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Mur Lafferty

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Playing For Keeps Kindle Edition

by Mur Lafferty (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.9 352 ratings

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Winner of the 2008 Parsec Award for Best Novel. From the 2012 John W. Campbell Award Nominee.

Why does every superhero have to be superstrong, immune to bullets, be able to fly, and look good in tight clothing and a cape?
What if real superpowers come from inside?

If every super power is supposed to be used for good or evil, why are some people born with completely useless ones?
In this world, the superheroes are heroes, but they're jerks.
The villains are charming, but manipulative and, well, villains.
And both groups got the best powers: flight, super strength, telepathy, genius, fire.

The Third Wave of heroes are stuck with the leftovers: the ability to instantly make someone sober, the power to smell the past, absolute control...over elevators. Bar owner Keepsie Branson has the power that prevents anything in her possession from being stolen. Useless in the realm of crime fighting (or -causing.) Or is it?

**Praise for Playing for Keeps: **

"Lafferty executes the story brilliantly, crafting a city and denizens so well-defined, you'd think they were pulled from a top-selling four-color comic." Award-winning author JC Hutchins

"a super-hero book with a twist ... a truly rousing tale of friendship, sacrifice, and commitment" author Matthew Wayne Selznick

""This is a novel of cliffhangers that had me going from page one until I closed the covers." ~BoingBoing.net

Print length

262 pages
Language

English
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Publication date

July 14, 2008
File size

719 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001GAOUFE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Restless Brain Media (July 14, 2008)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 14, 2008
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 719 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 262 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #632,586 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,422 in Humorous Science Fiction (Books)
- #1,679 in Superhero Fantasy eBooks
- #2,941 in Superhero Science Fiction

Customer Reviews:
3.9 352 ratings

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Mur Lafferty

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2018 Hugo, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, Manly Wade Wellman Best Novel nominee (Six Wakes)

2018, 2017 Hugo Best Fancast nominee (Ditch Diggers)

2014, 2015 WINNER Manly Wade Wellman Award (The Shambling Guide to New York City & Ghost Train to New Orleans)

2013 WINNER Astounding (John W. Campbell) Award for Best New Writer

"...the doyenne of scifi podcasting." ~Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing.net

Mur Lafferty is an author and podcaster from Durham, NC. She made her name with podcasting (I Should Be Writing, Ditch Diggers, and Escape Pod) and has written for magazines, roleplaying games, and audio and video podcasts.

She's the author of Station Eternity, The Ophelia Network, Solo: A Star Wars Story, I Should Be Writing, Six Wakes, The Shambling Guides, and part of the team that writes Bookburners.

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3.9 out of 5

352 global ratings

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Marc Bailey

These heroes are truly super

Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2008

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Start with a simple premise: what if human beings started to develop strange powers and abilities? Then take it a step further: wouldn't at least some of these people have powers that... well... suck?

Mur Lafferty has created a superhero world like no other. The villains are dastardly, the heroes are jerks with perfect hair, and somewhere in between is the Third Wave. Members of the Third Wave were born with powers of their own, but the things they can do are so weak, useless, or just plain weird that they've been rejected by the Superhero Academy and doomed to a life of mediocrity.

This book is just an amazingly fun read. A comic book geek from waaaay back, I'm usually not fond of stories that make fun of the heroes. But Mur handles this with such humor and grace that I was caught by the very first chapter and couldn't shake free until the end.

Mur's use of humor reminds me a great deal of Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, etc.). The dialog and character interaction are often hilarious, but she never lets that detract from the situations that the characters are facing. There are a lot of laughs in this book, but there are also some genuine thrills and even a few tears (at least, if you're as much of a sap as I am). If you're a fan of Whedon, especially his recent Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog, then you should really check out Mur's work.

So pull up a barstool at Keepsie's place, choose your poison, and follow Keepsie Branson and some of her Third Wave friends as they get caught up in events that they cannot control. You'll love the ride and I'm sure that you'll become every bit as much a fan of Mur's work as I am.

