Merlin's tour of the universe A traveler's guide to blue moons and black holes, Mars, stars & everything far

Audio astronomy buffs will be familiar with Tyson's (To Infinity and Beyond) narration, which is always informative and companionable. This short audio encompasses myriad fascinating questions in a cute framework where Tyson acts as though he's relaying answers from an alien named Merlin. A large cast of narrators take turns asking the submitted questions. They display a variety of accents, ages, and genders, demonstrating that anyone can be interested in science and that sometimes the most complex questions come from children. The book subtly encourages listeners to be proud of their curiosity and delight in learning. Tyson himself clearly has fun with accents when he creates dialogue for historical figures from around the world. Listeners who love short podcasts, trivia books, and random facts to wow friends at dinner parties will adore this. Listeners who want more in-depth explorations will probably need to keep a list of all the fascinating things they want to research, as the questions jump from topic to topic in a way that isn't readily searchable via audio. VERDICT A delightful astronomical adventure, full of playful scientific tidbits on everything from galaxies to gravity.--Matthew Galloway