The Merchanter novels is a term that describes several loosely connected novels by science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh set in her Alliance-Union universe. These science fiction novels explore her merchanter subculture: the extended families that own and operate the ships that supply goods, transportation, news and trade to the various worlds and space stations in the human Earth, Alliance and Union space. The novels are related by a common setting and theme – a misfit (made so by circumstance) who finds his or her proper home – rather than plot and character; none of the books is a direct sequel of another in the conventional sense.