So, when I first started reading Eighth Doctor novels, I just read whichever ones I happened to pick up in bookshops. (Which meant that the first one I read was 'Camera Obscura', and boy, was *that* ever a weird place to start. Begin with 'who is this Sabbath bloke who is apparently so important?', continue on through 'so...he has the Doctor's other heart *why*, exactly?' and work down to '...and why does this mean they can psychically molest each other?' and you'll be approximating my mental state on reading this book.) And then I managed to pick up a couple of them where Fitz was the companion (well, he *was* around for fifty-odd books, you're pretty much bound to trip over him fairly quickly), which got me firmly hooked. And then I decided that it'd probably be a good idea to keep an eye open for those fabled grails of extended novel sequences, Character Development and Plot Arc, by starting to read the series from the beginning.

Though of course, this did mean I had to wade through 18 books of Sam Jones before I ever met Fitz again. Boo, hiss.

I keep intending to write up a few brief notes for the novels I've read so far, just so I'll remember which one's which (because God knows, 'Placebo Effect' was eminently forgettable and I have no wish to wade through it again...) For the moment, I just want to record my extreme happiness at having finally reached 'The Taint' and got dear Fitz back again. I'm only a couple of chapters in, and I'll freely admit that Fitz is one of those characters who is only *vaguely* cool even after having associated with the Doctor for fifty novels, so you can imagine what a loser he starts out ^_^ But I'm relieved to discover that I still think he's an ace companion, even bumming around in the early 60s, trying to chat up Sam with so much endearing patheticness that you almost hope he succeeds.

Also: 'Sam looked at him and smiled to herself as they walked along. He was older than she - about twenty-six, twenty-seven - which would make him forty-four when she was born. Which meant he was in his sixties when she met the Doctor... What becomes of you, anyway? she wondered.'

That's just what the readers want to know too, Sam. *angsts over the Unknown Fate of Fitz, especially in connection with the Time Wars and Ninth's worrying fondness for a certain battered leather jacket*.

Somehow, it feels a little bit intimidating posting about Who here, as I know that the most erudite Whovian I could probably ever hope to meet looks in here on occasion. Still, the Parrot is a Chivalrous Knight, and I am sure he will be willing to smile with pity and indulgence on my small-scale and ill-informed fannish rambles, so I thought I might as well take the plunge.

( Blonde by numbers? )

Cross-posted here from my usual blog mainly for parrot_knight's benefit - I don't plan on making this blog a quizzing sort of place, but this one amused me, and I ganked the meme from him, so...

Which Doctor Who are you? Your Result: You are the Eighth Doctor! Stylish, handsome and with love in your heart. For some reason, things that are past simply refuse to die, and you are forced to combat them once again. You like architecture, especially old style buildings.
You are the Second Doctor!
You are the Seventh Doctor!
You are the Fifth Doctor!
You are the First Doctor!
You are the Third Doctor!
You are the Fourth Doctor!
You are the Sixth Doctor!
Which Doctor Who are you?

As I said on my regular blog, I didn't *deliberately* cheat on that one. I think the abnormal number of velvet blazers in my wardrobe may have thrown the results off a bit.

I've always thought of myself more as the Romana type, myself...

[Edit: Can't be bothered to attempt to fix the silly busted table code. For the record, my results were: really-quite-a-lot-8th (c.45%), a-fair-bit-2nd (c.20%), a reasonable-amount-7th (c. 15%), a-little-bit 5th, 1st and 3rd (c. 7% each) and not at all 4th or 6th.]