The Faded Sun trilogy is a series of science fiction novels set in the Alliance-Union universe of American writer C. J. Cherryh. The series comprises the three novels The Faded Sun: Kesrith (1978), The Faded Sun: Shon'jir (1978), and The Faded Sun: Kutath (1979), published by DAW Books. They were re-published in as an omnibus edition in the UK in 1987 and in the U.S. in 2000. The series consists of some of the earliest of Cherryh's novels, featuring world-building and extraterrestrial races. Both the mri and the regul fulfill John W. Campbell's dictum of "show me a creature that thinks as well as a man, or better, but not like a man." The Faded Sun: Kesrith was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1978 and the Hugo Award in 1979 and was shortlisted for the Locus Awards in 1979. In addition, the other two books in the trilogy were independently longlisted for the Locus Award. Plot summary The Faded Sun trilogy can be considered a Bildungsroman, since one of the major themes is the coming of age of Niun, the mri protagonist. At the same time, it is a story of acculturation, as the human protagonist, Sten Duncan, lives among the mri to the point of becoming one of them. The Faded Sun trilogy is the principal account of the Mri Wars era of Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe. At the beginning of the first volume, the regul have just concluded a forty-year war with humanity. As part of the peace, they are ceding the desert world of Kesrith to humanity. However, they have neglected to inform its inhabitants, the mri, who have served them as mercenaries for over two thousand years. The Mri have been nearly exterminated in these wars, and young Niun is one of the few remaining warriors. When the regul seek to double-cross his people, he and his sister Melein, the last of the priestly Sen caste, form an uneasy alliance with the human Sten Duncan to rescue a holy relic that may hold the key to the Mri's survival. The second volume opens with Niun and Melein captives of the human occupation force, kept alive by the human medicine they would refuse if they were not sedated. But the human command has a plan that may thwart the regul's attempted genocide of the Mri. They produce a navigation tape from the data in the holy relic