A Massive Thank You to the Author, the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book prior to its release date.

"My telling you this story - my story - is a gift. It's like if you learned about...oh, what's something you humans admire? It's like Beyonce taking time out of her "busy" schedule to personally give you singing lessons. Even that falls short, though - she's not supervising a hundred billion stars."

This book was insufferable. This new take on space nonfiction was written by Moiya McTier, an astrophysicist and a folklorist. I was excited to see the way McTier would utilize her folklore background to personify the galaxy we live in. Unfortunately, she personified it into the single most obnoxious narrator I have ever encountered in a book. The milky way was condescending and histrionic. I dreaded reading this because I knew I would have to suffer through the milky way's pointless observations. The science in this was interesting, but the narration was so distracting that it wasn't enough to save this book. I also didn't like that the milky way's personification led to some inaccurate representations of the science, like that gravity kept galaxies close so that they could "do other things that would probably make you blush".

This was a big miss for me. Beautiful cover, interesting concept, infuriating execution.

** Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and Moiya McTier for this ARC through NetGalley. The Milky Way is available as of August 2022. **

As publisher, I requested this book as background reading for a review feature we had planned. Our reviewer rated it 4-stars

Review:
https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/ref/17288896/the-milky-way#reviews
Beyond the Book:
https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/btb/index.cfm/ref/17288896/the-milky-way#btb

This book tells the story of the Milky Way in "autobiographical" form. It's smart, savvy, and easy to read. Personally, I found the voice off-putting. I prefer my science books with more facts and less snark. I'm clearly not the target audience, and I'm sure others will find the book quite enjoyable. DNF.

I really enjoyed this! Dr. McTier writes about science in a way that is informative without feeling like a textbook. There were some funny moments. I loved the writing style and the subject matter. I cannot wait to read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

The way this book is written is deeply enjoyable. The narrator is the Milky Way which I found to be a different form of science communication. Almost immediately, it gave me the same vibes as the Tears in the Rain speech from <i>Blade Runner </i>.

However, there were moments when the writing made the science hard to understand. At those moments, I wish there were illustrations with labels so I could understand what the Milky Way was telling us.

I found myself enjoying the folklore sections/chapters over the science ones. I found myself liking the folklore bits over the science bits. I know it’s supposed to be more science-based storytelling, but folklore makes my heart sing. I think the writing style lends more toward storytelling (folklore) than science communication. If the author decided to write another book with its focus being on folklore, I would LOVE to read that.

Even though I avoid audiobooks, it would be really interesting to see how that version would work with this. It would almost sound like a fairy tale with the right voice actor.

Moiya McTier utilizes her unique loves of astrophysics and folklore to tell the story of the Milky Way in sassy, snarky tones that make what can be a difficult subject to understand relatable to the casual space geek. I can't remember ever laughing while reading an astronomy book, and there were points during this book where I howled with laughter. McTier both anthropomorphizes the galaxy and its companions, including a long-festering distaste for Larry (aka the Large Magellanic Cloud), the discomfort and shame of Sarge (aka the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy) and an adoration for Andromeda, while simultaneously pointing out how self-absorbed and puny humans can be. McTier covers not just the science of the universe and the Milky Way, but also delves into astronomical discoveries over time, and the mythologies that early civilizations had about the galaxy and night sky, making the story feel even more comprehensive in nature. Readers should take note that while this may look like a fiction book, it is non-fiction. As someone who has always had a love for astronomy and outer space, this is a perfect book for the fun, conversational way it conveys information about space. If you love the idea of space but find textbooks intimidating, this book is for you. If you're a teenager and want to read a book about space that namechecks Beyonce and "those hunky brothers from Australia" this book is for you. If you're uptight and think all books about astronomy should be dry, boring and only readable by people with a doctorate in astronomy or astrophysics this book probably isn't for you - but it wasn't meant to be, you stick-in-the-local neighborhood Larry! I absolutely loved this fresh, fun take on the Milky Way, the universe and physics in general. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Grand Central Publishing for an advanced copy of this biography and history on The Milky Way Galaxy.

Everything has a story, a past a present, an uncertain future, and everything wants a chance to share that story. Finding both a chronicler well that can be a problem, but who knew that the place we all call home has such a fascinating tale to share. A tumultuous past, a more calm present, except for those humans and a future that looks cold and lonely until the end. Doctor Moiya McTier in her book The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy lets the galaxy itself tell the story of its life, its science and inevitable end, in a story both funny profound and educational.

The book begins with a bit about Dr. McTier, a life that actually sounds as interesting as the galaxy the Doctor is planning to tell. Dr. McTier tells of her upbringing , the stars she saw and th knowledge that a future in the stars was much better than a life in a small not that exciting small town. From there readers are introduced to The Milky Way, the creation and formation, and a semi- chronological history follows. Humans appear, and discussions follow using myths and folklore, on how people thought the world came about. Finally ending with the probable end of The Milky Way, and what might happen after that.

The book is written differently than most science books, which I am sure that some people will have a problem with. I enjoyed it, though it did take me a chapter or two to go with the flow. The science and especially the math was well explained, the narrative moved well and most questions, when there is an answer, as science can try but can't promise to answer everything, are answered and again make sense. Plus the book is funny. I like the idea of a quipy galaxy, and an intelligent one also is nice to contemplate. The writing is very conversational, not teachy and you can feel the enjoyment that Doctor McTier has for the subject, and loves to share with others.

A science book that doesn't read like a science book, and for what seems like a joke idea, is probably one of the more thoughtful and interesting books that I have read this year. I wanted to quote and read parts to my nephews as points are raised that I never thought of, or to be honest probably understood. A book that leaves the reader with a good feeling, that maybe everything will be ok, or that maybe all this talk about an uncaring universe might be true, but this galaxy The Milky Way cares and is always willing to listen. As long as we listen too.

This is a truly wonderful book that describes our galaxy as an autobiography. It is both fun to read and it is very informative. It tells you which nearby galaxies will collide with our home galaxy in about 4 billion yers from today and much more. You should buy it and read it.

Dr. Moiya McTier is an incredibly smart astrophysics that creates an understandable narrative of the Milky Way. I’ve followed her on social media for a while and was thrilled to see this book available to read early. It was super interesting, fun, and I will forever purchase any book by her in the future.

Many thanks for the ARC of this new work. This was very well done. Slightly different from my normal reads but that is a good thing.