, but half of our lives are spent in darkness. How much energy continues to burst from the landscape after the sun goes down? And by giving in to sleep when the world grows dark, how much of life are we missing out on?'
Throughout history, our lives have been shaped, to quite an extent, by darkness. Our ancestors often relied upon constellations to guide them, and tended to rise with the sun, and go to bed as soon as it became dark. They underwent a quite natural process called 'second sleep', in which they would wake for an hour or two around midnight, work on projects or simply relax, and go to sleep again afterwards. This has largely stopped in the modern world, partly due to our more structured days, and also because of the steep levels of artificial light which surround us at all times. It is becoming increasingly difficult, in the 2020s, to find somewhere which is completely dark.
Francis begins her journey in late September, just after her relationship with the often-mentioned "Dave" has ended. She writes: '... the thought of lingering on in Hampshire was enough to send me instead to Norfolk, to temporary distraction from the loneliness that had started to creep into my body.' She travels relatively far from her home, largely throughout the United Kingdom, but also within some other European countries.
Francis undoubtedly captures some really nice moments throughout. In Tromsø, in Norway's Arctic Circle, she sees the Northern Lights, and describes them thus: 'A single ribbon of light had appeared from nowhere in the sky above the lake... It was barely visible at first, a flickering serpent waking from sleep... As the light inched across the sky in wandering, waving movements, a sliver of blue and green seemingly without purpose or direction... And so the ribbon widened, it seemed to harvest colours from all over the world, reflecting the cerulean waters of the Caribbean sea, the lime greens of sphagnum moss, the electric blue of a cobalt crust fungus, the pearlescent aperture inside a seashell. In that moment, the entire universe seemed to be captured, drifting through the sky before me in a glass thread.'
I enjoyed some of Francis' writing, particularly with regard to her descriptions of the nature around her. Some of her sentences though do feel a bit overdone, and too romanticised, at times. I found some of the comparisons which she makes a little strange, I must admit; for instance, she describes herself as akin to 'a wasp on a yoga ball'. This is something which I have never heard before, and I really have no idea what it is supposed to mean, as even in the context it wasn't particularly clear. There are also touches of melodrama here, which I did not appreciate; she writes, for example, that a forest she was walking through 'was so creepy I half-imagined we might be strangled by some devil-possessed ivy vines and dragged into the trees, a midnight feast for a gang of carnivorous plants lurching in the dark...'. Considering that Dark Skies is supposed to be a piece of nature writing, this felt highly unnecessary.<
here are some glaringly obvious mistakes which have been included here too. The author claims, wrongly, that Mount Snowdon in Wales, at 1,085 metres above sea level, is the highest point in the British Isles. In actuality, Ben Nevis in Scotland is almost 300 metres taller, standing at 1,345 metres. I have no idea how such errors would have got past an editor. A lot of the book, indeed, could have done with some clearer editing, and this would, I am sure, have made it far more readable, and a bit less frustrating in places.
There is a slightly disjointed feel to the narrative throughout. Francis tends to begin a paragraph with one theme, and then moves to writing either about something completely different, or more often than not about herself and Dave, before circling back to something mentioned pages and pages beforehand. A lot of tangents are taken, and it sometimes makes this rather a jumbled, and largely unfocused, read. She also poses a lot of questions in her narrative, but never makes a single attempt to provide answers, or even to muse at length about what she has asked.
Dark Skies has received very mixed reviews since its 2019 publication. Many readers - and I do agree with them - have said that the book has been poorly marketed. Rather than an exploration of the night, and of darkness, Dark Skies focuses far more upon the memoir side of things than anything else. There is actually comparatively little about the 'dark skies' of the book's title, particularly when one considers how much is written about her on-again, off-again relationship with the aforementioned Dave. I wish that many of the personal details here had been left out. Francis appears almost worryingly eager to share every single detail about herself, and about her relationship, to a reading public consisting largely of strangers. Oddly, for a twenty-first century woman who describes herself as a naturalist, I also did not feel as though she is always entirely respectful of the landscapes around her; she says, for instance, that it is 'weirdly fun to pull off' lichen from tree trunks - something which I would never personally dream of doing.
Dark Skies is not at all what I was expecting, and it does feel as though its marketing is quite misleading. It meanders here and there, and has very little structure to it on the whole. I also do not feel as though Francis really met her own brief here. She does do some things in the dark, like visiting an outdoor spa in Germany's Black Forest, but her exploration of such occurrences, and of the darkness itself, does not go anywhere near far enough. Even when Francis writes of being in the dark, she is thinking of other things; there is no complete focus given to the darkness.
I had difficulty rating this title. It is largely for her lovely and quite informative chapters on Scandinavia - which were well written and executed, and actually set out to explore the darkness on some level - that I have rated this book as a 3-star read; without them, I could not have given it more than 2 stars. Dark Skies really did not match my expectations of what a book about night skies and darkness should include, and I found myself so disinterested in the very long portions written about her relationship, which served to overshadow the rest of the narrative. So much could have been explored and achieved here; it feels like a missed opportunity in a lot of ways.