2 people found this helpful

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Zachary Ricks

Low Powered Heroes, High Powered Fiction

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2012

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Playing for Keeps is a fantastic book about the underdog. In a world where people pay so much attention to the big powers, the big names, the big battles, the so-called little people may feel left out, discouraged, and bitter. Of course, when it comes right down to it, sometimes the little people make the biggest difference.

Unlike so many others, I did not listen to the PfK podcast, so I came to this book without the benefit of Mur's great narration, and enjoyed it thoroughly. The characters were well-written, the action was compelling, and I found myself wanting more. Mur Lafferty did a fantastic job drawing me in to this world and making me care about these characters. Highly recommended.

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V. Jones

Great concept, but poorly executed

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2014

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Playing for Keeps is the story of a person with third-rate super powers trying to mind her own business while being pulled into the affairs of A-list heroes and villains. It's a great idea - I've always been curious about the people who get just enough power to be different, but not enough to really benefit from it. However I was disappointed in how it was carried off.

The plot itself is fairly decent. How and why Keepsy comes to the attention of the First Wavers makes perfect sense, as is her refusal to play ball with either side. Given her lousy position within society, she has absolutely no reason to help the heroes or villains and the author never forgets that. It makes her actions and motives much more interesting and gives her both an insider's and outsider's perspective of the superhero world.

That said, I think Keepsy and her kind's underdog status is pushed just a little too hard. It's well-established in the first chapter how they're perceived, but Keepsy seems to keep harping on about it every five minutes. It also would have been a lot more compelling if the First Wavers had been humanized, but they're all apparently jerks with no redeeming qualities. So instead of a clever exploration of how a ranking system divides a society (like the movie Sky High's hero/sidekick dynamic) it became a 'poor me' story about how Keepsy and her kind were so oppressed.

This in itself is not entirely bad. As it's told from Keepsy's perspective, her opinion of the heroes makes a great deal of sense. If someone spends all their time stepping on you, you're not likely to really see much good in them. However, the plot-line involving Keepsy's powers undermined the whole premise of the book. I won't spoil what it is here, other than it invalidated every argument she'd made regarding First Wavers and took away everything that made her interesting in the first place.

It was trying really hard to be a story about how everyone can make a difference and is deserving of respect, regardless of ability. But in the end, it was just about Keepsy.

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Cliente Amazon

Witty and funny

Reviewed in Spain on August 12, 2018

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Only negative comments I can make about this wonderful novel is, "why haven't any of Lafferty's been translated into Spanish?"

BigDumbYak

I want to go to Keepsie's Bar

Reviewed in Canada on March 29, 2017

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Playing for Keeps was a great read! This spin on the whole SuperHero/Villain trope was a refreshing and engaging take on the genre. The characters were interesting and their powers were bizarre. I really enjoyed the world of Keepsie and her bar patrons, and I hope that Mur comes back here again in the future.

Michael Cahoon

keeps

Reviewed in Italy on July 5, 2014

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it was okay I guess, although it dragged in points. Also, there were too many characters, who didn't exactly stand out that much

Neversan

Gute Idee, aber eher schwache Umsetzung

Reviewed in Germany on June 14, 2014

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"Playing for Keeps" spielt mit dem Superhelden-Genre.

Neben den heroischen Superhelden, die bewundert von der Öffentlichkeit Superhelden und Verbrecher jagen und Katastrophen verteiteln gibt es eine große Zahl von Menschen mit weniger nützlichen oder populären Kräften. Einige dieser "Third Wavers" stehen im Mittelpunkt der Handlung von Playing for Keeps:

"Keepsie" ist Barbesitzerin mit einer Superkraft: niemand kann ihr wegnehmen, was ihr gehört (="she *keeps* what is hers"). Wer versucht, ihr dennoch etwas wegzunehmen, verfällt in Stasis, bis sie ihn freilässt.

Das war der "Akademie" - der Einrichtung, die die "echten" Superhelden in Seventh City registriert, mit Heldenlizenzen versieht und beschäftigt - nicht nützlich genug. Also bekam Keepsie keine Heldenlizenz und durfte nicht auf Verbrecherjagd gehen.

