Bernard Werber is a French author, famous for his novel Les fourmis (The Ants). His works include many novels, a play and one movie.
The books which compose The Ants' cycle:
- Les Fourmis (The Ants), 1991
- Le Jour des Fourmis (The Day of the Ants), 1992
- La Révolution des Fourmis (The Revolution of the Ants), 1996
- Le Livre Secret des Fourmis (The Secret Book of the Ants)
The books which compose The Science Adventurers' cycle:
- Le Père de nos Pères (The Father of our Fathers), 1998
- L’Ultime Secret (The Ultimate Secret), 2001
- Le Rire du Cyclope (The Laughter of the Cyclops), 2010
Pentalogie du Ciel (The Pentalogy of the Sky)
The books which compose The Angels’ cycle:
- Les Thanatonautes (The Thanatonauts), 1994
- L’Empire des Anges (The Empire of the Angels), 2000
The books which compose The Gods' cycle:
- Nous, les Dieux (Us, Gods), 2004
- Le Souffle des Dieux (The Breath of the Gods), 2005
- Le Mystère des Dieux (The Mystery of the Gods), 2007
Other books :
- Le Livre du Voyage (The Book of Travel), 1997
- L’Encyclopédie du savoir Relatif et Absolu (The Encyclopedia of Relative and Absolute Knowledge), 2000
- L’Arbre des Possibles (short stories), 2002
- Nos Amis les Humains (play), 2003
- Nos Amis les Terriens (Our Friends, the Earthlings)
- Le Papillon des Étoiles (The Butterfly of the Stars)
- Paradis sur Mesure (short stories)
- Le Miroir de Cassandre (The Mirror of Cassandra)
Film :
- Nos Amis les Terriens (Our Friends, the Earthlings)
Bernard Werber work’s provides examples of :
- Aborted Arc / Plot Hole: Several Aborted Arcs through the Gods cycle: Aphrodite's assaulter in The Breath of the Gods, Michael's previous clients life dropped in the third book… and the same goes Plot Holes (such as a character who had been previously seen turned into an animal is later "revealed" to have been faking it). Some of them might actually be intentional, to prepare for the discovery at the end of the fifth book that the characters are all fictional.
- Action Girl: Mata Hari, Marilyn Monroe, Amanda
- Action Mom: Rose
- And I Must Scream:
- One of the main characters of The Ultimate Secret is a man suffering from locked-in syndrome
and initially only able to communicate by blinking. - In The Thanatonauts, some humans are reincarnated into plants as punishments. Adolf Hitler is said to be reincarnated as a Bonzai plant whose entire existence is suffering.
- One of the main characters of The Ultimate Secret is a man suffering from locked-in syndrome
- Atlantis: L’Île de la Tranquillité (the Island of Tranquillity).
- Author Avatar: Both Jacques Nemrod (The Empire of the Angels) and Gabriel Askolein (The Mystery of the Gods) are science fiction writers similar to Werber himself.
- Author Tract: Michael Pinson votes white, in order to show that he agrees with democracy but not with the candidates.
- Badass Bookworm: Edmond Wells, Michael Pinson, Raoul Razorbak.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: If your angel can't be there when you make a wish, you are parasited by a lost soul who grants your wish, but will take something in exchange.
- Canon Welding: His books take place in one universe. Posthumous character Edmond Wells from the Ants trilogy appears in The Pentalogy of the Sky and some characters share the same surname (like Jacques and Lucrèce Nemrod).
- Catchphrase: “Toi et moi contre les imbéciles!” (could be translated as "You and me against the morons !")
- The Chosen One: Played straight with the Educated. Subverted by Michael Pinson, who rather seems to be The Chosen Zero.
- Continuity Porn: Especially at the end of the cycle of Gods.
- Cosmic Chess Game: The Gods Trilogy is about the gods raising civilizations and fighting each other.
- Deadpan Snarker: Raoul Razorbak.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In The Thanatonauts, each human has a personal demon besides their guardian angel. Iin the sequels, demons unceremoniously vanish.
- Fainting Seer: Cassandre Katzenberg.
- Falsely Advertised Accuracy: Bernard Werber has the habit of presenting some pieces of trivia as real facts, whereas they are merely suppositions or even things he imagined.
- Foreshadowing: The planet Red is imagined by Jacques Nemrod as a child, before being visited by Michael and the others.
- Good Parents: Jacques Nemrod's parents.
- Grass is Greener:
- Subverted with the main characters of the Pentalogy of the Sky, who keep seeking a better place, even when they are in Heaven or in Aeden.
- Fetnat left Africa and emigrated to France.
- Kim moved from Korea to France for this reason.
- Intelligence Equals Isolation: Michael Pinson, Jacques Nemrod.
- It's All About Me: Venus Sheridan
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall / Noticing the Fourth Wall
- Meaningful Name: Quite a few.
- Wells is a pun on "wells" and is a reference to H. G. Wells and to Orson Welles. The character mentions that in the Angel cycle.
- Michael means Who is like God? , which defines Michael’s quest.
- In French, Amanda reminds of almond.
- Cassandre, who is a Seer, obviously.
- Esméralda’s name is a reference to the character of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Fetnat Wade’s first name comes from the French abbreviation for “national celebration”, “fête nationale”. His parents, uneducated, thought it was a real French name.
- Orlando Van de Putte’s last name means “from the wells”, but also sounds like the French words for “wind of whore”.
- Philippe Papadakis likes horses, as says his name (“phil”, love and “hippos”, horses).
- Venus comes from the Roman goddess of beauty, and this character is a top-model. Sheridan is from Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
- Véronique Papadakis is a photograph (“vero”, real and “iconos”, image).
- Our Angels Are Different: In the Angels’ cycle, guardians angels appear as attorneys-at-law, who defend their clients.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: All ghosts are lost souls, who can take the control of a human, especially a medium. They can disappear in the light when they are fought with the Power of Love.
- Power of Love: Literally.
- Rags to Royalty: Happen, among others creatures, to an ant in La Révolution des Fourmis. The ant soldier 103 683, in order to pass down her new knowledge about mankind, has an opportunity to eat royal jelly. She grows wings, and she's since then known as Princess 103.
- Recursive Canon: The Thanatonauts, written by Michael Pinson in... The Thanatonauts.
- Recycled In Space: Greek Mythology… IN SPACE!
- Scenery Porn: Aeden.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Chris Petters
- Story Within a Story:
- The Rats in L'Empire des Anges
- The Dolphins in Nous, les Dieux
- Take That, Critics!: The Mystery of the Gods is full of this.
- Terminally-Ill Criminal: One of his stories has the dictator of Pakistan learn that he has cancer and decide that if he doesn't get to live, no one does. He acquires an atomic bomb powerful enough to wipe out all life on the globe... and goes through with it.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Michael Pinson, who starts off a rather meek, if somewhat cynical character grows into an entitled jerk by the end of his adventures.
