''Merovingen Nights'' is a series of

shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where one or more writers (or other artists) independently contribute works that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, charact ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

books set in writer

C. J. Cherryh Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award–winning novels '' Downbe ...

Alliance–Union universe The Alliance–Union universe is a fictional universe created by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It is the setting for a future history series extending from the 21st century into the far future. To date, the corpus of the Alliance–Union univ ...

. There are eight books in the series: a novel by Cherryh, ''

Angel with the Sword ''Angel with the Sword'' is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh, published in 1985 by DAW Books. It is set in Cherryh's Alliance–Union universe, and is the first book in the shared universe '' Merovingen Nights''. Recepti ...

'', and seven short fiction

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...

which Cherryh edited. The books were published by

DAW Books DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim, with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted ...

between 1985 and 1991. ''Angel with the Sword'' was originally published by Cherryh in 1985 as a free-standing novel. The ''Merovingen Nights'' series came into being two years later when Cherryh began editing seven anthologies that were set in the same universe as ''Angel with the Sword''. ''Angel with the Sword'' was subsequently republished with the ''Merovingen Nights'' branding. The books take place on the planet Merovin in the Alliance-Union universe after AD 3240, and as such, they are definitively science fiction, but the level of

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

on the planet is quite backwards for the 33rd century. For example, most personal weaponry is of the knife or sword variety; relatively few firearms are available and in any case nothing more advanced than a

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

. In addition, the planet Merovin is isolated, forsaken by the rest of humanity because of poor interstellar relations with an aggressive alien species, the Sharrh. Because of these limitations on technology, trade, and travel, and because many of the stories feature swordplay and skullduggery, the series is reminiscent of the old

sword and planet Planetary romanceAllen Steele, ''Captain Future - the Horror at Jupiter''p .195/ref> (other synonyms are sword and planet, and planetary adventure) is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy in which the bulk of the action consists of a ...

subgenre of speculative fiction. As such, some claim that the term

science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...

might be a more appropriate label for the books than

, but Cherryh has gone to great lengths to establish that despite the low technology level of the planet, the books fall clearly within the context of her Alliance–Union science fiction universe.

List of books

Novels * ''

'' (1985), C. J. Cherryh Anthologies * ''Festival Moon'' (1987) – ''Merovingen Nights'' #1 * ''Fever Season'' (1987) – ''Merovingen Nights'' #2 * ''Troubled Waters'' (1988) – ''Merovingen Nights'' #3 * ''Smuggler's Gold'' (1988) – ''Merovingen Nights'' #4 * ''Divine Right'' (1989) – ''Merovingen Nights'' #5 * ''Flood Tide'' (1990) – ''Merovingen Nights'' #6 * ''Endgame'' (1991) – ''Merovingen Nights'' #7

Contributing authors

The following authors contributed works of short fiction to the various anthologies: *

Lynn Abbey Marilyn Lorraine "Lynn" Abbey (born September 18, 1948) is an American fantasy author. Background Lynn Abbey was born in Peekskill, New York. She attended the University of Rochester, where she began as an astrophysics major. She earned a A.B. ( ...

Nancy Asire Nancy Asire (December 29, 1945 – August 11, 2021) was an American fantasy and science fiction author, best known for her ''Twilight's Kingdoms'' fantasy trilogy and her contributions to the shared universe series ''Heroes in Hell'', '' Sword o ...

Robert Lynn Asprin Robert Lynn Asprin (June 28, 1946 – May 22, 2008) was an American science fiction and fantasy author and active fan, known best for his humorous series '' MythAdventures'' and '' Phule's Company''. Background Robert Asprin was born in St ...

Leslie Fish Leslie Fish is an American folk musician, author, and anarchist political activist. Music Along with The DeHorn Crew, Fish created the first commercial filk recording in 1976, ''Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain't Even Been Yet''. Her second recordin ...

Mercedes Lackey Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born June 24, 1950) is an American writer of Fantasy literature, fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar (fictional co ...

, who subsequently re-worked some of her contribution into '' Shadow of the Lion'' * Chris Morris *

Janet Morris Janet Ellen Morris (May 25, 1946 – August 10, 2024) was an American author of fiction and nonfiction, best known for her fantasy and science fiction and her authorship of a non-lethal weapons concept for the U.S. military. Background Writing ...

* Roberta Rogow * Bradley H. Sinor

References

{{Janet Morris Alliance–Union universe DAW Books books Science fiction anthology series Science fiction book series