Statt dessen hat sie damals eine Bar aufgemacht, zu deren Stammkunden heute auch noch viele andere Third Wavers mit unpopulären oder weniger effektiven Talenten gehören. Beispiele sind die Fähigkeit, Aufzüge zu kontrollieren, "S***Beams" (also Fäkalien) aus den Händen zu schießen oder auch einfach nur niemals ein Tablett fallen zu lassen oder Speisen perfekt Kochen zu können.

Keepsie ist bis heute auf die Akademie nicht gut zu sprechen. Also nutzt sie ihre Fähigkeit und rückt eine mysteriöse Kugel erst einmal nicht an die Superhelden heraus, als ein Superbösewicht ihr diese heimlich zusteckt.

Dies resultiert in verschiedenen Versuchen der Akademie und der Superbösewichte, Keepsie dazu zu bringen, die Kugel und deren Inhalt herauszugeben bei der mehr und mehr herauskommt, dass in der Akademie und mit den Superhelden der Stadt einiges nicht so ganz stimmig zu sein scheint und umgekehrt auch die Superschurken einiges verbergen.

Beste Gelegenheit für die Underdogs der "Third Waver" also, mit ihren scheinbar nutzlosen Fertigkeiten mehr und mehr zu glänzen und zum Zünglein an der Waage zu werden.

Leider ist die gute - wenn auch nicht neue - Grundidee nicht gut umgesetzt.

Mur Lafferty ist eine amerikanische Podcast-Größe, aber keine erfahrene Romanautorin. Playing for Keeps war insoweit - soweit mir ersichtlich .- ihr Erstlingswerk.

Die gute Grundidee ist leider nur mäßig umgesetzt. Die Hauptfigur "Keepsie" und einige Nebenfiguren sind zwar durchaus sympathisch und durch die Rolle der Third Wavers als Underdogs kommt eine gewisse Spannung auf.

Aber Mur Lafferty ist weder eine wirklich gute Erzählerin, noch ist es ihr gelungen, Plot und Hintergründe ihres Romans halbwegs widerspruchsfrei und nachvollziehbar zu halten. Für mich am störendsten allerdings war Zweierlei:

1. Die Autorin schafft es selbst an Schlüsselstellen des Romans immer wieder nicht, Emotionen und rationale Entscheidungen der Charaktere ansatzweise glaubwürdig und nachvollziehbar rüberzubringen.

Beispiele:
Keepsie und einer ihrer Stammkunden lieben sich plötzlich. Warum das so ist? Keine Ahnung. Eine nachvollziehbare emotionale Entwicklung dahin wird nicht geschildert. Noch kurz zuvor sieht ihn Keepsie noch nicht einmal als Freund,sondern als guten Stammkunden?
Keepsie und ihre Stammkunden sind eigentlich gesetzestreue Kleinbürger, aber plötzlich "damit die Story irgendwie hinkommt" verhalten sie sich ungehemmt wie Schwerkriminelle ohne dass sie sich damit auch nur nennenswert auseinandersetzen. Die legalen Wege "normaler" Bürger (Polizei, Anwalt, Presse...) werden von den Third Wavers nicht einmal auch nur kurz angedacht.

2. Es gibt eine lange Liste sonstiger schreiender Unstimmigkeiten, da es Mur Lafferty irgendwie nicht schafft, sich in ihre Welt hineinzuversetzen und die Dinge halbwegs "realistisch" zu halten. Auch dadurch wirkt die Story oft sehr zurechtgebogen, wenn man als Leser für so etwas ein bisschen sensibel ist.

Obwohl das Thema des Buchs z.B. eigentlich "alternative Superkräfte" oder "Kreative Anwendung von Superkräften" sein soll, übersieht Mur Lafferty selbst die offensichtlichsten Anwendungsmöglichkeiten oder den sozialen Nutzen der Fähigkeiten der Third Wavers. "Kreativität" fehlt hier gerade eben sehr.

