Love them or hate them there are a lot of common tropes across the science fiction genre. What are some of your favorite and least favorite tropes?

I think it goes without saying that one of the least favorite tropes is Deux ex Machina. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it at first, but after watching the German TV show “Dark” I was utterly dissatisfied with it. The entire series up until the very last episode is about this inescapable time loop and alternative universes which is pretty cool while watching it, but then you get closer and closer to the end wondering how they are going to solve this impossible problem. Then surprise they just do it instantly in the last episode.

Another trope I am not very fond of is nanotechnology where there are trillions of tiny robots that can effectively act as magic. It just feels like a lazy way to write science fiction because you really want a fantasy.

A trope I do actually like despite how overdone it is, is the idea of a precursor or forerunner. It often brings to light the absolutely massive scale of the universe which I find fun to think about.

  • RoundToo@kbin.social
    0·
    1 year ago

    I recently read the first Foundation novel as well as most of the second. Asimov was clearly not envisioning a more egalitarian future when he wrote about housewives destabilizing society when their appliances break and they can’t get them fixed or replaced.

    I honestly lost a lot of interest in continuing the series just because of that, but I also couldn’t get attached to any of the characters since it zips around in history so quickly. I get that civilization itself is supposed to be a “character” of sorts, but that just doesn’t appeal to me.

    I did like the first season of the show, however.

    • thrawn@lemmy.world
      1·
      1 year ago

      It’s been a minute since I’ve read the Foundation series, but I didn’t recall Asimov saying that society was destabilizing just due to appliances, but because they had forgotten how to repair/produce pretty much all modern technology (which of course the book being a product of its time, is all powered by mini nuclear reactors).