Lafferty, Mur
Entry updated 10 November 2023. Tagged: Author.
Working name of US podcaster, journalist and author Mary Lafferty (1973- ), active in the former capacity from around 2004; after audio release of some fiction, she began publishing work of genre interest with "Rex the Dog" in Murky Depths for June 2008. The issuing of her first novel, Playing for Keeps (2008), marks her sophisticated use of contemporary media: the tale was first published as an audio book, then as an ebook, then in print form: the narrative itself is a not unconventional spoof of the Superhero genre, with successive generational waves of heroes contesting turf.
Her series include the Afterlife sequence beginning with Heaven (2011 ebook), which is afterlife fantasy; and The Shambling Guides sequence, beginning with The Shambling Guide to New York (2013), which is urban fantasy, a formulary here moderately spoofed through the protagonist's job, which is to write Travel Guides for the undead. She edited the Online Magazine Mothership Zeta 2015-2017.
Lafferty is of specific sf interest for three novels. Six Wakes (2017), set on a Generation Starship populated by Clones and the descendants of clones, is a tightly-composed murder mystery. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) is a competent Tie to the Star Wars franchise. Lafferty was given the John W Campbell Award for best new writer in 2013 and shared a Hugo for Best Fancast in 2018. Set after an encouraging First Contact, Station Eternity (2022), is set mostly in a sentient Space Habitat, resembling but smaller than an actual Living World, which serves as an interspecies entrepot; the protagonist, one of the few humans yet allowed residency, seems to be a magnet for murders for which she is not responsible but which she must solve, a requirement intensified as more humans arrive. This is the first volume of the Midsolar Murders series. [JC]
Mary Lafferty
born 25 July 1973
works
series
Afterlife
- Heaven (no place given: Restless Brain Media, 2011) [Afterlife: na/]
- Hell (no place given: Restless Brain Media, 2011) [Afterlife: na/]
- Earth (no place given: Restless Brain Media, 2011) [Afterlife: na/]
- Wasteland (no place given: Restless Brain Media, 2011) [Afterlife: na/]
- War (no place given: Restless Brain Media, 2011) [Afterlife: na/]
- The Afterlife Series (no place given: Restless Brain Media, 2014) [omni of the above five: Afterlife: na/]
- Stones (no place given: Mur Lafferty, 2011) [Afterlife: na/]
The Shambling Guides
- The Shambling Guide to New York (New York: Orbit, 2013) [The Shambling Guides: pb/Jamie McKelvie]
- Ghost Train to New Orleans (New York: Orbit, 2014) [The Shambling Guides: pb/Jamie McKelvie]
Midsolar Murders
- Station Eternity (New York: Ace Books, 2022) [Midsolar Murders: hb/Will Staehle]
- Chaos Terminal (New York: Ace Books, 2023) [Midsolar Murders: pb/Will Staehle]
individual titles
- Playing for Keeps (no place given: Restless Brain Media, 2008) [audio version first released 2007 from Podiobooks.com: na/Christian Dovel]
- Six Wakes (New York: Orbit, 2017) [pb/]
- Solo (New York: Del Rey, 2018) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: hb/]
- Minecraft: The Lost Journals (New York: Del Rey, 2019) [tie to the Videogame: hb/]
- Station Eternity (New York: Ace Books, 2022) [hb/Will Staehle]
collections and stories
- The Reporter (San Francisco, California: Empty Set Entertainment, 2012) with Scott Sigler [story: ebook: Galactic Football League: na/]
- Bookburners Episode 4: A Sorcerer's Apprentice (no place given: Serial Box Publishing, 2015) [story: ebook: episode in the Shared World series: Bookburners: na/]
- Bookburners Episode 8: Under my Skin (no place given: Serial Box Publishing, 2015) [story: ebook: episode in the Shared World series: Bookburners: na/Jeffrey Veregge]
- Bookburners Episode 10: Shore Leave (no place given: Serial Box Publishing, 2015) [story: ebook: episode in the Shared World series: Bookburners: na/Jeffrey Veregge]
- Bookburners Episode 13 Keeping Friends Close (no place given: Serial Box Publishing, 2015) [story: ebook: episode in the Shared World series: Bookburners: na/Jeffrey Veregge]
- Bookburners: Season 2: Episode 5: Debtor's Prison (no place given: Serial Box Publishing, 2016) [story: ebook: episode in the Shared World series: Bookburners: na/]
nonfiction
- I Should Be Writing: A Writer's Workshop (New York: Rock Point, 2017) [nonfiction: pb/]
works as editor
- Escape Pod (London: Titan Books, 2020) with S B Divya [anth: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry