WINNER OF THE 2025 COLORADO AUTHORS LEAGUE AWARD FOR SCIENCE FICTION
INCLUDED IN THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY WORLD EPICS CATALOG
from the fruits of science / a great filter looms
AITHER is a bright but otherwise ordinary child with caring parents, plenty of playmates, and a safe, stimulating, and comfortable home. Or so it seems to Aither, until bit by bit, everything about life is revealed to have deeper layers of complexity and meaning, including the fact that the fate of the planet is at stake.
EPOCH is science fiction infused with philosophy, psychology, and mythology, all brought together as an epic poem. It is a story about the first fully human level artificial general intelligence, narrated as a sort of memoir from the AI's own point of view. It is filled with musings about topics like identity and purpose, future selves, the importance of beauty, the nature and ethics of technological progress, cultural influence and hegemony, humanity's tragic flaws, and existential risk.
The book has been used successfully as a text in an undergraduate science fiction course, and the poetry is mostly lightweight and straightforward. Still, it is not recommended for casual consumption: as Herman Melville would say, "read it if you can."
Additional information and resources on the book are available at www.epoch.fyi.
About the Author :
Dave Jilk is the author of two collections of lyric poetry, co-author of The Entrepreneur's Weekly Nietzsche: A Book for Disruptors, and lead or co-author of several academic papers on cognitive neuroscience and on existential concerns related to artificial intelligence. A former technology entrepreneur and consultant, he holds a BSc in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT. Dave and his wife live outside Boulder, Colorado and love to explore the mountains and wilderness across the west.
Review :
"Dave Jilk has rendered poetry relevant again, grappling with its historic prophetic task. Epoch is a refreshing page-turner, more salient than any newsflash, more challenging than any political squabble, more moving than most magazine verse. It is a true epic, despite its incorporation of dozens of genres, styles and voices. And it faces a supreme challenge of our times: will we be superseded by our own intelligent creations? With splendid effrontery, Jilk counters the dystopias yet delivers a real tragedy, then somehow celebrates the result. This is a work that desperately needs to be read and argued with; we will have to dig deep, deep into our messy biotic human nature to find values that can match a world of pleasant security and abundance."
- Frederick Turner, Ph.D., Nobel-nominated author of Epic: Form, Content, and History, and the epic poems The New World, Genesis, and Apocalypse
"Epoch is a flowing story and an accessible epic poem that dramatizes how we might create our digital offspring, and a lyrical exploration of the nature of mind, meaning, and value. Based on the best of our cognitive science and philosophy, it is the most detailed and realistic account yet written of our potential future with artificial intelligence."
- Seth Herd, Ph.D., Research Fellow in AGI Alignment, Astera Institute
"An epic poem about emergent AI. A story that will suck you in and make you think. A puzzle of language, meaning, and relationships. Epoch is a strange and compelling work of art. It isn't for everyone, but if it hits you the right way, you'll feel the echo of that connection long after you reach the end."
- Eliot Peper, author of twelve novels including the science fiction works Foundry, Reap3r, and Veil
