The descriptions of ant morphology, behavior, and social organization as well as their interactions with other species are engaging, detailed, and scientifically based, although Werber significantly exaggerates the reasoning and communication capabilities of the ants (rendering his work science-fiction ). As the plot unfolds, the humans and the ants encounter new mysteries and participate in challenging events, including a war between different ant species. However, he attracts the attention of a secret group of ants within the same colony that appear to want to conceal this information.

He suspects that a colony of another ant species has attacked them with a secret weapon, and attempts to meet with the queen and to rally other ants to investigate the disaster. The ant character is a male whose foraging expedition gets destroyed in one strike, by a mysterious force that comes from above. His family and other people follow, and disappear. He begins to investigate his uncle's life and mysterious activities, and decides to descend into the cellar of the house but does not return. The human character receives a house and a provocative message as inheritance from his recently deceased uncle. The time is the early 21st century (the near future, relative to the time when Werber wrote the book). The plot begins as two stories that take place in parallel: one in the world of humans (in Paris), the other in the world of ants (in a Formica rufa colony in a park near Paris). Les Fourmis is the first novel of La Saga des Fourmis trilogy (also known as La Trilogie des Fourmis (The Trilogy of the Ants), followed by Le Jour des fourmis ( The Day of the Ants, 1992) and La Révolution des fourmis ( The Revolution of the Ants, 1996).

The book sold more than two million copies and has been translated into more than 30 languages. It was released in English as Empire of the Ants. Les Fourmis (English: The Ants) is a 1991 science fiction novel by French writer Bernard Werber.

Empire Of The Ants by Lindsay West