The Final Ascent, by Ian Creasey

[Clarkesworld]

★★★★★ Fascinating Concept, Well-Developed

(Future Fantasy) Ardissians have a special gland that lets them survive death as “ghosts.” Lucian is dying, and Katherine thinks she can implant the gland so he can survive his own death. (9,865 words; Time: 32m)

Shooting Grouse, by Ian Creasey

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Mixed

(Near-Future SF) Three young “sabs” sneak onto a British estate to interfere with a grouse hunt. (5,497 words; Time: 18m)

The Equalizers, by Ian Creasey

Find this issue

(Near-Future SF) To reduce discrimination , Pamela’s office is trying out “Equalizers,” special glasses that make everyone look and sound the same. She wonders if they could improve her love life too. (4,972 words; Time: 16m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

And Then They Were Gone, by Ian Creasey

Find this issue

(Near-Future SF) Samanda famous parents are going to upload and leave her behind. She’s suffered in their shadows, suffered their neglect, but she doesn’t know how to handle this. (4,299 words; Time: 14m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

After the Atrocity, by Ian Creasey

Find this issue

(Near-Future SF) Violet’s duplication machine makes it easier to interrogate the world’s most famous terrorist, but they need so many copies of him, she’s had to duplicate herself to keep up with the workload. (4,254 words; Time: 14m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

A Melancholy Apparition, by Ian Creasey

Find this issue.

(Historical Fantasy) Boswell recounts a story of Dr. Johnson that he never revealed before. Involving a country estate, a scandal, and a ghost. (5,301 words; Time: 17m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆, Average

Although well-written, this story has almost zero speculative content.

No Strangers Any More, by Ian Creasey

Find this issue.

(Near-future SF) Britain's princess Rose decides to champion a public relations campaign on behalf of visiting aliens who want to purchase the moon. (9,213 words)

Rating: 3, Unremarkable

 

The Language of Flowers, by Ian Creasey

Find this issue

(SF) In near-future Cornwall, England, Travis and his wife specialize in arrangements of genetically engineered flowers that release pheromones that mimic their traditional virtues. (6,456 words; Time: 21m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Recommended By: SFRevu:4

My Time on Earth, by Ian Creasey

Asimov's Science Fiction, October/November 2015; 4,098 words
Rating: 2, Not recommended

Amy just got back from a trip to Earth with her parents, and she excitedly tells her friends all about the ghost she met in England.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Creasey's teenage-girl character really comes to life. The ghost's pitch that he'd help her spy on her friends is hilarious. When his rock won't fit in her bags, her decision to slice the blood stain off the rock is interesting, although it seems a little out of character for Amy.

From that point, it goes downhill. Amy's an unreliable narrator, but after that point we're unsure whether we're supposed to believe any of the story at all.

Pincushion Pete, Ian Creasey

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2015; ~3,700 words
Rating: 4, Recommended

A man dedicated to helping people increase their intelligence is threatened by a newspaper expose.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

We liked the angle that the Campaign tries to enhance the intelligence of people rather than merely demanding that people not use intelligence as a basis for discrimination. And that the problem isn't that the technologies don't work--it's that Peter is addicted to the thrill of downloading new ones. He's essentially a hoarder. By the end of the story, we think we understand him completely.

Just because we understand him doesn't mean we like him. By the end, it seems the board has done the right thing.