On rebel planet Elysium, a man is executed on live video streamed by religious extremists. Nothing terribly original so far for Elysium. Only this time, the man doesn't die. When security expert Asher Perez is sent to find him, dark secrets about the rebel colony are exposed. Something dark is stirring in the shadows. Something that has been watching humanity since the dawn of history.

A deeply panoramic tour of the night, from its brightest spots to the darkest skies we have left. A starry night is one of nature's most magical wonders. Yet in our artificially lit world, three-quarters of Americans' eyes never switch to night vision and most of us no longer experience true darkness. In The End of Night, Paul Bogard restores our awareness of the spectacularly primal, wildly dark night sky and how it has influenced the human experience across everything from science to art. From Las Vegas' Luxor Beam -- the brightest single spot on this planet -- to nights so starlit the sky looks like snow, Bogard blends personal narrative, natural history, science, and history to shed light on the importance of darkness -- what we've lost, what we still have, and what we might regain -- and the simple ways we can reduce the brightness of our nights tonight.