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.

Neil deGrasse Tyson answers questions about life, the universe and everything....er....well, the universe anyway, in an almost "Dear Abbey" style format, under the the guise of a character named Merlin. He makes it all very easy to understand for those excess masses of us who AREN'T astrophysicists, and in the audiobook, it's narrated by the man himself, which makes for real easy listening.

That said, given the question and answer format, I don't know that Tyson's use of an avatar really adds anything to the book. There's little in way of narrative, though he occasionally uses it to spin the odd yarn about hob knobbing with historically figures, but these are few, more to the point, his constant referring to himself , as Merlin, in the third person could be irritating. No doubt he felt this helped him get more in the spirit and relax more, as this was originally his first book, as such, I think it served the author more than the reader.

Worth the time if you're a casual interested in the cosmos.

ARC provided by NetGalley & Blackstone Publishing

A wizard traveling the universe and answering science questions? Sign me up.

Not sure if I've shared this with yall, but I'm a huge nerd, besides books and video games, documentaries, of all types ranging from history, science, and nature, but especially space. I love to learn and gain knowledge even if, at the time, I can not grasp nor comprehend it at the presented time.

From a semi comedic POV, we learn about our solar system, about moon phases, along with other interesting facts about our earth, galaxy, and known universe.

It's a plus for me that the main narrator is none other than the man genius Neil Degrasse Tyson, but also that the guest narrators made this feel more into a welcoming to science to others that are not experts on the subject but are curious to learn non the less. It even grasped the attention of my 8yo on the ride home.

I adored this quick, entertaining but educational audiobook.

I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review.

Thus was fun! To be honest, I usually just put this on before falling asleep, so I may have missed some parts and have definitely repeated some parts a couple of times lol but overall, I thought it was a very fun idea with some super interesting questions! I also love that Neil deGrasse Tyson was the narrator.

I have to admit that the concept of the fictional Merlin giving advice sounded a little strange, but it really works! I love the Q&A format, and I learned a lot of new information from this book. The humor makes the concepts more memorable and engaging, and a combination of the print and audio would be the perfect way to take this one in. It’s great to hear it in Neal deGrasse Tyson’s voice, and the print would make it easier to absorb some of the specific numbers and details too.

Highly recommend this one, and I look forward to listening to it with my kids in the car so they can learn more too!

Despite growing up in the age of Epcot Center and numerous closer to home places of scientific edutainment, I have always struggled to understand scientific concepts. I’ve read books, watched documentaries, looked at exhibits - and generally felt like I was missing something. I’ve even read a few of Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s other books that others have gotten a lot out of, and I still didn’t get it.

This one, however, hit different. I will admit to some skepticism at the concept - a fictional alien answering astrophysics questions did not sound like something that lends itself to the audio format. But amazingly, it works. I’m sure the print version makes it easier to go back and look things up later, but the broad array of question-askers and NDT’s reassuring voice are a perfect match for the gently whimsical and conversational tone. I’m pretty sure I picked up more in the four hours of listening to this book than in all of the years of reading/watching/listening to other things- and I would 100% listen to it again, which is rare for me. The amount of revision that was apparently required to reflect new discoveries since the original version was published in 1989 really underscores the importance of continuing to keep up with scientific news after you’re out of school- and I would love to see similarly formatted materials regularly updated for other branches of science as well - maybe Neil can talk some friends into writing their own entries in a series.

This is a great one for all ages - I can’t recommend it enough!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Absolutely delightful, even though this left me with a lot of homework, as I’m now desperate for more information on many of the topics Merlin discusses here.

I was a little skeptical of the Q & A structure in book form, but it works well (especially on audio), and hearing Neil deGrasse Tyson narrate of course only enhances the experience.

I sort of love pop science or things that follow the format of, essentially, “here are some cool space facts,” and this does an excellent job of keeping it light and simple and giving you those little factoids while still packing in a lot of really valuable and at times reasonable complex science.

As someone who doesn’t generally have a lot of interest in this type of material, Merlin’s Tour of the Universe (Revised and Updated for the 21st Century) does a good job at igniting a spark of interest. The narration is (of course) wonderful, as it’s performed by Neil deGrasse Tyson himself.

Content-wise, Tyson does an excellent job at weaving humor into material that has the potential to be dry. But while he does a great job at artfully explaining some complicated concepts in a way that listeners of different understandings of astronomy and physics may understand and enjoy, others feel very glossed over. There were many times I had to ask my partner (an astrophysicist) what was meant by certain things or how various concepts work in practice/theory/application, or just for a basic explanation of things. Some explanations were so thorough and helpful by Tyson, then others felt rushed over, leaving a reader a little frustrated.

Thank you to Neil deGrasse Tyson, Blackstone Publishing, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

Merlin's Tour of the Universe, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century
by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson

This was such fun book. I really enjoyed it a lot, although few things I still can't understand but it's not at the fault of Tyson but at the incapability of my brain to process it beyond a point. The narration was really good and kept me hooked. I was able to finish this in my two gym workouts. I laughed out loud several times which made other people in the gym wonder what I was listening to.

Overall really good book and audiobook too and definitely gonna recommend it to every science and astrophysics loving guy.

Thank you Netgalley and Blackstone publishing for the amazing ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks for the Audio ARC!

I had never come across this book before, so I can't really speak to the updated edition vs the original, but I can say that touring the universe with Merlin was a marvelous experience, and should be undertaken by all Earthlings. I will definitely read this one again.