Bernard Werber


Bernard Werber is a French science fiction writer, active since the 1990s. He is chiefly recognized for having written the trilogy Les Fourmis, the only one of his novels to have been published in English. This series weaves together philosophy, spirituality, science fiction, thriller, science, mythology and consciousness.

Writing style

Werber's writing style mixes literary genres, including saga, science fiction and philosophical ideas. Most of his novels have the same format, alternating between prose and encyclopedic passages that expand upon the ideas in the former. Many of Werber's novels are also connected by common characters, story threads and themes. For example, the character Edmond Wells appears both in the trilogy Les Fourmis, the novel L'Empire des anges, and the novel Nous Les Dieux.

Literary themes

Werber's books anthropomorphize animals including dolphins, rats and ants. He also uses characters symbolically to reflect "the stage of the evolution of the soul". In addition, he defends the vision of a collectivist global government that acts as the "world police" and that imposes strict birth control.
Werber is a member of the Institute for Research on Extraordinary Experiences, an association that promotes the acknowledgement of extraordinary or unusual experiences. This is reflected in his novels that incorporate science, the paranormal and spirituality as prominent themes including Thanatonautes, which proposes a spiritualist version of near death experiences and afterlife; L'Empire des Anges and Le Mystère des Dieux, which describe a connection between souls, angels and gods; and Nos amis les Terriens, which describes alien abductions.

Works

The Ants trilogy (''Les Fourmis'' trilogy)

The "Angels" cycle

The "Gods" cycle (follow-up of the cycle of "Angels")

  • ', 2004,
  • ', 2005,
  • , 2007,

The "Explorers of science" cycle

  • Le père de nos pères, 1998,
  • L'ultime secret, 2001,
  • Le rire du Cyclope, 2010,

''Third Humanity'' cycle

  • Troisième Humanité, 2012,
  • Les micro-humains, 2013,
  • La Voix de la Terre, 2014,

Other novels

Experimental books

  • L'Encyclopédie du savoir relatif et absolu, 1993,
  • Le Livre du Voyage, 1997,
  • Le Livre secret des Fourmis, 2002
  • Nos amis, les humains, 2003
  • Nouvelle Encyclopédie du savoir relatif et absolu, 2009
  • Voyage au cœur du vivant, 2011

Short-story Collections

Comics

Exit

Amandine is a journalist, working for a video game magazine. One day, she gets fired, finds her boyfriend with another woman, and contemplates suicide. She finds a mysterious website, advocating an underground group named Exit, which advocates a kind of murder game: By killing
someone who wishes to die, another member will try to kill you.
Individual issues
  1. Bernard Werber et Alain Mounier, Exit , éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 1999,,,. — renamed Contact in collections published since 2003.
  2. Bernard Werber and Alain Mounier, Le Deuxième Cercle , éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 2000,,,.
  3. Bernard Werber and Éric Puech, Jusqu'au dernier souffle , éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 2000,,,.
Collections
  • Bernard Werber, Alain Mounier et Éric Puech, éditions Albin Michel, , Paris, 2003,,,.
  • Bernard Werber, Alain Mounier et Éric Puech, Exit, éditions Albin Michel, coll. « Les Intégrales », Paris, 2008,,,.

Other works

Films

Theatre

Lectures