Customer Reviews

Empire of the Ants

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Bernard Werber is a genius. The way he jumps back between the fascinating heirarchial ant world and that of the individualistic off-kilter humans is wonderful to read. The first time I opened the book, I couldn't put it down for long time; it was so engaging and easy to read. The author mixes the factual and the fictional when dealing with the ants, which makes one wonder where the line between truth and fiction truly lies. His imaginative perspective on the society of the typical russet ant will forever change how I think of them, and in a larger context any social insect.

It is a shame that none of his other books have been translated into english, because as I understand it Empire of the Ants is the first part of a trilogy. I'd truly love to see what Mr. Werber has come up with since then.

True speculative grandeur!

This book is my all-time favorite. Genre: science-fiction mixed with mystery and anthropology! I was blown away by the genius of the format: the alternance of human story, ant story and ant encyclopedia is unique! The human and ant stories are constructed to be such a good parallel to each other than with each new paragraph, you first can not tell whether it's about ants or people! Very entertaining and mind-bending too, with enigmas and an original plot not to be taken seriously!
This book totally changed my point of view on ants, which I can never splat anymore. I'd rather follow them around in the yard to observe their exciting adventures and struggles...
For those who loved this book, keep checking for future translations of other Bernard Werber books, almost as genial (I read them all in French). He's written two more ants books, two books about the after-death, and one book about the origins of mankind (about the "missing link"). Man! This guy has an imagination!!

I'd never heard of this book before stumbling across it in the bookstore, and bought it because I was intrigued by the jacket blurbs. Now, it's among my favorites (at least partly because it's so rare that something you take a chance on turns out to be such a pleasant surprise.) I've passed it along to several friends and relatives all of whom enjoyed it as much as I did. I'm looking forward to re-reading this one, and that's not something I often do. It's an unusual, unique story and the style suits it. I don't want to give anything away about the story (though other reviewers may have already done that) but I did want to cast my vote and recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a little fun, diversionary (and educational!) reading.

Light reading, certainly imaginative, but it could have been better. The author provides novel ideas in regards to ant-human communication, but the English translation is awful. There are numerous mistakes in the text, and the book could have used an editor excising needless passages. Human characters are not well developed, though the ants are interesting. When Werber heads towards dialogue, the story invariably goes downhill- he writes action and narrative much better. Conversations feel flat and unstimulating, and I tended to skim through them in order to get to the storyline itself. Again, ant-talk via chemicals was much more interesting than the human talk.

The scientific presumptions of the text are also an issue. Werber presents the work as if it had some scientific basis, as if it was scifi rather than fantasy. This is bolstered by his exacting and broad description of ant life and anatomy. It is unfortunate that the scientific slant is presented, as there is absolutely no scientific credulity within the concept of communication from creatures which don't even possess a brain. Much less communication between two different species.

Werber does takes the best of science fiction when he takes certain concepts and expands on them. His descriptions of ant anatomy are fairly accurate, and the description of ant life a nice fantastical extension of scientific principals- if they could think, how would they then live? It would have been far better though if some sort of deus ex machina had been present to explain their intelligence. The reader is forced to have to create presumptions that Werber never truly explains in order to make sense of the work.

With these caveats, it is still a recommended book, if you don't have to pay too much for it (which you don't on Amazon). It is fun to read through much of it, if with a critical eye, and can provide a relaxing afternoon by the fire.

This is a wonderful story written in a way that makes it near impossible to put down. It leaves you with many thoughts that will follow you around for days. And you'll never look at an ant the same way again.
This is fiction at its best: smart, fun, imaginative but not pretentious or stuffy.

The Empire of the Ants is really a translation of the French book "Les Fourmis", which is the first part of what I would call the Ants trilogy. The two other books are titled "Le Jour des fourmis" ("The Day of the Ants"), and "La Révolution des fourmis" (The Revolution of the Ants"). It is still unknown to me if these books have ever been translated to English.