Was nicht "heroisch" ist, bedeutet bei Lafferty automatisch "soziales Abstellgleis". Perfekte Gourmetköchin? - bei Mur Lafferty gerade mal gut genug für Burger und Fritten in Keepsies Bar, da Niemand den Wert der guten Frau zu erkennen scheint und diese auch selbst anscheinend nicht einmal auf die Idee kam, ein eigenes Restaurant oder auch nur einen Pizzaservice aufzumachen (bei perfektem Geschmack so oder so die Lizenz zum Gelddrucken).

"Heiler"? Bei Lafferty "nutzlos", da er immer nur ein paar Kubikzentimer Wunde gleichzeitig heilen kann. Der Heiler muss daher in einem Surfer-Laden arbeiten, da Mur Lafferty ist nichtmal ansatzweise auf die Idee gekommen, dass ein Großteil aller Operationswunden heutzutage klein sind und z.B. bei kosmetischen OPs, Organtransplantationen, Herz. und Gehirnoperationen eine Sofortheilung dieser "kleinen Wunden" - ohne Narben, ohne Infektionen - jedes Jahr dutzende Leben und Abermillionen an Geld wert wäre. Aber die "Akademie" - und auch niemand sonst - scheint in Laffertys Welt den offensichtlichsten Nutzen zu bemerken.

Einer der Superbösewichte hat "perfektes Glück". Aber beim Wort "Glück" wohl fast jeder Mensch als Folge auch an Reichtümer (Glücksspiel, Aktien und sonstige Spekulationsgeschäfte..) denken dürfte, hat es Lafferty nicht geschafft. Dafür wird aber ausführlich erwähnt, dass die Akademie stark auf ihre Finanzierung angewiesen und damit über "Geld" verwundbar wäre.

Solche Plotholes/Denkfehler sind kein Einzelfall und sie beziehen sich sogar auf die Gesamthandlung. Es wirkt oft so, als ob sich Lafferty den Handlungsstrang und die wesentlichen Geschehnisse nicht im Vorhinein (oder zumindest irgend wann einmal) überlegt hat sondern oft nur wild drauflos geschrieben hat. So endet z.B. nach ca. 2/3 des Buchs meines Erachtens die wesentliche Handlung. Der Rest - inklusive dem, was wohl der "Endkampf" sein sollte - sind stark antiklimatisch und es gelingt ihr m.E. nicht, hier einen nennenswerten Spannungsbogen aufzubauen.

Fazit: Grundidee und auch der Anfang des Buches sind durchaus in Ordnung - dadurch wird es aber leider nur umso unbefriedigender, wenn man weiterliest und sich dann eine Schwäche von Playing for Keeps nach der anderen offenbart.

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Paul S. Jenkins

A super book about not-so-super heroes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2008

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Mur Lafferty's first published novel is set in Seventh City, where superheroes form part of the local government infrastructure, with superpowers resulting from unexpected side effects of a drug administered during pregnancy. In this way the author grounds the fantastical element in just enough plausible scientific rationalisation to make it believable.

But the novel isn't about the superpowers, quirky and imaginative though many of them are (my favourite is the waitress's power of being able lift anything - so long as it's on a tray). No, the focus of the story is the effect on a group of people denied the coveted 'hero' designation because their powers are simply not good enough to qualify for government endorsement and funding at the Academy. These are the Third Wavers, many of whom hang out at Keepsie's Bar - the proprietor so nicknamed for her power of being able to 'keep' anything she owns safe from loss or theft. The Third Wavers regard the Academy with understandable suspicion and resentment, and the feeling is mutual. Add the fact that some of the actual superheroes are insufferably smug and arrogant and you have the makings of a superpowered conflict.

There's also a good deal of comedy, and some adult language, though nothing with which a teenager wouldn't already be familiar. And while there's plenty of action, right from page one, the personal lives of Keepsie and her friends are portrayed with sensitivity, giving the novel depth and realism.

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