sounds like the book is optimising for daytime timelapse.. complete opposite of what you want for night. and yes.. day to night in one sequence is not easy.. at least not without a lot of flicker.
you can use your camera in aperture priority mode and keep flicking the aperture open a bit more as it gets darker. or you get into thing like 'little bramper' which is what colin legg uses or custom fun and games like fred and i have been playing with. but like others said.. start simple..
there is of course another book that might help you here too:
http://shop.iceinspace.com.au/shop/s...g-stars-ebook/
Phil