Dark is the Sun by Philip José Farmer

Deyv said, “This is all very well, but how does it concern me? I won’t live nearly as long as a tharakorm, and these gateways terrify me. They are not guaranteed entrances to places where the Earth won’t die—for an unimaginably long time yet. Anyway, what is life to me without my own soul egg and my tribe, the people I know and love?....No, I’m not going one step further on this crazy quest of yours." Just a few blog posts ago I read Philip José Farmer's "The Alley Man" and was very impressed by it--the writing style, the images, the metaphors and similes were all good, the characters were compelling and believable, and the story had a good mix of humor, sadness, and edginess. Farmer's stock in my mind went through the roof! Then, while in Marietta, OH, among the 50¢ books at a flea market where I bought a Hot Wheels space agency rover, I spotted a paperback copy of Farmer's 1979 novel Dark is the Sun. I felt like I recognized the cover, but from long long ago...had I read this in the…