Unlike any other televised Story, this is the one I read before I listened and “watched” the Telesnaps Recon. (A lot of my Story Beats remain the same as my previous Review on the televised Marco Polo Episodes, so if you read that one, just skip to the Part about the Target Novel itself!)

I must say, as a huge pure historical enjoyer, this one just works. It definitely helped to have read the Target to know the Storybeats. There is a lot to love here, going by the Pictures, we still have from it, the Costumes were just excellent. I liked the Friendship Susan had, and she certainly gets a lot more to do than she had in the previous two Serials. Unlike a Serial like the Massacre, I think this one would benefit from some nice Visuals, be it a recovery from the Episodes itself (Please.) or just a wonderful Animation (which is unlikely as of now, but you can dream).

Admittedly at times some Story can be quite frustrating, like the whole stubborn Marco Bit, where he refuses to give the Doctor his Key again, while fun for a while, it gets a bit tiring. Same with the Fact that most of the Crew doesn’t show any mistrust about Tegana.

Overall, a splendid proper outing for a full pure historical serial. One of my favorites of Season 1.

Does the Target Novel work?

As for the Story in Target Version: I really adore this Target Novelization, as I said, I experience this Story first via this book. And really, as long as we don't have a way to properly see some Visuals, I think this may very well stay my preferred Way of revisiting this Story. With the Return of the Original Writer, you get a pretty accurate Version of the Original Stories with some little new added Bonuses in there. Really, if you don't enjoy longer Recons or struggle with them, I highly recommend reaching out for this one.