5 stars JAW, Vine Voice
First and foremost, this is her best writing yet, which is heaped praise in itself. And yet subtly different from what’s gone before (principally My Memories of a Future Life and Lifeform Three. This doesn’t have the ‘immersive dream’ style quality I detected in those books. Ever Rest is in and of the world as commonly perceived (I presume…), albeit two pretty rarefied slices of it, namely: rock music stardom and serious mountaineering. Which, from the ease of handling (no ‘info-dumps’ or ‘enough-with-the-detail!’ longueurs), I must assume both to be Ms Morris’s fields too. Or else convincing research lightly conveyed. Plus, the people who speak to us here seem real. They have both standard and surprising opinions: they behave sensibly and stupidly: one steals bikes! Speaking of which, Ms M has a knack for Zen level minimalist scene/character description, and metaphor/simile that is a sinful incitement towards theft.
One of the other things I really liked is that the narrative flow is refreshingly non-linear. i.e. it skips along, not plods, and spares you every day, year and journey. If the Himalayas are visited we don’t necessarily hear about the initial taxi to the airport and meal breaks en route. ‘Realism, yes: reality no!’ is a wonderful precept re authorship. It can make the difference between books that feel like duty, and page-turners.
Finally, there’s not a duff line in it: which is quite a statement. And the deadpan discography is a stroke of brilliance.
Roz Morris, author 