Playing for Keeps (novel)

Playing for Keeps is a 2007 science fiction novel by Mur Lafferty. The book was released as a series of podcasts^[1] and as a book a year later.

Plot Intro

Playing for Keeps tells the story of Laura "Keepsie" Branson, a bar owner in the shining metropolis of Seventh City: birthplace of super powers. Keepsie and her friends live among egotistical heroes and manipulative villains, and manage to fall directly in the middle as people with powers, but who just aren't strong enough to make a difference. Or that's what they've been told. As the city begins to melt down, it's hard to tell who are the good guys and who are the bad.

Characters

First Wave (Heroes)

• Pallas - Superman-type powers
• White Lightning - flight - lightning control
• Crane - stretching
• Tattoo Devil - can animate his tattoos
• Ghostheart - lying / mind control
• Seismic Stan - earthmoving

Second Wave (Villains)

• Doodad - Technomancy
• Clever Jack - Luck
• Light of Mornings - Emits nuclear radiation

Third Wave

• Laura Branson - "Keepsie" - Ownership (keeps what is hers)
• Peter - Smell / Knowledge
• Ian - Excrement blasts
• Michelle - Tray control
• Collette - Cooking prescience
• Tomas - 5 seconds of super strength
• Alex - Healing (1 in² per second)

Versions

The book is available as an serialized podcast, a novel and as a free PDF.^[2]

References

External links

• "Playing For Keeps". TV Tropes.