The 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.

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.