Whilst I do not feel as though Dark Skies at all meets what it promises, Francis seems like a lovely person, with a great deal of talent. She and I have a lot of hobbies in common, from history and archaeology to Moomins and knitting, and I found myself relating to quite a lot of what she wrote. I would be so interested to read her other work in future, as I feel she has a lot to offer as both an author and an environmentalist.
Dark Skies has been marketed as Francis' account of travelling around 'different nightscapes', from witnessing 24-hour daylight in the Gulf of Finland, to the Northern Lights in the Arctic Circle amidst three months of constant darkness. Francis aims to delve into the history of 'ancient rituals and seasonal festivals that for thousands of years humans have linked with the light and dark halves of our year.' At the outset, she writes about the reasoning behind her exploration, and also poses quite poignant questions: 'Everything we do depends on the sun rising every day, but half of our lives are spent in darkness. How much energy continues to burst from the landscape after the sun goes down? And by giving in to sleep when the world grows dark, how much of life are we missing out on?'
Throughout history, our lives have been shaped, to quite an extent, by darkness. Our ancestors often relied upon constellations to guide them, and tended to rise with the sun, and go to bed as soon as it became dark. They underwent a quite natural process called 'second sleep', in which they would wake for an hour or two around midnight, work on projects or simply relax, and go to sleep again afterwards. This has largely stopped in the modern world, partly due to our more structured days, and also because of the steep levels of artificial light which surround us at all times. It is becoming increasingly difficult, in the 2020s, to find somewhere which is completely dark.
Francis begins her journey in late September, just after her relationship with the often-mentioned "Dave" has ended. She writes: '... the thought of lingering on in Hampshire was enough to send me instead to Norfolk, to temporary distraction from the loneliness that had started to creep into my body.' She travels relatively far from her home, largely throughout the United Kingdom, but also within some other European countries.
Francis undoubtedly captures some really nice moments throughout. In Tromsø, in Norway's Arctic Circle, she sees the Northern Lights, and describes them thus: 'A single ribbon of light had appeared from nowhere in the sky above the lake... It was barely visible at first, a flickering serpent waking from sleep... As the light inched across the sky in wandering, waving movements, a sliver of blue and green seemingly without purpose or direction... And so the ribbon widened, it seemed to harvest colours from all over the world, reflecting the cerulean waters of the Caribbean sea, the lime greens of sphagnum moss, the electric blue of a cobalt crust fungus, the pearlescent aperture inside a seashell. In that moment, the entire universe seemed to be captured, drifting through the sky before me in a glass thread.'
I enjoyed some of Francis' writing, particularly with regard to her descriptions of the nature around her. Some of her sentences though do feel a bit overdone, and too romanticised, at times. I found some of the comparisons which she makes a little strange, I must admit; for instance, she describes herself as akin to 'a wasp on a yoga ball'. This is something which I have never heard before, and I really have no idea what it is supposed to mean, as even in the context it wasn't particularly clear. There are also touches of melodrama here, which I did not appreciate; she writes, for example, that a forest she was walking through 'was so creepy I half-imagined we might be strangled by some devil-possessed ivy vines and dragged into the trees, a midnight feast for a gang of carnivorous plants lurching in the dark...'. Considering that Dark Skies is supposed to be a piece of nature writing, this felt highly unnecessary.<
here are some glaringly obvious mistakes which have been included here too. The author claims, wrongly, that Mount Snowdon in Wales, at 1,085 metres above sea level, is the highest point in the British Isles. In actuality, Ben Nevis in Scotland is almost 300 metres taller, standing at 1,345 metres. I have no idea how such errors would have got past an editor. A lot of the book, indeed, could have done with some clearer editing, and this would, I am sure, have made it far more readable, and a bit less frustrating in places.
There is a slightly disjointed feel to the narrative throughout. Francis tends to begin a paragraph with one theme, and then moves to writing either about something completely different, or more often than not about herself and Dave, before circling back to something mentioned pages and pages beforehand. A lot of tangents are taken, and it sometimes makes this rather a jumbled, and largely unfocused, read. She also poses a lot of questions in her narrative, but never makes a single attempt to provide answers, or even to muse at length about what she has asked.
Dark Skies has received very mixed reviews since its 2019 publication. Many readers - and I do agree with them - have said that the book has been poorly marketed. Rather than an exploration of the night, and of darkness, Dark Skies focuses far more upon the memoir side of things than anything else. There is actually comparatively little about the 'dark skies' of the book's title, particularly when one considers how much is written about her on-again, off-again relationship with the aforementioned Dave. I wish that many of the personal details here had been left out. Francis appears almost worryingly eager to share every single detail about herself, and about her relationship, to a reading public consisting largely of strangers. Oddly, for a twenty-first century woman who describes herself as a naturalist, I also did not feel as though she is always entirely respectful of the landscapes around her; she says, for instance, that it is 'weirdly fun to pull off' lichen from tree trunks - something which I would never personally dream of doing.
Dark Skies is not at all what I was expecting, and it does feel as though its marketing is quite misleading. It meanders here and there, and has very little structure to it on the whole. I also do not feel as though Francis really met her own brief here. She does do some things in the dark, like visiting an outdoor spa in Germany's Black Forest, but her exploration of such occurrences, and of the darkness itself, does not go anywhere near far enough. Even when Francis writes of being in the dark, she is thinking of other things; there is no complete focus given to the darkness.
