Here is the stunning international bestseller in the tradition of Watership Down but with a dark, original twist. Unique, daring, and unforgettable, it tells the story of an ordinary family who accidentally threaten the security of a hidden civilization as intelligent as our own--a colony of ants determined to survive at any cost...
Jonathan Wells and his young family have come to the Paris flat at 3, rue des Sybarites through the bequest of his eccentric late uncle Edmond. Inheriting the dusty apartment, the Wells family are left with only one warning: Never go down into the cellar. But when the family dog disappears down the basement steps, Jonathan follows--and soon his wife, his son, and various would-be rescuers vanish into its mysterious depths. Meanwhile, in a pine stump in a nearby park, a vast civilization is in turmoil. Here a young female from the russet ant nation of Bel-o-kan learns that a strange new weapon has been killing off her comrades. To find out why, she enlists the help of a warrior ant, and the two set off on separate journeys into a harsh and violent world. It is a world where death takes many forms--savage birds and voracious lizards, warlike dwarf ants and rapacious termites, poisonous beetles and, most bizarre of all, the swift, murderous, giant guardians of the edge of the world: cars.Yet the end of the female's desperate quest will be the eerie secret in the cellar at 3, rue des Sybarites--a mystery she must solve in order to fulfill her special destiny as the new queen of her own great empire. But to do so she must first make unthinkable communion with the most barbaric creatures of all.
Empire of the Ants is a brilliant evocation of a hidden civilization as complex as our own and far more ancient. It is a fascinating realm where boats are built of leaves and greenflies are domesticated and milked like cows, where citizens lock antennae in "absolute communication" and fight wars with precisely coordinated armies using sprays of glue and acids that can dissolve a snail. Not since Watership Down has a novel so vividly captured the lives and struggles of a fellow species and the valuable lessons they have to teach us.
Bernard Werber was born in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) in September 1961. From the age of 14, he wrote stories for a fanzine. After he finished school, he became a scientific journalist for some ten years. During that period his affinity for science appeared, which he blends with his favourite topics: from ants in death up to the origins of the humanity. The writings of Bernard Werber are translated into thirty-five languages and with 15 million copies sold in the world today, Bernard Werber is one of the most read French contemporary authors in the world (along with Mark Levy).
Every year, on the 3rd October the world is given something of a treat, besides the annual prix Goncourt – a new novel by the praised Bernard Weber. Known for his extensive scientific research, elaborate philosophical reflections and omnipresent symbolism, the French author is now synonymous with a very intelligent and intense prose. “The Ants” trilogy, as well as “Les Thanatonautes” trilogy, presents a large, coherent, auto-functioning idea of the world, supported by multiple theories and scientific data, developed in separate encyclopedic paragraphs. Weber mixes together information and fantasy to reinvent and reinvigorate the possibilities of other worlds, to stimulate the creation of other perceptive dimensions and broaden immensely our imagination.
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