Eleventh book of the year. Another in my continuing series of ‘reading Doctor Who stories I know nothing about’ and this one was a treat! I knew nothing at all about The Savages, other then Steven leaving rather abruptly at the end. Going blind into this story I wasn’t sure what to expect at all, I had no idea of when or where the story was set and so the excitement of an opener where they’ve met such an advanced civilisation, and where the people know about the Doctor in advance was a great start! The Savages feels like a classic Doctor Who tale, with its subversion of the tribes contained within, particularly in this era of stories about Thals and Drahvins, and at various points I think it’s obvious where the story is going but it’s still thoroughly entertaining to let it pan out. After the energy transfer, I particularly enjoyed another character becoming the Doctor for a period, I can’t help but wonder (pure speculation) so near to the end of Bill Hartnell’s run that they were playing with some options before they came up with regeneration. I really enjoyed The Savages, way more then I thought I would, a perfect example of reading a Target novel before seeing the episode and loving my own interpretation of the visuals and characters, but I’ve left myself with not wanting to see the episode (if it’s ever found) because it’s quite wonderful in my mind. 📚