I had difficulty rating this title. It is largely for her lovely and quite informative chapters on Scandinavia - which were well written and executed, and actually set out to explore the darkness on some level - that I have rated this book as a 3-star read; without them, I could not have given it more than 2 stars. Dark Skies really did not match my expectations of what a book about night skies and darkness should include, and I found myself so disinterested in the very long portions written about her relationship, which served to overshadow the rest of the narrative. So much could have been explored and achieved here; it feels like a missed opportunity in a lot of ways.
Whilst I do not feel as though Dark Skies at all meets what it promises, Francis seems like a lovely person, with a great deal of talent. She and I have a lot of hobbies in common, from history and archaeology to Moomins and knitting, and I found myself relating to quite a lot of what she wrote. I would be so interested to read her other work in future, as I feel she has a lot to offer as both an author and an environmentalist.
December 14, 2019
As I write this we and not far off the Winter Solstice, that day in the year when the night is at its longest in the northern hemisphere. It is also the day when the world pivots once again and the days will imperceptibly get longer from that day onwards. Unless you are living on the very fringes of Northern Europe, where your day’s and nights are pretty much six months long our entire genetic makeup is used to the sequence of day and night. Some hate the night, drawing on the connotations that it is a time when dark forces move and others love the way that the absence of light changes the perception f the world around us.
Tiffany Francis is one of those that revel in the night and this book is about her experiences in various nocturnal adventures that she undertook alone or with friends and her partner. The journey takes her to the far north of Europe where she experiences the polar night in Norway and watches the aurora dance in the sky. She floats down a river in the company of eels and goes birdwatching, or more accurately bird listening. This is not just about the real, there are chapters on Ghosts and the Wickerman, which while there weren’t scary, did convey that unease that you sometimes get.
The final chapter in the book is about sunrises, a reminder that the dark is just a temporary phase, a part of the natural cycle and there is no need to be afraid of it. I thought that this was an enjoyable book about various mini-adventures under the cover of darkness. Her writing is unpretentious and clear, but most of all she is enthusiastic about her subject and this comes through in every chapter of the book.
Tiffany Francis is one of those that revel in the night and this book is about her experiences in various nocturnal adventures that she undertook alone or with friends and her partner. The journey takes her to the far north of Europe where she experiences the polar night in Norway and watches the aurora dance in the sky. She floats down a river in the company of eels and goes birdwatching, or more accurately bird listening. This is not just about the real, there are chapters on Ghosts and the Wickerman, which while there weren’t scary, did convey that unease that you sometimes get.
The final chapter in the book is about sunrises, a reminder that the dark is just a temporary phase, a part of the natural cycle and there is no need to be afraid of it. I thought that this was an enjoyable book about various mini-adventures under the cover of darkness. Her writing is unpretentious and clear, but most of all she is enthusiastic about her subject and this comes through in every chapter of the book.
December 11, 2019
What was good? Stories of myths and how they came to be. Hunting for birds in the dark. 24 hour nights.
What was bad? No one really cares about your personal life. Whilst it can serve as a way of placing someone in your shoes, I wanted an exploration of culture and nature not Dave
What was bad? No one really cares about your personal life. Whilst it can serve as a way of placing someone in your shoes, I wanted an exploration of culture and nature not Dave
December 29, 2020
A book that, whilst containing some beautifully written passages and a wide range of interesting stories and facts, is ultimately very frustrating to read.
Part of the issue is of expectation: although subtitled "A Journey Into the Wild Night", the book is more a collection of things that sometimes happen at night, which are then used as a springboard for the author contemplating a wide range of other things. In itself that's not a big problem - and i fact the range of ideas and stories contained in the book is quite appealing. However, when you sit down wanting to read a good book about dark skies, it's a bit disappointing.
The biggest barrier to my enjoyment of this book, though, is its structure. The various elements at work (biography, travelogue, nature writing, literary criticism) don't flow together well at all and often bump into each other in a way that gives each chapter a lack of focus.
My favourite sections were the two Scandinavian chapters, which were far more focused and showcased what the rest of this book could have been. The illustrations are also wonderful, and it's undoubtedly the case that the author has a lot of creative talent.
Overall, there's enough here to dip in and out of, but as a coherent narrative (and as a book focused on dark skies) it falls a bit short of expectations.
Part of the issue is of expectation: although subtitled "A Journey Into the Wild Night", the book is more a collection of things that sometimes happen at night, which are then used as a springboard for the author contemplating a wide range of other things. In itself that's not a big problem - and i fact the range of ideas and stories contained in the book is quite appealing. However, when you sit down wanting to read a good book about dark skies, it's a bit disappointing.
The biggest barrier to my enjoyment of this book, though, is its structure. The various elements at work (biography, travelogue, nature writing, literary criticism) don't flow together well at all and often bump into each other in a way that gives each chapter a lack of focus.
My favourite sections were the two Scandinavian chapters, which were far more focused and showcased what the rest of this book could have been. The illustrations are also wonderful, and it's undoubtedly the case that the author has a lot of creative talent.
