Bernard Werber's "Ants" trilogy made him one of France's most popular science fiction novelists in the 90s. Werber began studying journalism in 1982 in Paris, where he discovered the work of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. In 1991 he published the novel Les Fourmis (Empire of the Ants), a complex fantasy novel in which ants were the heroes and humans the pesty antagonists. The novel became a cult hit across Europe, and Werber followed it with two other books in the same vein: Le Jour des Fourmis (Day of the Ants,1992) and La R茅volution des Fourmis (Revolution of the Ants, 1995). His other books include L'Empire des Anges (Empire of the Angels, 2000) and L'Arbre des possibles (The Tree of Possibles, 2002).
While reading this book you autimatically start believing in his idea of the world organization and in parallel worlds existence. Nice, very nice. A real godsend for those who love fantasy books! Enjoy guys :)
I was really a fan of this book during teenage years. Re-reading it completely ruined expirience for me. Fictional world is built on rules that author breaks just for the sake of "keeping friends together". Speaking of "angel beings" author sticks to human perception of the world, what looks primitive and far-fetched. Traveling sequences are boring and skipable. And especially stupid are battle mechanics in angel world - it's just silly. I think it's better to stay away from those series unless you are interested in superficial texts for your spare time.
Everyone kept talking about this book. How amazing and inspiring it is. I've got to say I expected a little bit more after hearing so many positive reviews, but despite that I think the book is really worth reading. I fell in love with the whole philosophy behind the Empire of Angels and to a certain extent I want to believe in it. Even though there were couple inconsistencies, the book was incredibly engaging. I liked the way all the story lines were depending on each other and were making more sense by the end of the book. However, there was a point were it got way too cheesy for me. I understand, that the whole point is that everything and everyone in our lives have their purpose and reason for being there, and how everything is connected, but it was a bit too obvious. And a bit too cheesy. But I guess, this is what a reader wants? Although, despite having quite a few story lines, the book wasn't even a little bit confusing. It was incredibly easy to follow the story of each character and keep up with the main idea. The ending felt a bit rushed though and I expected a bit more explanation of the level "7". And archangels seemed like complete assholes to me (not sure if that was what the author aimed for)... But despite those things, I couldn't stop reading the book. It gives great food for thought and is definitely a "must-read". Only due to unmet expectations and rushed ending, I'm giving the Empire of Angels 4 stars out of 5.
Pile of rubbish, I suppose I hadn't read the first one but still!!! I only read it as it was a gift, but I don't think I'd read one of his books again.
Gr膩matu izlas墨ju diezgan 膩tri, jo 膩tr膩k grib膿ju zin膩t, kas notiks ar varo艈iem. P膿cgar拧a gan palikusi k膩 p膿c ezot膿riska mik拧募a. Autors ir apkopojis da啪膩dus priek拧status par p膿cn膩ves dz墨vi (e艈模e募i, parad墨ze, reinkarn膩cija, dv膿seles tiesa, kritu拧膩s dv膿seles, citas pasaules) un izveidojis st膩st墨jumu. Nebija slikti, bet nav t膩, ka kaut kas 募oti jauns un idejas b奴tu nedzird膿tas.
Michael Pinson moare 卯ntr-un accident cu avion (cu 葯i nu de, c膬 avionul se pr膬bu葯e葯te peste blocul 卯n care locuia), episodul fiind foarte bine scris, cu intersti葲ii sub forma unor interviuri luate pe strad膬 de forma ce p膬rere ave葲i despre moarte? .
Trecerea spre moarte se face prin mai multe membrane-por葲i care despart mai multe ceruri ( cel al spaimelor, cel al fantasmelor, cel al tenebrelor, etc), ajunge 卯n Purgatoriu ( definit ca locul unde se bate pasul pe loc 葯i unde se a葯teapt膬) 葯i la judecata arhanghelilor unde 卯l are ca avocat pe Emile Zola (da, chiar el) care 卯i ob葲ine r膬m芒nerea 卯n ceruri ca 卯nger-rezident (alternativa era trimiterea pe P膬m芒nt pentru a tr膬i o nou膬 via葲膬).