Partially because of the harsher criticism, I feel it necessary to address the question of translation. In the original French it is a rich and complex work that may simply not correspond to the structure of the endlish language. The subtlety of character explored within the nuances of his vocabulary did not (I felt) translate into the english version, but rather became akward and stilted as the translator tried to state what Werber had implied. Translation aside, the work remains fascinating in its exploration of alternatives to the stereotype of the hive mind. Rather than glorifying or desparaging the idea of a hive mind, Werber examines it as a fascinating contrast to human society, even using it to develop a light critique of certain aspects intrinsic in an individualistic society. The society of ants is thoughtfully constructed giving a balanced view of the positive aspects of a group mentality and some of the elements that are lacking due to the lessened degree of individuality - art, poetry etc. The Wells family, representing the smallest unit of human society, is shown in the process of confronting problems. Simultaneously the hive is shown solving problems. The two methods and ideologies emerge and teach much on the nature of our problem-solving, and reveal interesting ideas concerning human nature. By shifting frequently between the humans and the ants facing similar situations, Werber heightens the suspense, driving the plot, and causing the reader to continue his exploration of the diverse philosophies contained in the book. The shifting is somewhat clumsier in english, but worthwhile still(in french there are many subtle phoenetic ties and repeated phrases). Overall an interesting read and thoughtful look at human response to difficulty. END

This novel is incontestably one of the most exciting science-fiction stories I have ever read. Bernard Werber is not an entymologist as many people think: he is only a writer who has studied laws before becoming a scientific journalist at *Le Nouvel Observateur* but with the Empire of the Ants he tried to describe with philosophy and humour an almost perfect society. He didn't aim to show us how to live in perfect harmony, his own ambition is to show us simply that it does, in fact, exist...

The blurb on the cover of the paperback edition of this book isn't far wrong - "What Richard Adams did for rabbits in 'Watership Down', Bernard Werber does for ants." But it isn't totally accurate.

For most of its almost 300 pages, this is a fascinating novel contrasting a vividly imagined world - the insect kingdom - with the equally fascinating and well thought out mystery of a deep and dark subterranean passage beneath the new home of Jonathan Wells.

Werber's description of life in the ant world is fully detailed, extremely captivating, and totally believable - which is not surprising, since - according to the small biography at the end of the book - Werber is "a scientific journalist who has studied ants...as an avocation." Little by little, we learn that there are some mysterious goings-on in this little corner of the insect kingdom, and it is up to Werber's ant heroes to solve them. His description of the equally mysterious goings-on in the Wells' cellar is just as fascinating. And you eventually realize that these two stories must be connected in some way, although you have no idea how.

But the climax and the connection, when it's finally revealed, is completely idiotic, and straight out of a 1950's s/f pulp magazine. I was expecting a much better resolution than this, and I turned the pages expecting to discover that this was nothing more than an ant dream, and the true climax was about to be revealed. But no - this was it.

The book reads almost as if Werber had gotten tired of writing it, and wanted to finish it quickly. Well, he certainly did that - but at the expense of what could have been a truly incredible piece of fiction.

The way the book is set out is very complex. But that is only so that we the readers will find it easier to read in a short amount of time. In your hands the book is rather small and lifeless but once you start reading you'll find yourself falling into a huge long passage of different thoughts. Unlike most books that you could just flick through and skim through this book keeps your eyes glued and reading carefully each word and sentence. I do not recommend it to those who are afraid of insects because Werber is extremely delicate when it comes to describtions. And those under the age of 13 may find it rather confusing. It is similar to "Watership Down"

The book has two different worlds experienced on the pages. The world of the ants and the world that we see right before our eyes. And each of the events that happen in both worlds are entwined together to show that we infact live in exactly the same place without knowing much at all about each other.

In the world of ants there is a crisis. One tribe of ants seem to have found a lethal weapon that could kill all the ants in one area without even being seen. Later the ants describe them as 'large black slates'. A young russet ant, after losing his fellow explorers in a sudden attack realises that he must find out the lethal weapon and dispose of it in some way. On the way he meets other ants who believe him and half of the story evolves around how these ants work hard to solve the mystery of the sudden attack and also carry on with their roles in the ant society.

Meanwhile in the world of humans we meet Jonathan Wells. He is given a house from the will of his uncle Edmond Wells and is shocked when he recieves a note telling him to stay well away from the basement. Unfortunately Jonathan's son's pet dog gets through a hole that is in the tightly locked basement door.
After going in to find that the dog is ripped to pieces, Jonathan starts going down everyday for hours on end with pieces of metal and tools along with books on ants. One day he does not come back and one by one the family is sucked into the mystery of what lays inside the basement. Each time a new person comes to explore they never come back up.

Of course the whole story is explained near the end for everything fits neatly like a part from a puzzle. And whilst you're reading it you do not think-you just fall into the story as if it's happening around you.