Overall, there's enough here to dip in and out of, but as a coherent narrative (and as a book focused on dark skies) it falls a bit short of expectations.
October 17, 2019
This book wanders through the darkness and the journey is really rather magical. She's a tremendous observer of Nature and her descriptions are really alive. We go from the South Downs to Finland to Europe and back home again, and I really enjoyed the journey. As I saw her say somewhere else: Carpe Noctem - seize the night!
August 22, 2021
This was supposed to be a book about nature, the night skies, and how we connect to a rapidly disappearing landscape that is intrinsic to our well-being and sense of significance in a wider universe. Instead, it was about her boyfriend Dave. I do not care for Dave, his thoughts, why he broke up with the author, or why they got back together. Or why they broke up again. Fuck you Dave, I spent 16.99 reading about you and your girlfriend’s relationship, which, if it were a colour, quite frankly would be beige.
April 14, 2021
A lovely, excellently written book about the joys of the nocturnal.
Tiffany does an amazing job in combining a varied, rich, fascinating account of all things nocturnal with a personal journal of her life and love with its associated setbacks and achievements.
I love this type of book, part nature study, part personal musings.
Highly recommended if you've ever been on a walk at night and been enraptured by the smells and sounds of the unfamiliarly familiar.
Tiffany does an amazing job in combining a varied, rich, fascinating account of all things nocturnal with a personal journal of her life and love with its associated setbacks and achievements.
I love this type of book, part nature study, part personal musings.
Highly recommended if you've ever been on a walk at night and been enraptured by the smells and sounds of the unfamiliarly familiar.
September 28, 2019
So impressed with this book! Combining nature writing with one's life events can be boring but that's not the case here. I devoured this book within a few days. Not only did she pick interesting animals and places to write about, but the writing inspired me to now plan my own adventure. Will look out for more books from this author!
August 26, 2019
I will start this review by saying I don't read a lot of nature narratives. I'm often let down, find them depressing or unsatisfying. Dark Skies is none of these. I should issue a disclaimer that Tiffany Francis is a very good friend of mine, however, my mother always said if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything and therefore if I hadn't enjoyed this, I would simple be quiet.
Instead I find myself shouting from the rooftops, accosting anyone who mentions a love of nature and/or the night and demanding that they must pre-order this book now!
Not enough? OK let me tell you a little about it.
Tiffany weaves nature, story, and personal narrative together in a spell binding tale of her adventures at night.
Witching hour wildlife, black woodpeckers in the midnight sun, stalking the Aurora Borealis and dusk with whirring nightjars, once you pick this book up you won't want to put it down.
Line drawings by Tiffany, throughout the book, compliment the prose and occasional forays in the world of poetry and folklore leave you with a longing to join the night outside.
Instead I find myself shouting from the rooftops, accosting anyone who mentions a love of nature and/or the night and demanding that they must pre-order this book now!
Not enough? OK let me tell you a little about it.
Tiffany weaves nature, story, and personal narrative together in a spell binding tale of her adventures at night.
Witching hour wildlife, black woodpeckers in the midnight sun, stalking the Aurora Borealis and dusk with whirring nightjars, once you pick this book up you won't want to put it down.
Line drawings by Tiffany, throughout the book, compliment the prose and occasional forays in the world of poetry and folklore leave you with a longing to join the night outside.
January 1, 2025
2.5 stars
This was written beautifully but was not at all what it claimed to be from the title and blurb. I expected it to be a book of nature writing but it came across more as a wandering memoir about the authors relationship. There were some interesting facts sprinkled throughout and it did hold my attention (for the most part, though the last couple of chapters felt like they waffled a bit).
If the blurb had actually described what the book was about I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to read it.
This was written beautifully but was not at all what it claimed to be from the title and blurb. I expected it to be a book of nature writing but it came across more as a wandering memoir about the authors relationship. There were some interesting facts sprinkled throughout and it did hold my attention (for the most part, though the last couple of chapters felt like they waffled a bit).
If the blurb had actually described what the book was about I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to read it.
September 21, 2019
A beautifully written journey into the darkness. It provides the perfect escape from the everyday.
April 15, 2020
3.5 stars. Perfect bedtime reading.
February 11, 2024
Perfect bedtime reading.
March 9, 2021
It was a joy to be immersed in the authors nocturnal wanderings as documented in this book. The descriptions really invoked a feeling of being there for me, which added a welcome sense of adventure in these lockdown times.
Dark Skies is an enchanting read, with amusing anecdotes from the authors life and lots of reminders of the joys of nature that can be sought out, if only we take time to pause and appreciate them. The book is also a treasure trove of interesting and wide-ranging tidbits. As a result it has inspired a long list of further reading for me, and left me anticipating the adventures to come whether they be close to home or further afield!
One of the take away points for me: "Nature can be brutal, beautiful or inspiring, but more than anything else it is reliable: always rolling on in the backdrop of our busy lives; always there to remind us of our insignificance on earth but also the joy of being part of something greater than ourselves". 🌙 ⭐
I know I'll be dipping into this book often, and I'd encourage you to give it a read.
