The Chanur novels are a series of five science fiction novels, forming three separate stories, written by American author C. J. Cherryh and published by DAW Books between 1981 and 1992. The first novel in the series is The Pride of Chanur (1981), which was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1983. The Pride of Chanur, originally a stand-alone story, was followed by the Chanur's Venture trilogy (also referred to as "Chanur's Revenge"), Chanur's Venture (1984), which was shortlisted for a Locus Award in 1985; The Kif Strike Back (1985) and Chanur's Homecoming (1986). These were followed by a later sequel, Chanur's Legacy (1992). The five novels were also published in two omnibus editions: the first three in The Chanur Saga in 2000 and the next two in Chanur's Endgame in 2007.
An abridged version of The Pride of Chanur was published in the Science Fiction Digest in 1983.
Set in Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe, but in a different region of space inhabited by numerous alien spacefaring civilizations, the Chanur novels are unusually realistic examples of space opera, with ship-to-ship shooting minimized in favor of coercion, manipulation, politics, pride contests, and clashing economic interests, driven in many cases by species-to-species miscommunication and misunderstanding.
The Compact
The series is set in the same Alliance-Union universe of Downbelow Station, but in a region of space in the opposite direction from Earth as the Alliance and Union. It is occupied by a number of spacefaring civilizations bound by a set of trade treaties into a so-called Compact. The Compact is not a political organization, and has no government; it deals only with open trade, leaving the component civilizations to resolve conflicts between themselves.
Human space borders kif and knnn territory, the most aggressive and enigmatic species of the Compact respectively. First contact ensues when an ambitious kif hakkikt (prince) captures a human exploration ship. The last surviving crew member, Tully, escapes while the kif ship is docked at a station and winds up on The Pride of Chanur, a hani merchant vessel commanded by Pyanfar Chanur. This triggers the events of the first novel in the series and its three-part sequel.
Species of the Compact
Oxygen-breathers
Hani
Homeworld: Anuurn
Hani are a feline-like species, maned, bearded, usually of red or tawny fur. Females are smaller than humans, males much larger (for much the same reason as Earth lions). They were discovered by the mahendo'sat and helped into space; most of their technology is therefore derived from mahen.
They live in autonomous clans, each consisting of related females, children, and a single male, the clan lord. A male takes over a clan by defeating the previous lord in personal combat. Most males are not that lucky. Male offspring are thrown out of their clan when they become strong enough to pose a threat to the lord. They live in exile among others like themselves, honing their fighting skills and waiting for the opportunity to challenge for a clan. For this reason and because males are stereotyped as being emotionally unstable, only females go into space (until Pyanfar Chanur changes the rules). Females do all the work on clan lands and in space ventures, although Cherryh does describe some able and intelligent males who become involved in the world around them.
Clans are united into amphictionies for control of scarce resources; the biggest one is their homeworld itself, governed by a mahen-inspired council of clans called the han. Hani politics are tradition-bound, based on such concepts as allegiance, honor, blood feud and parole.
One of the hani languages became the basis for the Compact's pidgin, because it was grammatically and phonetically easy for other species (but not as easy for humans).