Playing for Keeps: Mur Lafferty's podcast superhero novel comes to print!

Posted by Cory Doctorow, August 25, 2008 9:19 AM | permalink

Podcasting pioneer Mur Lafferty's debut novel, Playing for Keeps, has just shipped. Mur's delightful superhero comedy tells the story of a plucky band of second-rate heroes who become outlaws when they out the Big Guys for their nefarious power-grabbing deeds. It's clear that Mur had a lot of fun writing this -- the second-rate powers (shooting streams of excrement, being able to tell a person's secrets by sniffing them) are straight out of The Tick.

Playing for Keeps was originally a serialized podcast, and it shows, in a good way: this is a novel of cliffhangers that had me going from page one until I closed the covers. Link

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Discussion

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#1 posted by Talia , August 25, 2008 9:45 AM

This is a really fun, wonderful story. A unique take on superherodom. Couldn't recommend it more. I'll be picking up a text copy shortly, will go next to Brave Men Run on my bookshelf. :)

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#2 posted by Doctor Popular , August 25, 2008 10:17 AM

This podcast was the first of Mur's work that I had heard. I loved it, and have encouraged all of my friends to check it out. I really hope to hear more from this weird superhero world. Not necessarily just about Keepsy, but about any of these loser super heroes.

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#3 posted by Talia , August 25, 2008 10:21 AM

Aw, they're not losers! ;) The third wavers are awesome :P

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#4 posted by Cyberwasteland , August 25, 2008 10:23 AM

Hey now! What's second rate about shooting streams of excrement, that's way better then heat vision.
Cool concept, though, I think I'll pick it up, or listen to the podcasts.

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#5 posted by Christiana Ellis , August 25, 2008 10:36 AM

I loved this story in podcast form and can't wait to experience it again in print.

There are so many places in life where we are led to believe that if we aren't in the absolute elite, we can't accomplish anything. But in Playing For Keeps, even the so-called wanna-be's can save the day!

What makes a hero? What makes a villain? Sure these questions have been asked before, but this particular exploration is tremendous fun.

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#6 posted by flatlander , August 25, 2008 12:09 PM

Amazon is OOS.... :(
here is the book site
http://www.playingforkeepsnovel.com/

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#7 posted by the_boy

, August 25, 2008 12:13 PM

I loved the podcast, and will be sure to pick up the book.

The best thing about 3rd wave powers is that they all sound like the game where you name a power and the person sitting next to you names the weakness:
A: "I can fly"
B: "But only 1 inch off the ground"

A: "I can change shape"
B: "But the caloric intake is intense and the process causes permanent tissue damage"

A: "I can heal people"
B: "But only 1 square inch at a time"

etc

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#8 posted by Anonymous , August 25, 2008 2:20 PM

Don't sweat Amazon's Out Of Stock messages. Since it's a Print On Demand book, "out of stock" is meaningless.

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#9 posted by Protobot , August 25, 2008 2:37 PM

Gee, that cover reminds me of a certain image....I can't quite place it, though. Hmmmmm......

Anyways, this looks pretty sweet. I'll be sure to check it out!

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#10 posted by Talia , August 25, 2008 3:14 PM