Dark Skies is an enchanting read, with amusing anecdotes from the authors life and lots of reminders of the joys of nature that can be sought out, if only we take time to pause and appreciate them. The book is also a treasure trove of interesting and wide-ranging tidbits. As a result it has inspired a long list of further reading for me, and left me anticipating the adventures to come whether they be close to home or further afield!
One of the take away points for me: "Nature can be brutal, beautiful or inspiring, but more than anything else it is reliable: always rolling on in the backdrop of our busy lives; always there to remind us of our insignificance on earth but also the joy of being part of something greater than ourselves". 🌙 ⭐
I know I'll be dipping into this book often, and I'd encourage you to give it a read.
March 27, 2022
This was really a 3.5 star read for me, but I decided to round down for reasons I'll explain later.
As others have mentioned, the marketing for this book is a little off. Yes, night travel, human connection to darkness, and nighttime myths are woven into this book but so are a lot of other themes that have nothing to do with the night. I'd classify it as a nature travel book with a heavy dose of memoir thrown in. The author is certainly trying to fit herself into a strong tradition of women writers doing essentially the same thing, she just doesn't quite pull it off. A strong editor and a better marketing package may have tipped the scales further in her favor.
Things I like: Travel, lots of good stories about nature, exploration, science, and some very enjoyable vignettes of various places in Europe and the UK. I loved the stories of traveling to remote locations in the campervan (I want one too!). I also wrote down a few places I'd like to visit on my next UK trip (which is what all good travel writing should do, right?). Overall, the stories and information in this book were right up my alley and made me excited to read more.
Things I didn't like as much: Despite all the interesting things to say, this book dragged for me. The chapters were long and wandering. Some were more focused than others, but all suffered from sudden and sometimes extreme topic changes. I'd be intensly interested in a topic for a few pages before it would veer off into something dull and pointless. Quite a few times I was reading along and suddenly realized I was very confused about what the author was talking about. Going back a paragraph or two I could identify the place where the topic suddenly shifted, although without any textual transitions at all. I'd be slowly meandering through a lovely hiking trip and then suddenly be hit with three pages of intense information prose about some science topic only tangentially related to the memory from which it sprung. I'm all for both types of writing, an honestly I like the book because it has both the science and the personal experience, but the lack of subtlety in blending the two together felt a bit like whiplash at times.
Other reviewers have mentioned that there are some factual problems in the book. I'm not from the UK, so I can't speak to things they may have picked up. I was, however, rather unhappy to read that Nevil Maskelyne "recognized how the moon, a fixed point in the sky, could be used as a consistent reference point for ships" navigating the open seas a night. Anyone who has spent any time outside at night knows that the moon is very definitely NOT fixed in the sky. It is for that very reason that sailors have always navigated by fixed points such as the start Polaris and why calculating longitude has always been a scientific challenging. I suspect that this was a piece of poorly worded writing that should have been picked up in editing or fact-checking stages. This kind of sloppiness is maddening, though, because it calls all the information in the book into question.
With some better editing and packaging, I think this would come off better than it does. Overall, this author shows a great deal of potential and I hope she keeps writing and honing her craft. I mostly enjoyed it while I'm also glad I can move on to other things.
As others have mentioned, the marketing for this book is a little off. Yes, night travel, human connection to darkness, and nighttime myths are woven into this book but so are a lot of other themes that have nothing to do with the night. I'd classify it as a nature travel book with a heavy dose of memoir thrown in. The author is certainly trying to fit herself into a strong tradition of women writers doing essentially the same thing, she just doesn't quite pull it off. A strong editor and a better marketing package may have tipped the scales further in her favor.
Things I like: Travel, lots of good stories about nature, exploration, science, and some very enjoyable vignettes of various places in Europe and the UK. I loved the stories of traveling to remote locations in the campervan (I want one too!). I also wrote down a few places I'd like to visit on my next UK trip (which is what all good travel writing should do, right?). Overall, the stories and information in this book were right up my alley and made me excited to read more.
Things I didn't like as much: Despite all the interesting things to say, this book dragged for me. The chapters were long and wandering. Some were more focused than others, but all suffered from sudden and sometimes extreme topic changes. I'd be intensly interested in a topic for a few pages before it would veer off into something dull and pointless. Quite a few times I was reading along and suddenly realized I was very confused about what the author was talking about. Going back a paragraph or two I could identify the place where the topic suddenly shifted, although without any textual transitions at all. I'd be slowly meandering through a lovely hiking trip and then suddenly be hit with three pages of intense information prose about some science topic only tangentially related to the memory from which it sprung. I'm all for both types of writing, an honestly I like the book because it has both the science and the personal experience, but the lack of subtlety in blending the two together felt a bit like whiplash at times.
Other reviewers have mentioned that there are some factual problems in the book. I'm not from the UK, so I can't speak to things they may have picked up. I was, however, rather unhappy to read that Nevil Maskelyne "recognized how the moon, a fixed point in the sky, could be used as a consistent reference point for ships" navigating the open seas a night. Anyone who has spent any time outside at night knows that the moon is very definitely NOT fixed in the sky. It is for that very reason that sailors have always navigated by fixed points such as the start Polaris and why calculating longitude has always been a scientific challenging. I suspect that this was a piece of poorly worded writing that should have been picked up in editing or fact-checking stages. This kind of sloppiness is maddening, though, because it calls all the information in the book into question.
