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	SD! : SD! Wiki : Marketplace series : history This article is part of the SD! Wiki hosted by Seek Discipline! Marketplace series The Marketplace series comprises five novels by Laura Antoniou and a few separately published short stories, which describe the experiences of the participants in a highly ritualized fictional BDSM secret society. "The Marketplace" is notable for being focused as much on character development as erotica, and for the pansexual nature of its setting. The main thread through these books is the idea of the Marketplace, a secret society of people dedicated to training and selling slaves to qualified owners. The books consist of: "The Marketplace" (1993) "The Slave" (1994) "The Trainer" (1995, revised ed., 2001) "The Academy" (2000) "The Reunion" (2002) Through these books, Antoniou explores the concept of consensual nonconsent, gratification through service, consensual slavery, and the support structures needed to maintain a hidden society. The series has several recurring characters, including the mysterious Chris Parker, a slave trainer who aspires to be a slave himself. Other featured characters include Robin Cassidy, a young woman who has pushed beyond the structure of Dominance / submission role playing and is trained to be a slave; Imala Anderson, a Master Trainer who not only trains slaves but mentors new trainers; Alexandra Selador and Grendel Elliot, trainers who specialize in novice slaves; and Michael LaGuardia, an overconfident man who believes he can be a slave trainer. As Antoniou developed the series, she added more characters, giving the Marketplace universe a rich and complex international feel, with stories taking place in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, and Japan. The series is frequently cited by BDSM aficionados as one of the most realistic portrayals of a fictional slave-training community, with conscious effort by the author to create a real sense of the economics of the structure while setting the Marketplace within the contemporary real world. There is an enormous diversity of characters in age, body type, gender, and sexual orientation. Many conversations between characters explore the nature of dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and the difference between consensual pair-bonded BDSM relationships and being sold as chattel to the highest bidder. Along with the Story of O's secret Chateau de Roissy, the Marketplace is likely to have contributed to the Ancient European Houses myth which has grown up online. See also Marketplace protocol Consensual Nonconsent Ancient European Houses myth External links Review of "The Marketplace" series Character sketches of "The Marketplace's" characters Laura Antoniou's website (This article incorporates text from the The Marketplace series article in Wikipedia.) This article is published under the terms of the GFDL. People with profiles on Seek Discipline! can improve this article: see the SD! Wiki help page for details.