Rating: 
Summary: Imaginative, wonderful....but ends terribly
Review: The blurb on the cover of the paperback edition of this book isn't far wrong - "What Richard Adams did for rabbits in 'Watership Down', Bernard Werber does for ants." But it isn't totally accurate.For most of its almost 300 pages, this is a fascinating novel contrasting a vividly imagined world - the insect kingdom - with the equally fascinating and well thought out mystery of a deep and dark subterranean passage beneath the new home of Jonathan Wells. Werber's description of life in the ant world is fully detailed, extremely captivating, and totally believable - which is not surprising, since - according to the small biography at the end of the book - Werber is "a scientific journalist who has studied ants...as an avocation." Little by little, we learn that there are some mysterious goings-on in this little corner of the insect kingdom, and it is up to Werber's ant heroes to solve them. His description of the equally mysterious goings-on in the Wells' cellar is just as fascinating. And you eventually realize that these two stories must be connected in some way, although you have no idea how. But the climax and the connection, when it's finally revealed, is completely idiotic, and straight out of a 1950's s/f pulp magazine. I was expecting a much better resolution than this, and I turned the pages expecting to discover that this was nothing more than an ant dream, and the true climax was about to be revealed. But no - this was it. The book reads almost as if Werber had gotten tired of writing it, and wanted to finish it quickly. Well, he certainly did that - but at the expense of what could have been a truly incredible piece of fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: It's totally awesome and it's just the beginning
Review: This book is wonderful. After reading this book, Bernard Werber became my favorite author. Who would have thought ants could be so interesting ? A lot of readers think human characters are not as good written as ants, that's probably true for that book but not for the following one, which is, I think, the best one. However I'm sure most of the readers tried to build 4 equilateral triangles out of 6 matches... Being french, I read the Trilogy (as well as his other books) and as several people said : the end is really the beginning. To conclude, I met Bernard Werber several times and he's as much interesting as his books.
Rating:
Summary: engrossing, near perfect fiction
Review: This is a wonderful story written in a way that makes it near impossible to put down. It leaves you with many thoughts that will follow you around for days. And you'll never look at an ant the same way again.
This is fiction at its best: smart, fun, imaginative but not pretentious or stuffy.
Rating: 
Summary: Great fun, insectology and science fiction combined
Review: I admit that after watching my kid's ant farm, my interest in the life of the ant led me to various research books, and inevitably to this book. Who could not admire this tiny insect's social structure after learning more about them and spending hours watching them interact in a large ant farm. Soon, we began capturing ant colonies and adding males, and hoping to find a queen, which alas, we never did. This book was recommended to me throught Amazon when I searched for furthur information about ants. Not sure what to expect, I bought the book and to my delight really enjoyed it. It is one of the more unique stories I have ever read, and probably not a story that would work for everyone. I feel you would enjoy this book more if you are a fan of the insect and nature world. You can appreciate the research the author put into the novel, and I really came away with a higher respect for ants and the ant world in general. The story is a stretch in the imagination, which is what makes it so fun. I have read other reviews where some readers are annoyed that it wasn't a perfect scientific representation of the insect. For me, it was close enough and spurned my whole family's interest furthur in learning more about them. For the most part, we just sat back and really had fun reading this book and wondering what would it be like to be an ant.
Rating:
Summary: unputtable-downable
Review: Bernard Werber is a genius. The way he jumps back between the fascinating heirarchial ant world and that of the individualistic off-kilter humans is wonderful to read. The first time I opened the book, I couldn't put it down for long time; it was so engaging and easy to read. The author mixes the factual and the fictional when dealing with the ants, which makes one wonder where the line between truth and fiction truly lies. His imaginative perspective on the society of the typical russet ant will forever change how I think of them, and in a larger context any social insect. It is a shame that none of his other books have been translated into english, because as I understand it Empire of the Ants is the first part of a trilogy. I'd truly love to see what Mr. Werber has come up with since then. True speculative grandeur!
Rating:
Summary: Something different and interesting
Review: Empire of the Ants is a great read. I got bogged down a few times by an over abundance of details, but not enough to make me lower my rating of this book. It is translated from French, so sometimes the writing is a bit bumpy. The story is really original and completely captivating. I even found myself dreaming about the story at night... This book was recommended to me by a friend and I went into it a bit skeptical, but it is amazing how much I got into ant life and the "characters" in the story. It is hard to find in bookstores...I ordered mine from Amazon. I have heard that there is another book that continues with the "ants" saga, but unfortunately, to my knowledge it is in French and is yet to be translated. One thing interesting...I enjoyed the character development of the ants more than I did the people. Overall, a decent read and definitely something different.
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: It was my favorite book. It just puts images in your head. ne of the most thought provoking books ive read. I would reccomend it to anyone whos interested in nature or a good book that is different.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Science Fiction
Review: Simply wonderful. All too often the ever elusive "Sense-of-Wonder" is completely absent from modern SF. Not so with this one. This is a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Best book I've ever read
Review: I like to think I've read many great books. But the BEST of them all, in my mind, is whithout any doubt Bernard Werber's masterpiece. This is a work of genius - science-fiction, philosophy, real science, History, a great story; it has everything! I couldn't possibly reccomend it enough.
Rating:
Summary: Who Knew?
Review: Empire of the Ants is absolutely fascinating. I have never read such a good story with such detail from a non-human animal's point of view. I definitely recommend this book. The ending was weak I thought, as the story turns from the adventure genre to sci fi. That said, the rest of the story more than justifies checking this book out.
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