With some better editing and packaging, I think this would come off better than it does. Overall, this author shows a great deal of potential and I hope she keeps writing and honing her craft. I mostly enjoyed it while I'm also glad I can move on to other things.
November 22, 2020
At a time of the year when the nights are closing in and the hours of sunlight are lessening, it felt like an opportune time to start reading this book by Tiffany Francis. Like many I was drawn to the beautiful cover art of 'Dark Skies' and the subject of the book has always been something that has intrigued me; humanity's historical relationship with the night-sky and with darkness, as well as knowledge of nocturnal and crepuscular wildlife. A subject matter that has become an intrinsic part of human narrative whether it has been through its association with religion, folklore, literature, poetry or science.
Tiffany Francis' exploration and investigation of the night really shines in several chapters of the book. Our fear and dread of the darkness, is challenged in the chapter 'Ghost Stories' where we see how Nyctophobia has been reflected in our literature, whether in traditional fairy tales or in classics novels (think Jamaica Inn or Frankenstein). Whilst in 'The Wickerman' we see how the intertwining relationship of the night sky and our ancient ancestors have given rise to seasonal festivals and folklore that are still an essential part of our modern lives. The beauty and the science of the Auorora Borealis meets in the chapter 'Polar Night' and 'Under Dark Skies' challenges how our modern way of life is negatively impacting on nature and our own wellbeing through light pollution. Dark Skies is rounded off nicely with the final chapter focusing on sunrises; how the uncertainty of darkness soon gives way to the light of hope. This chapter certainly feels appropriate reading this in 2020.
Overall this book is good and each chapter provides interesting facts and information. I do feel that this book could have delved further into the subject matter...I wanted more from the book! At times I felt the book came across as too memoir-ish. It's great when an author brings in their own personal accounts into their writing, especially within the genre of nature-writing but there were times in the book that it didn't seem relevant. There were times, within the text, when there were random jumps between presenting one fact and then immediately presenting another fact or personal account, without there being a smooth transmission between the two.
It's great to see a young author like Tiffany Francis in the nature-writing genre and I would recommend this book as a good introduction to anyone curious in delving into nocturnal landscapes and the night sky.
(Also enjoyed seeing Tiffany's own illustrations in the book-from one illustrator to another!)
Tiffany Francis' exploration and investigation of the night really shines in several chapters of the book. Our fear and dread of the darkness, is challenged in the chapter 'Ghost Stories' where we see how Nyctophobia has been reflected in our literature, whether in traditional fairy tales or in classics novels (think Jamaica Inn or Frankenstein). Whilst in 'The Wickerman' we see how the intertwining relationship of the night sky and our ancient ancestors have given rise to seasonal festivals and folklore that are still an essential part of our modern lives. The beauty and the science of the Auorora Borealis meets in the chapter 'Polar Night' and 'Under Dark Skies' challenges how our modern way of life is negatively impacting on nature and our own wellbeing through light pollution. Dark Skies is rounded off nicely with the final chapter focusing on sunrises; how the uncertainty of darkness soon gives way to the light of hope. This chapter certainly feels appropriate reading this in 2020.
Overall this book is good and each chapter provides interesting facts and information. I do feel that this book could have delved further into the subject matter...I wanted more from the book! At times I felt the book came across as too memoir-ish. It's great when an author brings in their own personal accounts into their writing, especially within the genre of nature-writing but there were times in the book that it didn't seem relevant. There were times, within the text, when there were random jumps between presenting one fact and then immediately presenting another fact or personal account, without there being a smooth transmission between the two.
It's great to see a young author like Tiffany Francis in the nature-writing genre and I would recommend this book as a good introduction to anyone curious in delving into nocturnal landscapes and the night sky.
(Also enjoyed seeing Tiffany's own illustrations in the book-from one illustrator to another!)
November 5, 2019
I have just finished this and i must say it was devoured! I was expecting a nature narrative and what i got was a mix of nature, history and memoir, not unlike Amy's The Outrun which first introduced me to this special genre I did not really know existed. I will likely edit this to be more concise later.
She take us with her, through her adventures in nature and life, going into history here, nature and wildlife there, and skips around a bit in time, and you must be prepared that this is not a purely natural history book, nor is it really all about the night sky experience. So, if you are looking for a non personal nature book head elsewhere as you will likely end up writing a review having expected it to be a genre it is not. It is about her connection with nature and her experiences relating to wild landscapes at various ponts in her life in her own perspective. I also make an assumption that the critical reviews relate to this expecting something else entirely. Self reflection is not self absorbtion it is interesting and relateable.
This ended up being one of my favourite books I have read this year. The actual book is also the most beautiful thing I have owned this year too!
It is a wonderfully written, personal account through her early twenties and unlike some, I absolutely loved the personal bits of this and am keen to hear more, as what makes us react to nature from our experiences is what makes nature so interesting.
