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Who's to say what will(can) happen in the REALLY distant future, & what impact we made on the outcome. Well thought out alternatives. Very enjoyable reading. Very extrapolated boy meets girl premise.
5.0 out of 5 starsLove this performance by Rebecca Rogers
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2018
This is one of my favorite books and one of the first sf books I ever bought. I enjoyed revisiting it as an audio book nearly forty years later. Rebecca Rogers brings the characters to life and makes them distinct without over acting. I love Farmer's creativity in coming up with strange life forms in this post apocalyptic odyssey.
3.0 out of 5 starsImaginative, action-packed fantasy, but too repetitive
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2007
Ostracized from their tribes, Deyv and Vana (and friends) undertake a series of treks across a dying Earth, 15 billion years in the future, at a time when Earth's sun is finally dying out (hence the title). Although Farmer has no peer when it comes to action, and he's been known to come up with brilliant ideas, his plots are often weak and unfocused and his characters are just as stock as can be. This (very) long novel is a textbook showcase for his failings, as the plot (using the term loosely) is painfully repetitive, and the characters offer little to recommend them. The main characters are wronged by somebody, get involved in a long chase after them, catch them, and then wind up joining forces with them to go after a new antagonist. Again and again and again. After a few iterations of this we start wondering if there's a point to all of this - it turns out there isn't, which is a darn shame. Definitely a work of fantasy, despite brief (page-long) and infrequent (1:100) forays into science fiction, this book is an imaginative, action-packed and generally entertaining romp through a primitive world of the far, far, far future, but it suffers from dragging on well past its welcome. Three and a half stars.
I first read this novel back in the 80s and had to reread it a few times because there were so many little details I couldn't figure out on first reading. The novel has its weaknesses: the characterization is two dimensional and Deyv in particular is a bit shallow and annoying. But the scope! The universe Farmer built for this novel was mind blowing and so fully realized that it left me in awe. I have re-read the book many times since and it remains one of my favorite science fiction novels.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2012
Verified Purchase
Millions of years in the future and the universe is close to death. Deyv, of The Turtle Tribe, sets out to find a mate but instead discovers the fate of his world and everything he knows.
Hmmm. I remember picking this up many years ago after having been blown away by Farmer's
Riverworld series
. I don't remember whether I liked it or not, but many years later I was reminded of it for some reason and bought it to read again. It is a bit of a disappointment I must say. The writing is dispassionate, clunky and monotonous, the plot is simplistic, linear and naiive and the characterisation is vestigial to say the least. Imagine getting your 10 year old nephew to transcribe the plot of something like, I dunno,
Tomb Raider
or
Prince of Persia
and you have an idea of what Dark Is The Sun is like.
It's not hard to read, but neither is it any fun. Don't bother.
Have long been a fan of PJF and recalled reading this many years ago. I fancied reading it again and found that it was not as I remembered. My overall impression was of a good - possibly great - story, somewhat marred in the telling. It felt very rushed and consequently less adult than his usual output, lacking the depth of development of say, Riverworld. This does however lend the plot great pace. Marry that with a story which is rammed with fascinating concepts and powerfully described imagining, all set in a typically PJF world which is both utterly different yet totally credible at the same time and you have a novel that is certainly worth the time spent reading it.
5.0 out of 5 stars... it first came out over 30 years ago and loved it then
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
Read this when it first came out over 30 years ago and loved it then, turned me into a post apocalyptic SF fan and made me a big fan of Gamma World. Now I am enjoying it just as much. A bit trippy and some descriptions bordering on drug induced but a fun read all the same :-)