Human Space (alternate version)

Another star map, retaining some concepts from the previous one. However, it's much smaller in scale, there's less ancient aliens stuff, but OTOH, there are more habitable planets around. Also, I added markers for the star types, and not all stars are shown: Only inhabited planets and some uninhabited. The number of jumps through uninhabited systems to get from one system on the map to the next is indicated.

My basic concept for this (and also the previous map) is that there is a "conventional" FTL... even though it's physically impossible, it just takes too damn long for exploration and settlement to go ahead without FTL. However, FTL in that universe is at between 5c and 10c, so most trips by conventional FTL still take years. That is why the spacefaring powers establish wormholes, for instant connections between systems. However, wormhole ends carried by FTL ships have a risk to 'fizzle out', naturally increasing the longer the distance becomes. Hence the upper end of wormhole distances those powers are ready to risk is between 8 and 9 ly.

(Five stars fall in that distance from Sol: Alpha Centauri, Barnard's Star, Wolf 359, Lalande 21185, Sirius and UV Ceti)

Some stars are hence relatively near to the wormhole network, but there's still no (easy) way to actually connect them to it, because there are no stars in between that could be used as intermediate stops. If those stars have habitable planets, they become the goal of dozens if not hundreds of tiny groups looking for independent settlement space. Since contact with those stars can take between 4 and 6 years (both ways added up), it's just not worth it or even only practical to try to claim them. None of those planets is even only politically unified, let alone aligned with anything outside their star system.