Trivia level snippets answering the public’s questions. Original published in the 80’s, but now updated for today! I am fascinated by the universe and beyond. This was the perfect level of understanding, along with a touch of humor to keep it from being too dry!

The audiobook read by a whole cast, including the author, was the best mental escape. Like listening to your favorite podcast!

Thank you NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing, and author Neil deGrasse Tyson for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Genre: science nonfiction
Narrated by: Jim Meskimen, André Santana, Bronson Pinchot, Pun Bandhu, Em Grosland, Lauren Fortgang, Luzma Ortiz, Kevin R. Free, Jaime Lincoln Smith, Neil deGrasse Tyson

First published in 1989, Neil deGrasse Tyson is back with an updated version of Merlin's Tour of the Universe, updated with new answers as astrophysics and discovery have evolved since 1989. Tyson invented a character named Merlin from a far away galaxy who ventures to earth to answer basic to complicated astrophysics questions that the everyday person may want to understand. It hearkens an era when Google wasn't around to answer questions, so to the listener in 2024 some of these feel like something you'd reach for your phone to look up today. But it demonstrates the range of curiosity with questions from people ranging from ages 5 to 90.

This works well as an audiobook, with different narrators reading the variety of questions and NDT responding to them. The tone stays light, because our narrator is meant to be extraterrestrial creature Merlin who has spent its life observing from afar. It references famous physicists, quotes philosophy, and elevates baseline knowledge of astrophysics. The updates to this new version include facts like Pluto's downgrade from planet to Kuiper Belt dwarf planet and that a probe launched in 2023 is the new fastest manmade object in the universe.

Merlin's Tour isn't an introduction to astrophysics, nor is it mean to be; it's a smattering of facts organized in an easy to digest manner. For a reader with ADHD like me, it's the sort of book I love to listen to, with bombardment of facts that I'll retain ~40% of, and then have a physical copy to refer to later when I want to know exactly how deep the craters are on the moon.

This was a fun time! I learned a lot and liked the quick question and answer format. It is a good one to listen to while in the car with my 10 year old and get her listening to some cool science info!