Possibly the best review a short story of mine has ever received, for which I'm indebted to Shaun C. Green at The Fix:

A much stronger story in issue 36, Vaughan Stanger’s “The English Dead” takes a very different kind of myth as its cue. This is the mythology of Everest, of the men who climbed it, and of the secrets of dead men. A climber named Ben wants to discover the secrets of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who may or may not have reached Everest’s summit in 1924. Advanced techniques are used to produce a clone of Mallory, and Ben adopts the body and role of his companion, Irvine. Together, they set out to reproduce the events of 1924 and to provide an answer to the secret, once and for all.

“The English Dead” is an excellent story and fundamentally good SF; the central conceit, cloning historical figures, is not new, but its application is fresh. The climbing lingo reads authentically to a layman like myself. The obsessions of the tale’s central characters are well-portrayed, informing their decisions and actions as they move towards a convincing conclusion.

If you'd like to read the story, it's a *free* download from here: http://www.hub-mag.co.uk/images/Hub_36.pdf

Ralan Conley (yes, that Ralan) also left some praise for this story at the Hub site. And it's fair to say that he's got a corker in Issue 37.

I know that reviews aren't that important in the scheme of things, but a good one can warm the heart nonetheless.

V.