Return to Aldebaran Vol. 3

Return to Aldebaran Vol. 3 is the conclusion of the cycle- and perhaps of the entire Aldebaran series? Hard to know- I suspect it's the conclusion, but I hope to be wrong. This series is a very ambitious undertaking- the story of a small group of people who grow and change as they explore fascinating new worlds- and while I love the alien vistas and wondrous environments, it's the characters that are the draw here. Kim and Marie especially- Kim has been the protagonist since day one and Marie comes from the excellent spin-off The Survivors- and the nice thing about this recent series is that they are brought together.

This can be a little unwieldy at times- the cast of characters is large enough to be a little confusing when months, maybe a year, go by between installments- but at the same time I like that just as life can be chaotic, so can the cast. Leo does a good job of making you care about these people. I love just being in this universe- it's comforting. I want to just immerse myself in it.

This one starts out with the group traveling to a village, the dwelling place of Stoll's people, the ones helping the now stranded group on a strange world. They are trapped there, at least for now, since the mysterious gate leading there has disappeared and they have no other way home. Of course there will be other challenges to overcome before it's all over, and again- I just really enjoy seeing what comes their way. Just about anything can happen in these books. And while everything (mostly) is tied up nicely at the end- there are a lot of possibilities after some 20 volumes altogether-I would love to keep going and explore these worlds even more.

If this is the end, however, it's a good one- and if you want a really good saga with strange worlds and compelling characters, I would recommend starting with Aldebaran Vol. 1 and taking the journey.