LYA prompt 009.2 and OS prompt 138.2
Light Years Ahead prompt 009.2
What was the most terrible instalment of your canon in your opinion? Why did you dislike it so much? Tell us what happened that you didn't approve of and what you would have done it better.
Oncoming Storms prompt 138.2
Is there anything in your character's canon that you disagree with, think is unlikely or are ignoring for any reason? If so, why?
There isn't a lot of canon for Harry, but the worst is Harry Sullivan's War. I feel slightly guilty about saying that it's the most terrible instalment of Harry's canon because it was Ian Marter who wrote it. And because he played Harry you sort of think that he must have known what he was talking about.
It is well-written and he does give a lot of background for Harry, which is great. Without this book there would be a lot more we don't know about him - given that we don't know very much at all, that's saying a lot.
However, the plot, which is a bit James Bond like, is unlikely even in a Bond film. It's just putting Harry into the hero's role and everyone else into the villain's role just a bit too much. And Harry doesn't seem like the sort of man a lot of people would want to kill (thump over the head maybe, but kill, not so much).
What does it make it better, though, is the short story called The Man from DOCTO(R) by Andrew Collins in Short Trips: Companions. In this story we find out that Harry is fond of telling his friends stories from his time with the Doctor, but he does have a tendency to exaggerate and in some cases, completely make things up. Since it's his role in events that he exaggerates, with this in mind, Harry Sullivan's War reads like a story that Harry is telling.
So I think that some of the events in the book did happen, but most of it was exaggerated by Harry and, in fact, no one tried to kill him, and he certainly never hung off the side of the Eiffel Tower. I also interpret the fact that he drives a red sports car as Harry having a mid-life crisis - the book does start with him worrying over turning 40, after all. And I can't quite see any other reason for him driving a car like that.
What was the most terrible instalment of your canon in your opinion? Why did you dislike it so much? Tell us what happened that you didn't approve of and what you would have done it better.
Oncoming Storms prompt 138.2
Is there anything in your character's canon that you disagree with, think is unlikely or are ignoring for any reason? If so, why?
There isn't a lot of canon for Harry, but the worst is Harry Sullivan's War. I feel slightly guilty about saying that it's the most terrible instalment of Harry's canon because it was Ian Marter who wrote it. And because he played Harry you sort of think that he must have known what he was talking about.
It is well-written and he does give a lot of background for Harry, which is great. Without this book there would be a lot more we don't know about him - given that we don't know very much at all, that's saying a lot.
However, the plot, which is a bit James Bond like, is unlikely even in a Bond film. It's just putting Harry into the hero's role and everyone else into the villain's role just a bit too much. And Harry doesn't seem like the sort of man a lot of people would want to kill (thump over the head maybe, but kill, not so much).
What does it make it better, though, is the short story called The Man from DOCTO(R) by Andrew Collins in Short Trips: Companions. In this story we find out that Harry is fond of telling his friends stories from his time with the Doctor, but he does have a tendency to exaggerate and in some cases, completely make things up. Since it's his role in events that he exaggerates, with this in mind, Harry Sullivan's War reads like a story that Harry is telling.
So I think that some of the events in the book did happen, but most of it was exaggerated by Harry and, in fact, no one tried to kill him, and he certainly never hung off the side of the Eiffel Tower. I also interpret the fact that he drives a red sports car as Harry having a mid-life crisis - the book does start with him worrying over turning 40, after all. And I can't quite see any other reason for him driving a car like that.