GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 3

Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine #3

by Debbie Moorhouse (Editor), Beverly A. Jackson, J.M. McDermott

Issue 3 is crammed full of stories and art, with poems, Flash fiction and an entertaining report to leaven the mix. Whether we're battling a mechanical daemon in "A Song, a Prayer, an Empty Space" or experiencing jealousy towards unusual rivals in "Soon You Will Be Gone and Possibly Eaten", we're following the theme of Mechanical Flight into strange and unexpected places.

Flight, the dream of humanity for years without number, has come a long way since the Wright brothers flew almost the length of a Boeing 747 using a lawnmower engine. The US Space Shuttle takes off like a rocket and lands like a plane. An ice runway has been built in Antarctica to facilitate flights from Hobart. Solar-powered aircraft grace our skies. And GUD Issue Three seeks to fly to even stranger places--why not take your seat, buckle yourself in, and enjoy the ride?

Comprising:

Stories

A Song, a Prayer, an Empty Space by Darja Malcolm-Clarke;
The Dragon's Thorn, Sword of Kings (& Fred) by Idan Cohen;
Attack of the Mennonite Paratroopers by Ivan Dorin;
Facts of Bone by Tina Connolly;
a father a son a disaffection by S A Tranter;
Hunt of the I-Don't-Knows by Matthew Chad Weinman;
When All Is Forgiven by Kelley A Swan;
Chica, Let Me Tell You a Story by Alex Dally MacFarlane;
Think Fast by Michael Greenhut;
Measurements by Chad Brian Henry;
Forgetting by Nicole Kornher-Stace;
Night Bird Soaring by T. L. Morganfield;
The Train by Jason D. Wittman;
Flower as Big as the Sky by Matt Dennison;
Benkelstein and the Time Warp by Evil Editor;
The Great Big Nothing by Frank Haberle;
Splitting the Atom by Tania Hershman;
Soon You Will Be Gone and Possibly Eaten by Nick Antosca;
Persian on the Forty-Second Floor by Keesa Renee DuPre.

Poetry

Poetry's Yellow Warbler by Beverly A. Jackson;
Lacerta - Named by Johannes Hevelius by J M McDermott;
Display by Beth Langford;
Seductive by Gabrielle S. Faust;
American History by Jeanpaul Ferro;
How to Fetch Firewood by Michelle Tandoc-Pichereau;
Falling by Traci Brimhall;
Conquered by Sylvia Eastman;
In Every War by Jim Pascual Agustin;
a night without dreams by Rohith Sundararaman;
Queen of Winter by Jennifer Crow.

Report

Counting Nuns by Christian A. Dumais.

Art

Steam Bat by Zak Jarvis (cover);
Dragon and Gear by Shweta Narayan;
Dangerous Innocence by Joe Roger;
Monster Flights by Jessica Nicole Hill;
Clockwork Wings by Kiriko Moth;
Patterson No. 2 by Jessica C Hoard;
Mustang by Jon Radlett;
Endless Journey by Bartlomiej Jurkowski;
Midnight Sun by C. Nelson;
The Flying Cat by heather lam;
Dreamcatcher by Bartlomiej Jurkowski.

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our usual mix of all kinds of stuff for all kinds of tastes; even the on-theme (Mechanical Flight) stuff has plenty of variety, which makes it a good sort of a theme. Though it did tend to lead to pieces that required an awful lot of fact-checking. Personal favorites: fiction by Malcolm-Clarke, Dorin, Connolly, Weinman, Henry, Morganfield, and Antosca; poetry by Jackson and Eastman; and, um, some art.

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very good issue with two outstanding long pieces and lots of good short and very short ones as well as excellent art.

The outstanding novellas were:

A Song, a Prayer, an Empty Space by Darja Malcolm-Clarke and
Night Bird Soaring by T.L. Morganfield

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with each issue so far, GUD issue 3 contains an eclectic combination of short fiction, poetry and artwork, most of it in the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror genres. Once again, the overall quality of work is strong. Particular standouts, to me, where the story "Soon You Will be Gone and Possibly Eaten" (sci-fi with a touch of horror) and the nifty Mezo-American sci-fi story "Night Bird Soaring". I also enjoyed "The Train"'s incredibly surreal setting.

I have to admit, the "flying machines" theme didn't really stand out to me. True, every story involved them in some way, but I didn't feel it made the issue any better or worse than the preceding ones. I might not even have noticed it, had I not been aware of it from their call for submissions last year.

Overall GUD continues to represent arguably the strongest collection of short genre stories that I've encountered. I strongly recommend it.

[GUD Magazine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Issue 3 is an amazing creation, crammed full of stories and art, with poems, Flash fiction and an entertaining report to leaven the mix. Whether we're battling a mechanical daemon in "A Song, a Prayer, an Empty Space" or experiencing jealousy towards unusual rivals in "Soon You Will Be Gone and Possibly Eaten", we're following the theme of Mechanical Flight into strange and unexpected places (and at times flying further afield).

Here's the (self-referential) Pre-launch Buzz Contest: blog about the launch contest with a link back to this post--then leave a comment at this post with a link to your blog post.  You'll be entered to win A FULL SET OF GUD, HARDCOPY (Issues 0-3). If we don't receive at least 100 entries, we reserve the right not to award this prize, so BE SURE TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS!  You've got seven days to help spread the word (give or take -- through the end of Friday, Pacific Standard Time)

BONUS: First ten entries win a PDF of Issue 3!  And we'll spread a few more goodies around if response warrants it. :)

BONUS 2: Everyone creating an account gets a freebie from Issue 3 just for signing up (it'll be in your account, waiting).  Everyone who already had an account?  You've got a new freebie waiting for you, too.

SO SPREAD THE WORD! :D

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

C'mon people, if you haven't subscribed to this publication yet,
do yourself a favor! It's a great treat.

[susie hawes · Rating 5 out of 5]

WoW!!! Get This!!!