If you are looking for a memoir this would be agreat book for you, if you also love nature it would be a great book to read. It has inspired me in 2 ways, one to get outside more in my car and find some kind of car heater, and to create and do more art. I have been to many of the spots she has, which really enriched the experience.
I am thoroughly looking forward to her next book, and hope to hear more from her life adventures and her nature journey, though I doubt a more beautful cover can be achieved than this one! An inspiring, absorbing, well written comforting read that I am sure I will read again!
She take us with her, through her adventures in nature and life, going into history here, nature and wildlife there, and skips around a bit in time, and you must be prepared that this is not a purely natural history book, nor is it really all about the night sky experience. So, if you are looking for a non personal nature book head elsewhere as you will likely end up writing a review having expected it to be a genre it is not. It is about her connection with nature and her experiences relating to wild landscapes at various ponts in her life in her own perspective. I also make an assumption that the critical reviews relate to this expecting something else entirely. Self reflection is not self absorbtion it is interesting and relateable.
This ended up being one of my favourite books I have read this year. The actual book is also the most beautiful thing I have owned this year too!
It is a wonderfully written, personal account through her early twenties and unlike some, I absolutely loved the personal bits of this and am keen to hear more, as what makes us react to nature from our experiences is what makes nature so interesting.
If you are looking for a memoir this would be agreat book for you, if you also love nature it would be a great book to read. It has inspired me in 2 ways, one to get outside more in my car and find some kind of car heater, and to create and do more art. I have been to many of the spots she has, which really enriched the experience.
I am thoroughly looking forward to her next book, and hope to hear more from her life adventures and her nature journey, though I doubt a more beautful cover can be achieved than this one! An inspiring, absorbing, well written comforting read that I am sure I will read again!
December 31, 2020
I do agree with a lot of readers on the point that this book is definitely not what it markets itself as being; it reads more like a collection of essays and musings broadly tied under a few common ideas than... whatever was advertised on the cover. But! Don't judge a book by its (misleading) cover! I still really liked it!
Dark Skies hit all the right spots for me - nature, history, literature, anthropology, folklore, and a bit of occultiness along the way. Really, this book is about a relationship (all those other things are only covered briefly) but I loved that aspect too. Beautifully written, with a "narrative" (in the broadest sense) intertwining nature and the author's personal experiences. This part-personal-part-factual style of nonfiction is something that I think is pretty difficult to execute, so I applaud her for that.
Really the only thing that annoyed me about Dark Skies was its ocassional millennial preachiness about veganism, social media, etc. It's not that I disagreed with anything she was saying, but it was annoying nonetheless. There was a page talking about how war is bad and I genuinely had to put it down for a minute in order to continue. But, it was only a page, and the rest of the book definitely made up for it.
Would I recommend Dark Skies? Absolutely. I thoroughly enjoyed it, any negative aspects were small enough to overlook. As long as you can accept that it might not be what you expect, you might enjoy it too.
Dark Skies hit all the right spots for me - nature, history, literature, anthropology, folklore, and a bit of occultiness along the way. Really, this book is about a relationship (all those other things are only covered briefly) but I loved that aspect too. Beautifully written, with a "narrative" (in the broadest sense) intertwining nature and the author's personal experiences. This part-personal-part-factual style of nonfiction is something that I think is pretty difficult to execute, so I applaud her for that.
Really the only thing that annoyed me about Dark Skies was its ocassional millennial preachiness about veganism, social media, etc. It's not that I disagreed with anything she was saying, but it was annoying nonetheless. There was a page talking about how war is bad and I genuinely had to put it down for a minute in order to continue. But, it was only a page, and the rest of the book definitely made up for it.
Would I recommend Dark Skies? Absolutely. I thoroughly enjoyed it, any negative aspects were small enough to overlook. As long as you can accept that it might not be what you expect, you might enjoy it too.
March 28, 2020
Meandering and unable to bring some sense of clarity or cohesion to the random anecdotes. I was hoping there would be more reflection here, some deeper cultural or mythological dive into the night, but the result is really a strange sort of shapeless memoir that too often devolves into the author’s romantic life. The tone of this is just very odd, it’s hard to get through when there appears to be no consequence to any of the tales and half of the injected trivia feels like a quick Wikipedia copy and paste.
Makes me feel like I’m reading the self-indulgent diary of a middle class white girl constantly and it’s rather insufferable.
Makes me feel like I’m reading the self-indulgent diary of a middle class white girl constantly and it’s rather insufferable.
September 24, 2019
Very interesting, some pertinent commentary on aspects of conservation and she is an excellent writer with a good command of the language. I enjoyed this boook.
On the other hand, there is more than I wanted to read about the author’s personal life and her relationship with Dave that has little or nothing at all to do with the ostensible subject of the book.
On the other hand, there is more than I wanted to read about the author’s personal life and her relationship with Dave that has little or nothing at all to do with the ostensible subject of the book.
April 28, 2021
Such a beautiful book! Full of nature and memories and passion. I can't wait to read other books by the author in future, as I love her style of writing and her love of our planet is infectious.
November 27, 2022
This book is NOT what it says on the back cover. This has very little to do with dark skies or nightscapes and I'm sure the reviews would be more favorable if the marketing didn't try to make this book out to be something other than what it really is.
