A Thing of Eternity wrote:SandChigger wrote:
Ahem...the only time there could be any fact-checking going on is when they pass the manuscript around to Kevin's "readers". (And who doesn't think they're just a bunch of ass-kissing yes-men.) If Byron was just reading PoD right before it hit the stores, you can be fairly certain that the other members of the HLP hadn't seen it either.
So you agree - this Dune expert is fake? Even a yes-man "expert" fact checker would, I imagine, still unearth most of the mistakes we do, so I don't think there is much chance that there actually is any "expert".
OK, if we're talking about Dr Torkos, I think he's fairly on the level
as far as making chronologies of science fiction universes goes. It seems to be a hobby of his, and one that he takes seriously. I believe Omph has corresponded with him directly (and I've been meaning to write him for a while but just haven't gotten 'round to it).
As far as Torkos being called a "Dune expert" (IIRC it was actually something more like "Dune Ph.D.". Omph?), that was something Kevin threw out to counter a complaint about their factual accuracy with respect to the original books. I believe Torkos completely denied being a "Dune Ph.D." expert. He's an eye doctor (ear, nose & throat, maybe? I'd go to him for the tonsils before Kev!

), I think.
We should be careful not to create too much collateral damage. I suspect that Torkos incorporated a lot of things in his timeline at the suggestion of Kevin and the other guy. Or they could have "fixed" it a bit after they got it from him.
He is also thanked somewhere (in Sadworms?) for doing additional fact-checking. But you know the standard
professional caveat as far as that goes, right?
Anyway, the real problem here is this: WHY THE HELL SHOULD THE TWO BIGGEST DUNE FANS IN THE WORLD NEED SOMEONE ELSE TO DO THEIR FACT-CHECKING FOR THEM?!

"Let the dead give water to the dead. As for me, it's NO MORE FUCKING TEARS!"