Via Geek Press, the ultimate grand list of overused SF cliches. This should be a mouse click away from any aspiring SF writer, if you don't want to add to the burgeoning pile of turgid and laughable dreck out there, and further decrease the percentage of non-crud in Sturgeon's Law.

I particularly enjoyed the cliched settings and characterizations:

Cities of future are depicted as though sanitation workers have been on strike from now until then.

Planets with the same exact climate planet-wide (planets without atmosphere excepted).

Alternative Earths where society is just like some society of the past, with some technodoodads added.

Bad guys who miss everything they shoot at.

Beginning warriors who hit everything they shoot at.

All genetically superior humans have an innate drive to rule, conquer, or kill everyone else.

And silly science:

A hole the size of a barn is made in the hull of a space ship; decompression of the ship's atmosphere takes a half minute or so.

A hole the size of a dime is made in the hull of a space ship; decompression of the ship's atmosphere takes a half minute or so.

A large nuclear explosion can be obtained by putting several smaller de-vices together.

The same energy beam which causes rocks, buildings and robots to violently explode produces only a puff of smoke and a bit of burnt flesh and clothing when used on a living being.

These are by no means the best--they are merely representative--go read the whole thing.

It says a lot that Star Trek is so prominently featured. Of course, one of the reasons is that Trek is so widely known.

(I contributed the one about the shape-shifter that can also change its mass.)

Well now, name me a genre who's subjects aren't time worn and hacknied. Have you seen a western, or cop show, or doctor movie that doesn't remind you of something else. No, you have not, unless you have long term memory loss.

It's not the basic ideas that get used up its the amount of crap that actually makes it into print now that makes it look so bad. What now gets printed looks like what my friends and I used to write in high school!!

We are very short of new Heinleins, Asimovs and Clarks, etc. All of whom, used almost all those ideas from the list, but with enough class and art and science fact to hold our attention and to keep us looking ahead. I've given up on the new stuff, gonna re-read the good stuff instead.

Posted by Steve at July 21, 2003 02:53 PM

I think he needs to add symbols for "Babylon 5" and "Dr. Who."

Star Trek TOS: beams from forward phasers leave the ship at different angles, but on the planet's surface they come from different directions and converge on the same spot. Must be some funky atmospheric refraction effect.

Star Trek TNG: The Enterprise crew is actually willing to play poker with Deanna Troi.

Star Trek DS9: The Ferengi haven't invented electronic funds transfer.

Star Trek Voyager: Janeway makes some upgrade efforts here and there, but if my ship were alone in the Delta Quadrant it would be featuring lots and lots of extra weapons turrets.

Dr. Who: Daleks have no opposable thumbs, and they think themselves the master race?

Battlestar Galactica: Cylon base ships have life support systems that are always turned on and that function throughout the ship. You think they'd limit the life support to their brig and to whatever room is housing their human Benedict Arnold; otherwise Starbuck and Apollo sneak aboard easlily in their captured Cylon raider and muck things up.