What I expected before reading this book: Stories about dark skies, stars, northern lights, long polar nights, long white nights... Basically answers to these questions that are included in the back cover: How has our relationship with darkness and the night sky changed over time? How have we used stars and other cosmic phenomena to tell stories about our lives and the land around us?
What I got instead: Birds, birds, birds, a little more about birds, Dave, badgers, fox here and fox there, birds, random poems, even more random poems, Tiffany walking in the forest (maybe even in the dark, wow!), Dave, random river story, birds, climate change and did I mention the BIRDS!
This is a book about the birds! I like birds but damn, I'm not that interested to read about them especially when I'm in the mood to read about darkness or folklore surrounding it.
I actually wanted to give one extra star for the Nordic chapters (one chapter about Norway and other about Finland, my home country), but those few chapters couldn't repair the fact that I was pissed off about the fact that this book is so completely something else that it promises to be. Not happy.
What I expected before reading this book: Stories about dark skies, stars, northern lights, long polar nights, long white nights... Basically answers to these questions that are included in the back cover: How has our relationship with darkness and the night sky changed over time? How have we used stars and other cosmic phenomena to tell stories about our lives and the land around us?
What I got instead: Birds, birds, birds, a little more about birds, Dave, badgers, fox here and fox there, birds, random poems, even more random poems, Tiffany walking in the forest (maybe even in the dark, wow!), Dave, random river story, birds, climate change and did I mention the BIRDS!
This is a book about the birds! I like birds but damn, I'm not that interested to read about them especially when I'm in the mood to read about darkness or folklore surrounding it.
I actually wanted to give one extra star for the Nordic chapters (one chapter about Norway and other about Finland, my home country), but those few chapters couldn't repair the fact that I was pissed off about the fact that this book is so completely something else that it promises to be. Not happy.
April 18, 2020
Bummed about this read. Was it my own fault for misunderstanding the description of the book? Sure, perhaps. I fully anticipated that this book had an autobiographical component in the sense that the book wold utilize the author's first-hand experiences out in the world exploring nightscapes and dark skies, and I even looked forward to this, thinking it would be used in conjunction with and to support how "our relationship with darkness and the night sky changed over time" (from the description). What I didn't anticipate was how much of these stories were going to have tenuous tangential connections to nightscapes and dark skies with some historical and folk-lore information mixed in, many passages of which had a brief passing connection to night or darkness.
The disjunct writing style of moving to a new topic for a few paragraphs or an anecdotal story and then suddenly returning to the previous one made it difficult for me to stay engaged, as well.
Giving this two stars instead of one for the handful of passages that had some interesting folklore or historical information.
The disjunct writing style of moving to a new topic for a few paragraphs or an anecdotal story and then suddenly returning to the previous one made it difficult for me to stay engaged, as well.
Giving this two stars instead of one for the handful of passages that had some interesting folklore or historical information.
December 13, 2020
As others have said this book is being sold as an exploration of darkness and our relationship with it when in fact it is an exploration of the authors relationship with Dave.
There is nothing insightful or deep in her descriptions of her night time walks or her journeys and there seems to be very little discussion of the actual subject matter at all. It made me want to scream ‘stick to the subject’. A whole chapter about Greenwich with page after page of historical facts which seem to have been taken from a book with no explanation of how they are relevant or what reason there is for them being in there. Then a whole chapter about the author and Dave sailing a coracle, not uninteresting but not relevant at all to the subject.
I was really hoping for something meaningful and to learn something about folklore and the human psyche as you get with other authors like Robert Macfarlane, but sadly there was nothing like that.
Also, as another reader said, you should not be reviewing your own book, that’s embarrassing.
Two stars as the artwork was lovely.
There is nothing insightful or deep in her descriptions of her night time walks or her journeys and there seems to be very little discussion of the actual subject matter at all. It made me want to scream ‘stick to the subject’. A whole chapter about Greenwich with page after page of historical facts which seem to have been taken from a book with no explanation of how they are relevant or what reason there is for them being in there. Then a whole chapter about the author and Dave sailing a coracle, not uninteresting but not relevant at all to the subject.
I was really hoping for something meaningful and to learn something about folklore and the human psyche as you get with other authors like Robert Macfarlane, but sadly there was nothing like that.
Also, as another reader said, you should not be reviewing your own book, that’s embarrassing.
Two stars as the artwork was lovely.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2020
As with other reviews on here I think the book was a tad mid sold. I personally did not mind the memoir element and descriptions of some truly fascinating places, I have both been to and would love to go to. But I’m a historian, a lover of folklore and art. I’m not a massive lover of birds (sorry Tiffany). The book was just a bit heavy on the ornithological for me. But hey that’s personal taste. I just would have preferred a more anthropological look at how human relationships with night have changed and developed. But this kind of undertaking I appreciate would be huge and problematic being a multi-disciplinary task. Positive points. Loved the literary references and stories surrounding English folklore. (Although very south England-centric, the north is amazing too!) We must be the same age-ish as I got all the references to culture and they lead to some happy moments of reminiscing about my own childhood. It was well written. 4 stars (sorry about not liking birds :/)
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