Nightfaring

In Search of the Disappearing Darkness

By Megan Eaves-Egenes

About The Book

‘A truly powerful paean to the night sky’ CAROLINE EDEN, author of Black Sea

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At a time of personal crisis, travel writer and ‘dark sky’ advocate Megan Eaves-Egenes turned to the stars for solace. But those same stars, which have guided humankind since the very earliest cultures, are vanishing. As nocturnal cities bleach our skies – which are becoming 10% brighter every year – are we also losing our connection with everything that can come from darkness too? 

To explore her deep curiosity about the night sky, Eaves-Egenes embarks on a journey that takes her from New Zealand to Uzbekistan, Ireland to Argentina, the Himalaya to Japan, discovering the many ways that different cultures have mapped, mythologised and feared the darkness. She meets the extraordinary communities that have made it their mission to understand, preserve and celebrate the beauty of their night skies, learning to see darkness in a whole new way.

Blending travel with myth, history and self-discovery, Nightfaring is a profound and often startling journey through the endangered night, revealing its capacity to enchant and connect us.
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‘A raw, multisensory journey into the less-trodden nocturnal world’ Stephanie Vermilion, author of 100 Nights of a Lifetime

‘Insightful … reminds us of all that being in the dark brings alive’ PAUL BOGARD, author of The End of Night

‘There's a deep love of the night sky woven into every sentence, and a powerful lesson for humanity as it fakes a nocturnal existence: only in the stillness of night can we see the light’ JAMIE CARTER, FORBES

About The Author

Megan Eaves-Egenes

Megan Eaves-Egenes is a travel writer and advocate for sustainable travel and dark skies. From 2013 to 2019 she was Lonely Planet’s North and Central Asia Destination Editor. She has written numerous guidebooks, including to China and South Korea, and her journalism has appeared in the Independent, BBC, The Times, CNN, Culture Trip, TimeOut and others.
 
In 2019, Megan founded DarkSky London, an advocacy group committed to reducing light pollution and protecting the natural night in the British capital. Since 2021, she has served as Editor of Nightscape, DarkSky’s quarterly members’ magazine. Originally from New Mexico, she has lived all over the world – from China to Prague to Ireland – and has called London home for the last 14 years. 

 

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (January 29, 2026)
  • Length: 368 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781398532960

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Raves and Reviews

'There's a deep love of the night sky woven into every sentence, and a powerful lesson for humanity as it fakes a nocturnal existence: only in the stillness of night can we see the light'

– Jamie Carter, Forbes

'Nightfaring is an invitation to explore how the night sky connects us – to the past, to ourselves, to the planet and to the cosmos. Through rich storytelling and deeply reported histories, Megan leads us on a raw, multisensory journey into the less-trodden nocturnal world. This introspective read is a push to reimagine our relationship to the night ... It's also a reminder that travel, when done well, can be life's greatest teacher'

– Stephanie Vermillion, author of 100 Nights of a Lifetime

'Mixing myth and history with the latest science, Eaves weaves her story with clear, insightful prose, offering an entertaining journey into the darkness that is so vital for life on earth and so easily forgotten. Nightfaring reminds us of all that being in the dark brings alive and allows, what we lose when we overuse artificial light, and the good wildness that makes the night so key to our wellbeing' 

– Paul Bogard, author of The End of Night 

‘As well as brimming with insight, Nightfaring is also a reassuring and comforting book’

– BBC Sky at Night 

‘A truly powerful paean to the night sky offering a kaleidoscopic mix of science, adventure, spirituality, psychology and insights into our inner lives and deepest fears'

– Caroline Eden, author of Samarkand and Cold Kitchen

‘From Uzbek observatories to Guaraní fire blessings, Maori star compasses to Irish banshees, Nightfaring is an engaging and illuminating exploration of our relationship with darkness and the night sky. A thoughtful, perceptive and insightful writer, Megan Eaves-Egenes will change the way you look at the stars’

– Shafik Meghji, author of Crossed Off the Map and Small Earthquakes

'In Nightfaring, travel writer and "dark sky" advocate Megan Eaves-Egenes travels the world to get to grips with our connection to the night sky . . . exploring what darkness means globally and over time  – and most of all, it seems, what we are in danger of losing' 

– New Scientist, Best New Popular Science Books of January 2026

'Nightfaring takes us under the night skies, which are rapidly disappearing due to light pollution, and mixes myth, science and history to establish our connection with the darkness, essential for our own health' 

– The Westmeath Independent, New Books Coming in the New Year

‘(Megan) travels the world to better understand our relationship with the night sky, making the impassioned argument that losing our connection with the stars to 24-hour cities means jettisoning not just centuries of knowledge, but perhaps also the peace that darkness brings’

– Wanderlust

‘Nightfaring is a profound and often startling journey through darkness and the endangered night’

– Countryside

‘Her stats and background information on the negatives of the 21st century’s light pollution are as important as they are disturbing'

– Country Life

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Nightfaring

In Search of the Disappearing Darkness

By Megan Eaves-Egenes
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