La judecata i se repro葯eaza ca a f膬cut ni葯te cercet膬ri despre moarte 卯n calitate de thanatonaut, prezentate lumii ca povestiri SF. Ca 卯nger-rezident 卯l are ca 卯nger-instructor pe Edmond Wells, autor 卯n via葲a de pe P膬m芒nt a unei Enciclopedii a cunoasterii absolute 葯i relative pe care o continu膬 葯i 卯n ceruri (foarte interesante extrase din aceast膬 enciclopedie sunt intercalate intre capitolele c膬r葲ilor, cu defini葲ii de genul: sufletul = 25% ereditate + 25% karma + 50% liber arbitru).
J'ai juste l'impression qu'il fait de la pub pour ses livres 脿 l'int茅rieur. Il ne sait pas 茅crire de personnages f茅minins sinon parler de leur physique ( pourquoi ?) Je ne pense pas avoir compris la fin donc j'imagine qu'il y a un tome 3. Ce livre 茅tait moins pertinent et 'scientifique' que les autres que j'ai lu de lui.
ended with a cliff-hanger. continues from the said point, however it soon does a 90 degree turn and heads in a different direction. The focus is now on following the (sometimes inter-twined) lives of three characters of Earth, with the afterlife setting taking a back-seat. The end of the previous book led me to believe the author would have some greater plans for the afterlife setting in the sequel, and there is some extension, but perhaps not to the level I was hoping. Given that the same ironic, quirky style is used through-out it turned out to be a pleasant read.
Ksi膮偶k臋 czyta艂am po francusku i pomin臋艂am jak si臋 okaza艂o cz臋艣膰 pierwsz膮. Ale stanowi niemal niezale偶ne dzie艂o i da si臋 wszystko zrozumie膰. Wszystko zaczyna si臋 od 艣mierci g艂贸wnego bohatera, kt贸ry trafia do nieba czekaj膮c na ocen臋 swojego 偶ycia. Z pocz膮tku ksi膮偶ka jest do艣膰 zabawna, potem jednak zabrak艂o mi troch臋 tego poczucie humoru. Og贸lnie przyjemna i wci膮gaj膮ca lektura, cho膰 mia艂am kilka zastrze偶e艅 co do przedstawionego 艣wiata.
Un des livres de Bernard Werber 脿 lire ou 脿 relire! L'id茅al, c'est de lire L'Empire des anges apr猫s Les Thanatonautes et avant la trilogie des Dieux, car l'ensemble de ces livres est une histoire qui se suit (avec comme personnages principaux Michael Pinson et son ami Raoul).
En plus des extraits de l'Encyclop茅die du savoir relatif et absolu, qui sont toujours un incontournable dans les meilleurs livres de Werber, un nouveau personnage retient notamment l'attention: Jacques Nemrod. Sa particularit茅: sembler 锚tre inspir茅 du v茅cu de Bernard Werber lui-m锚me. 脌 cet 茅gard, on peut souhaiter que, comme Jacques Nemrod, Bernard Werber daigne bien 茅crire un livre 脿 la fin de sa vie qui permettrait de comprendre ou, du moins, de confirmer nos suppositions sur les liens entre ses histoires et personnages!
Dans l'Empire des Anges, la notion du libre arbitre est centrale. Sommes-nous ma卯tres de notre destin茅e ou quelqu'un d'autre nous manipule comme une marionnette? Apr猫s un voyage sur le continent des morts, l'Empire des anges porte notamment sur le quotidien des anges, qui est moins palpitant qu'on pourrait le croire et o霉 des sommit茅s, comme M猫re Teresa, rajoutent de l'humour 脿 toute cette histoire. Un livre spirituel dans tous les sens du terme!
The author's style is very scholar and basic and his formula is always the same. The execution has room for improvement but the worlds he creates makes it worthwhile anyway.
The story follows the same goal as the previous book but slightly different which keeps it familiar yet new. I was longing for more of the angel's world story or more of how things work and looked so I would have welcomed ample descriptions. As usual, great concept: the story sticks to the mind. But the writing in itself lacks in depth. His alternating chapters style is always the same which lacks novelty and subtlety.
I am looking forward to the third one and the story's conclusion
幕oti l墨dz墨gi k膩 ar pirmo da募u, bez da啪膩m nians膿m, kas 拧姆ita nelo模iskas un l墨dz galam nep膩rdom膩tas, gr膩mata 拧kita aizraujo拧a, p膩rdomu provoc膿jo拧a gan si啪eta l墨nij膩, gan ik pa laikam par uzpeldo拧膩m autora filozofijas atzi艈膩m.