Merlin's Tour of the Universe is basically a Q+A blog. People are asking all their questions about the universe to Merlin, a character who knows everything there is to know about the universe, and get answers. In theory I like the concept, in practice, not so much. The writing style didn't gel for me, it felt a bit condescending at points and some answers were too vague while others were super detailed, and I wish there was more of a balance between. I will say, deGrasse Tyson's narration is excellent, and was a massive highlight of this for me. I wish I liked it more though, because I do like learning this kind of stuff, and overall, it's fine. Nothing great, nothing awful.
If you like a collections of questions about the universe being answered, try it out, but I would go the route of audiobook as opposed to print.

I love Neil deGrasse Tyson's narrative voice and his audiobook narration was great! Short and lighthearted, it was perfect to listen to while at work. The science was accessible and well-explained. This book also holds up really well, considering it was originally published in 1989!

Listened to this as an audiobook, and found it enjoyable and informative. The question and answer format worked well, as many of the questions are about topics many of us have wondered about at times. A great book for a wide age group.
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

I don't know why I like NdT so much, but I do. I have for decades now! I grew up with a love of astronomy, to the point where for most of my childhood that was my dream job. I don't know if you know this but astronomers do a lot of math. A lot. Math and I are not friends, I can do it, but I don't like it. So, alas, my dreams were meant to stay dreams, but here we are reading about the universe from the brilliant Neil deGrasse Tyson. Or rather, we are having him (and some others) read to us. This book is short and easy to read and listen to, but I like listening to NdT, so we listen. I love the humor, the simplistic explanations of the complicated topics, and the constant digs at Pluto. The original book of this title was published in 1989 from articles published before that date, so it is nice to have things more current as scientists learn and discover new...science stuff. If you've read any of Tyson's other books, this is about the same tone and I found it enjoyable, and educational, and a few little quips of humor thrown in keep it fun.

Merlin's Tour of the Universe, Revised is a quirky and quick q&a style book about the universe. While Merlin's character was cute, it did seem to bring an air of unseriousness to the questions that I felt made it less reliable. I also feel like while expected, the questions were all over the place. You would truly need a fairly broad baseline of the universe to understand everything. In addition to this, I felt the rhymes scattered throughout the book were a little random and jarring. If there had been a recurring theme or there was more forewarning, it would have made much more sense.

That being said, the audiobook production of this was really good, and I enjoyed that as the format.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

This book is essentially a fun version of a Q&A session with the famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. He speaks through his character named Merlin to help make complicated theoretical astrophysics easier to understand for those reading or listening. The original book was published in 1989 and this is an updated version of it. I listened to the audiobook version, which the author Neil deGrasse Tyson narrates himself. I learned so much listening to this book and I absolutely loved it! NDT is an excellent and engaging narrator, and he is very good at explaining the complexities of the universe in a more palatable form. I did have to take occasional pauses or breaks from the audio because the book is incredibly factual and information-heavy, so much that it was hard at times to wrap my mind around some of the concepts discussed prior to him moving on to the next question. However, the information presented is absolutely fascinating and incredibly interesting! I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone, but especially to those interested in learning more about astrophysics and the universe. Thank you to NetGalley, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Blackstone Publishing for the gifted ALC in an exchange for an honest review.

I thought that this was a great revised edition of an already solidly written book that has stood the test of time. It was great to get to read this and learn more from a book that I had already read in a different edition, and the use of the author as the narrator was a great touch. The additional voices serving as the question-givers was also a great addition to this audiobook and made it easy to follow along.

In a similar vein to Randall Munroe’s What If books, Merlin’s Tour combiné humour and information in an engaging, easily understood way. Audiobook may not be the best medium for this kind of information, as the reader might benefit more from a print copy with helpful diagrams, but Tyson is easy enough to follow and has a very soothing voice.

This is a fun way to catch a bit of science and a bit of entertainment at the same time. Personally, I found it to get a little over-the-top in its push for fun and frivolity at times - like when adults try to talk down in slang or humor for teens/tweens, it sometimes felt forced and decidedly un-funny. Still, on the whole the tone is good and the information is interesting. The questions that "Merlin" addresses are a mix of adult- and kid-focused (and -generated), and the mixture of topics addressed is broad and engaging. I couldn't listen to it for more than shortish bursts, but that worked fine for me. Not my favorite of his works, but a solid addition to the education of *regular* people on science and the universe, for sure.

Such a fun read! I love Neil deGrasse Tyson and to have him narrate such an interesting little book was amazing. I ended up going down a couple of rabbit holes during this and wish it had been longer! This would be a great book for kids, as it's a little more simplified and easier to digest the information.

This was a quick, fun read. It's a rerelease of one of deGrasse Tyson's older titles, though it's been updated. Basically, it's a being answering people's questions about the universe. It's pretty basic, a good introduction to astrophysics/space, so there were a lot of answers that I already knew, having read quite a few of these types of books.

But it was entertaining and I enjoyed it.

This was interesting and informative! I love all things space. A lot of it went waaaaay over my head and I think I’ll have to check out his other book that explains things in more detail. I think it’s great for casual perusing from time to time, but the question answer format does get old after a while. 4/5 stars. I love that Neil DeGrass Tyson is the one that narrated the audiobook! Thank you!

4 stars

This is a great audio if you love information about the universe. I loved the narration by Neil deGrasse Tyson, he did a great job. And I learned so many new things listening to this audio. I even heard a question sent in from a town just south of where I live, which was pretty exciting!

Thoroughly enjoyed the style and formatting of this audiobook as Neil Degrasse Tyson has a peppy recordable voice.

Delightful and informative! Who knew I needed to learn more about our universe and science from one of my favourite wizards of all time. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I was expecting a story about a character named Merlin, riddled with accurate facts about the universe and what this actually was is a series of questions answered by a charismatic narrator. While interesting, the lack of a story made it hard for me to stay engaged with the audio. It wasn’t what I wanted but I know my 5-year old will love this playful Q&A between real people (read by known audio narrators) and Merlin, who, even without a story, has a lot of personality.

I love Neil deGrasse Tyson and this audiobook just made him even better! This was really fun to listen to and I enjoyed the things I learned with every question. Having this one structured in a Q&A way made it even easier to understand, imo.

Space is my favorite topic to teach. I was very happy to get this free ALC from @netgalley. Thank you! I loved the structure of this listen. Facts, but sprinkled with fantastical Merlin answering the questions. I reserved a copy from my library so that I can flip through all the pic and charts. I was happy at how many answers I actually knew, and it was fun to learn more about the vast space of our universe. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a great narrator, and I wish he would narrate some Middle Grade I read.

Fast paced and light hearted but fully packed with information on our world, our planet, our sun, and our universe, this fun and foundational exploration is a great little adventure! The audiobook just adds a wonderful layer to the laid back presentation of a ton of great knowledge. With a guide who is quirky yet intelligent you can sit back and learn a lot or a little at a time. I think this would be a great introduction for middle grade kids especially if you paired the audio and physical copies. On this rerelease there’s updated data and images as well as new recorded voices.

Thank you to NetGalley for my audio copy. These opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this amazing audiobook. I bought the book as well.

I am a big fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s work and had enjoyed reading his books.

His writing is funny, fast paced, scientific and fascinating.

This book is his answers to some astronomical questions, as Merlin. They are categorized and cover basic knowledge, and a bit more, on the subject in question.

What I like about this book is that it has a lot to teach and is easy to read and understand.

The audiobook is read by the author, his deep engaging voice makes it hard to put the book down.

I recommend reading this book to anyone who is interested is astronomy, at any age or level of knowledge.