The Real Trouble with Tribbles

[Extrocomp]

"The Real Trouble with Tribbles" is a non-Star Trek short story by David Gerrold that apparently features tribbles. It was published in the March 2025 issue of the sci-fi magazine Worlds of If.

Has anyone here read it? Is the story any good? Are the tribbles the same as the ones in Star Trek or did Gerrold change them to avoid copyright problems?

 

[FredH]

"The Real Trouble with Tribbles" is a non-Star Trek short story by David Gerrold that apparently features tribbles. It was published in the March 2025 issue of the sci-fi magazine Worlds of If.

Has anyone here read it? Is the story any good? Are the tribbles the same as the ones in Star Trek or did Gerrold change them to avoid copyright problems?

The story is okay, if very short (and near the end it felt as though a page might be missing from the text, though that might just be me reacting to an abrupt transition). The tribbles are described as having been named for their similarity to something from “the classics”; they are cute little cooing fluffballs, but they don’t constantly reproduce like the Trek version.

 

[Steve Roby]

We're talking about the David Gerrold who wrote an unlicenced Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover and called it a parody to get it published, right? The guy who got sued over a Doctor Seuss knockoff book? He may have a slightly different notion of copyright. And I didn't even mention the whole tribbles vs flat cats thing. Oops.