Dark Is the Sun

I recently completed Dark is the Sun having listened to the audio book version of the novel. And what a strange novel it is! The story revolves around a pair of primitive humans far in the future as the Earth nears it's final days. Humans have remained identical to present day humans in appearance despite the millions of years that have passed. Many other plants and animals have evolved however and Farmer takes a great deal of time imagining these evolutionary changes that seem to have effected everything except humans. There are also aliens that turn up over the course of novel, lost technologies, and dimensional gateways. Interesting concepts abound but they often are poorly executed. Not to mention the main character comes from a primitive tribe who has lost most technology, but is named Dave. Many things in this novel like that don't seem sufficiently thought through. It drags at times and seems as if an editor was non-existent. Farmer is a skilled writer and at times the novel seems to have huge potential, but unfortunately it remains unrealized. I have a feeling it was influenced by the Jack Vance, Dying Earth novels. Farmer fails to live up to that standard or at least make his own mark in the Dying Earth sub-genre. This book may appeal to some, but it was not well enough thought out for me. I would stick with Farmer's Riverworld novels or possibly The Lovers which I have yet to read if you are looking for a place to start with this author.