Shared universe

A Shared universe is a literary technique in which several different authors share settings and characters which appear in their respective works of fiction, often referring to events taking place in the other writers' stories. It can also be called a "shared setting." It can be a metafictional device. Shared fictional universes tend to appear more frequently in fantasy and science fiction than in other genres.

Professional examples

• Thieves' World, created by Robert Lynn Asprin, was used as the setting for a series of anthologies and novels by a variety of writers Asprin was friendly with.
• Liavek, edited by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull.
• Merovingen Nights, edited by C. J. Cherryh.
• George R.R. Martin edited the Wild Cards series of short story anthologies, set in a shared fictional universe involving costumed superheroes.
• The Man-Kzin Wars is a series of anthologies of short stories by different authors set in Larry Niven's Known Space, the same science fictional universe as his Ringworld and "The Warriors". Niven stated that, as he had never experienced war first-hand, he did not feel competent to write war stories set in the interstellar war period of his future history, and so allowed others (including Poul Anderson and Dean Ing) to try their hand at it.