Bernard Werber (born 18 September 1961 in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

) is a French

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

writer, active since the 1990s. He is chiefly recognized for having written the

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

'' 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

Paris - Salon du livre 2012 - Bernard Werber - 002

Werber's

writing style In literature, writing style is the manner of expressing thought in language characteristic of an individual, period, school, or nation. Thus, style is a term that may refer, at one and the same time, to singular aspects of an individual's writing ...

mixes literary

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

s, including

saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

and

philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

ideas. Most of his novels have the same format, alternating between

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

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 Ants''), the novel '' L'Empire des anges'' (''The Empire of the Angels''), and the novel ''Nous Les Dieux'' (''We the Gods'').

Literary themes

Werber's books

anthropomorphize Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

animals including

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

s and

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

s. He also uses characters

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

ically to reflect "the stage of the evolution of the soul". In addition, he defends the vision of a

collectivist In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, struct ...

global government World government is the concept of a single political authority governing all of Earth and humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. There has ...

that acts as the "world police" and that imposes strict

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

. Werber is a member of the Institute for Research on Extraordinary Experiences (IREE), an association that promotes the acknowledgement of

extraordinary Extraordinary may refer to: Music * "Extraordinary" (Clean Bandit song), 2014 * "Extraordinary" (Liz Phair song), 2004 * "Extraordinary" (Mandy Moore song), 2007 * "Extraordinary", a song by Idina Menzel from '' Idina'', 2016 * "Extraordinary", ...

or unusual experiences. This is reflected in his novels that incorporate

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

and spirituality as prominent

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

s including '' Thanatonautes'' (''The Thanatonauts''), which proposes a spiritualist version of near death experiences and

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

; '' L'Empire des Anges'' (''The Empire of the Angels'') and ''Le Mystère des Dieux'' (''The Mystery of the Gods''), which describe a connection between

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

s and

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

s; and '' Nos amis les Terriens'' ('' Our Earthmen Friends''), which describes

alien abduction Alien abduction (also called abduction phenomenon, alien abduction syndrome, or UFO abduction) refers to the phenomenon of people reporting what they assure to be the real experience of being kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings and subje ...

Works

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

*'' Les Fourmis'', Prix des lecteurs de Sciences et Avenir, 1991, . (lit. ''The Ants'', translated into English as ''Empire of the Ants''). *'' Le Jour des fourmis'', 1992, (lit. ''The Day of the Ants'') *''La Révolution des fourmis'', 1996, (lit. ''The Revolution of the Ants'')

The "Angels" cycle

*''Les Thanatonautes'', 1994, (lit. ''The Thanatonauts'') *''L'Empire des Anges'', 2000, (lit. ''The Empire of the Angels'')

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

*', 2004, (lit. ''We, the Gods'') *', 2005, (lit. ''The Breath of the Gods'') *', 2007, (lit. ''The Mystery of the Gods'')

The "Explorers of science" cycle

*''Le père de nos pères'', 1998, (lit. ''The Father of our Fathers'') *''L'ultime secret'', 2001, (lit. ''The Ultimate Secret'') *''Le rire du Cyclope'', 2010, (lit. ''The Laughter of the Cyclops'')

''Third Humanity'' cycle

*''Troisième Humanité'', 2012, (lit. ''Third Humanity'') *''Les micro-humains'', 2013, (lit. ''The micro-humans'') *''La Voix de la Terre'', 2014, (lit. ''The Voice of the Earth'')

Other novels

*''Le papillon des étoiles'', 2006, (lit. ''The Butterfly of the Stars'') *''Le miroir de Cassandre'', 2009, (lit. ''The Mirror of Cassandra'') *', 2016 (lit. ''Tomorrow the cats'') *', 2017 (lit. ''From Beyond'') *', 2018 (lit. ''Pandora's Box'') *', 2019 *'' La Diagonale des Reines'', 2022 *'' Le Temps des Chimères'', 2023

Experimental books

*''L'Encyclopédie du savoir relatif et absolu'', 1993, (lit. ''The Encyclopedia of Relative and Absolute Knowledge'') *''Le Livre du Voyage'', 1997, (lit. ''The Book of Travel'') *''Le Livre secret des Fourmis'', 2002 (lit. ''The Secret Book of the Ants'') *''Nos amis, les humains'', 2003 (lit. ''Our Friends, the Humans'') *''Nouvelle Encyclopédie du savoir relatif et absolu'', 2009 (lit. ''New Encyclopedia of Relative and Absolute Knowledge'') *''Voyage au cœur du vivant'', 2011 (lit. ''Journey within the Living'')

Short-story Collections

*''

L'Arbre des possibles ''The Tree'' (French: ''L'Arbre''), is a painting created in 1910 by the French artist Albert Gleizes. Executed in an advanced Proto-Cubism, Proto-Cubist style, the work was exhibited in Paris at the Salon des Indépendants, 1910 (no. 2160), the ...

'', 2002, (lit. ''The Tree of Possibles'') *'' Paradis sur mesure'', 2008, (lit. ''Custom Paradise(s)'')

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 Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. 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'' # Bernard Werber (text) et Alain Mounier (art), ''Exit'' ome 1 éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 1999, , , . — renamed ''Contact'' in collections published since 2003. # Bernard Werber (text) and Alain Mounier (art), ''Le Deuxième Cercle'' (lit. ''the second circle'') ome 2 éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 2000, , , . # Bernard Werber (text) and Éric Puech (art), ''Jusqu'au dernier souffle'' (lit. ''until the last breath'') ome 3 éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 2000, , , . ''Collections'' * Bernard Werber (text), Alain Mounier et Éric Puech (art), ''Exit'' o mention of colouristscolourized by Walter Pezzali and Sophie Dumas, pour les couleurs), éditions Albin Michel, o series name Paris, 2003, , , . * Bernard Werber (text), Alain Mounier et Éric Puech (art), ''Exit'' (with Walter Pezzali an Sophie Dumas, colourists), éditions Albin Michel, coll. « Les Intégrales », Paris, 2008, , , .

Other works

*'' Les Enfants d'Ève'', May 2005 (lit. ''The Children of Eve'')

Films

* La Reine de nacre (short, 15'), 2001 (lit. ''The Mother-of-pearl Queen'') * Les Humains (short, 9'), 2003 (lit. ''The Humans'') * Nos amis les Terriens (full length), produced by

Claude Lelouch Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical ...

, 2007 (lit. ''Our Friends, the Earthlings'')

Theatre

*', 2003, , produced in 2004 by Jean-Christophe Barc with Audrey Dana and Jean-Christophe Barc *'' Bienvenue au paradis'', 2011,produced in 2011 by Jean-Christophe Barc with Thierry Liagre

Lectures

* 2013-11-17, at

Kyung Hee University Kyung Hee University (KHU; ) is a Private university, private research university in South Korea with campuses in Seoul and Suwon. It was founded in 1949. Kyung Hee University is part of the Kyung Hee University System, which offers comprehensive ...

in Seoul, Korea. "Different perspective to look at human"

References

External links

* *
Werber's official website
*
''Encyclopédie du savoir relatif et absolu'' online
*
His page as a member of the assistance committee of the INREES
{{DEFAULTSORT:Werber, Bernard 1961 births 20th-century French novelists French agnostics French science fiction writers Living people Writers from Toulouse French male novelists French male journalists 20th-century French male writers École supérieure de journalisme de Paris alumni 21st-century French novelists 21st-century French male writers