? of the Week: Worldbuilding Flubs — what pulls you out of the story?

We’ve got an episode coming up soon about worldbuilding. But before we get to that, we want to know this:

What worldbuilding flubs pull you out of the story? What, for you, ruins the integrity of the world?Leave a comment and let us know!

shaunduke

A professor of digital rhetoric and other nerdy things at Bemidji State University and an University of Florida alumnus, Shaun studies science fiction, digital fan cultures, postcolonialism, and digital rhetoric. He is an avid reader of SF/F, a would-be writer with a few writing credits, and an all around SF/F wombat. He can be found on his website and on his Twitter account.

All Posts »

0 Responses

Rachel Hore says:

October 25, 2011 at 1:58 am

No sense of history or a complete carbon copy of another civilisation with no explanation about how it got to be that way in the environment it is in.
1. shaunduke says:
  
  November 1, 2011 at 12:21 am
  
  Agreed. I personally can’t stand when an author inserts a nonsensical piece of technology or nonsensical idea in order to serve the plot. Galactic civilizations with functional and efficient robot servants still needs flesh-and-bone slaves? Seriously? Ridiculous…