Starbound

'Ed Regis's Starbound offers a rich analysis of the rationales used by advocates to support future interstellar travel as well as the scientific, technological, and biological challenges to be met in the endeavor. In so doing Regis injects into the vision of becoming a multiplanetary species an important dose of reality missing from most discussions of such human migration.' Roger D. Launius, former NASA chief historian 'A deeply researched, fascinating, and sobering look at the possibility of interstellar travel.' Kelly Weinersmith, co-author of A City on Mars 'Throughout its information-packed, engagingly written pages, [Regis] applies a rigorous eye to both the broad-brush concepts of human interstellar travel and the fine detail of countless specific proposals … It's Regis's engagement with potential failures that really brings the point home … Although the analysis is serious, the tone is leavened with anecdotes and occasional incredulity at some proposed schemes … If his overwhelming message is that star travel is a lot harder than its proponents argue, Regis also raises important questions about why we should even attempt it … His conclusions may be sobering for interstellar dreamers, but this revelatory book carries lessons about our broader susceptibility to scientific and technological boosterism that we might all do well to digest. [five stars]' Giles Sparrow, BBC Sky at Night Magazine