Nick Perumov

Nick Perumov (Template:Langx) is the pen name of Nikolay Daniilovich Perumov (Template:Langx; born 21 November 1963), a Russian microbiologist, as well as a fantasy and science fiction writer.

Biography

Perumov was born 21 November 1963 in Leningrad, USSR. His father, Daniil Alexandrovich Perumov, was a biologist. Nikolai began writing short stories when he was a teenager, and after reading The Lord of the Rings in the early 1980s, he became a fantasy fan. After studying at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute, Perumov worked at a research institute, and later as a translator.

In 1985–1991 he wrote his first fantasy novel Нисхождение тьмы (Niskhozhdeniye t'my, "Descent of Darkness"), which consisted of two volumes: Эльфийский Клинок (El'fiyskiy Klinok, "Elven Blade") and Черное Копье (Chernoye Kop'ye, "Black Lance"). The book was set in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, 300 years after the War of the Ring. Perumov initially regarded his novel as just a Tolkien fan fiction written for friends, until one of his colleagues offered to publish it. In 1993 the duology, re-edited and renamed Кольцо Тьмы (The Ring of Darkness) was published by Severo-Zapad, which paid Perumov a small sum of $300. The Ring of Darkness was a surprising success, both with readers and with critics. It sold at least 100,000 copies, and spurred Perumov's popularity. The book provoked a controversy in Tolkien fandom; some fans considered it was not fair to set the book in Middle-earth rather than Perumov's own setting, and to challenge Tolkien's philosophy of "Good against Evil" in it. The Ring of Darkness, however, was one of a number of such projects, as several other 1990s Russian writers, including Natalia "Niennah" Vasilyeva and Kirill Yeskov, went on to publish unauthorized Middle-earth books that challenged Tolkien far more sharply.

After the success of his debut, Perumov decided to start a career as a professional writer. He wrote the novel Гибель Богов (Gilel' Bogov, "Godsdoom"), heavily inspired by Norse mythology. It was the first book to be set in Упорядоченное (The Consistent), a multiverse of many connected worlds. The Consistent became the main setting of his following books, including the most known, 8-volume series Хранитель Мечей (Khranitel' Mechey, "The Keeper of Swords").

Over 4 million copies of Perumov's books have been published, and his work has been translated into many languages, mostly in Northern and Eastern Europe. One of his books, Godsdoom, has been translated to English by Liv Bliss. At Eurocon 2004 he was given an award as the "Best Science Fiction Writer in Europe". He is a friend of Vera Kamsha, whom he persuaded to start a career as a writer. In the 2000s Kamsha became a popular fantasy writer. Perumov enjoys Melnitsa music and wrote a cameo appearance for the band in one of his books.

During the 1998 Russian financial crisis, Perumov moved to the United States, where he works for North Carolina Research Campus as a microbiologist. He claims writing is his 'hobby', while science is his job.

Series and other works

Middle-earth

Кольцо Тьмы (Ring of Darkness)

This fantasy novel takes place in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, 300 years after the War of the Ring. The books tell the story of hobbit Folko Brandybuck, the heir of Meriadoc, and his two dwarven friends, who are trying to protect Middle-earth from a new danger: powerful Olmer, the leader of the Eastern nations, who is gathering the remainder of the nine Nazgûl's Rings of Power. The original duology was later followed with the third book, Адамант Хенны (The Adamant of Henna). Judging by authors plans two more books of this series should come to the light.

1. (Elven Blade, 1993)
2. (Black Lance, 1993)
3. (The Adamant of Henna, 1995)
4. (The Heaven of Valinor, TBA)
5. (Waterfall, TBA)

Norse mythology

Хроники Хьерварда (Hjorward chronicles)

Initially it was a three-volume series of non-connected novels telling the different parts of Hjorward world history, including the rebellion of Hedin and Rakot against the Young Gods, the main event of Consistent history. It is continued by some spin-offs and series of Godsdoom 2.

1. (Godsdoom, 1995)
2. (Warrior of Great Darkness, 1995)
3. (The Land Without Joy, 1995)
4. (The Slave of Undenoted, cancelled, intended to be one of initial four-volume series)
5. (1000 Years of Khroft, 2013)
6. (White Blood of Dawn, cancelled, sequel of 'The Land Without Joy')

Хранитель Мечей (Keeper of the Swords)

Also known as 'Chronicles of The Rift' or 'Series of Mage', this eight-volume series tells the story of Fess the necromancer, who keeps the secret of magical Diamond and Wooden swords. Fess was caught in the 'closed' world of Evial, and suffers the pressure of local inquisition.

1. , Деревянный Меч (Diamond Sword, Wooden Sword, 1998)
2. (Birth of the Mage, 1999)
3. (Wandering of the Mage, 2000)
4. (Solitude of the Mage, 2001)
5. (War of the Mage: Opening, 2003)
6. (War of the Mage: Middlegame, 2004)
7. (War of the Mage: Endgame, 2006)
8. (War of the Mage: Game Over, 2006)

Short novels connected:

• (Daughter of the Necromancer, 2000)
• (Bring Back the Rod, 2000)
• (Elfguard, or Plough and Furrow, 2013)

Гибель Богов 2 (Godsdoom 2)

A finale to the whole Consistent universe. Apparently it is yet to be finished.

• (Godsdoom 2: Memory of Flames, 2012)
• (Godsdoom 2: Holding the Sky, 2012)
• (Godsdoom 2: Ashes of Asgard, 2013)
• (Godsdoom 2: Asgard Resurrected, 2015)
• (Godsdoom 2: Hedin, The Enemy of Mine, first volume - 2015, second volume - 2016)

Science fiction and other stories

Империя Превыше Всего (Empire Above All)

This science fiction duology tells about a distant future in which the "German nation" became the human hegemon in the Galaxy, namely through abandoning its Nazi ideology in favour of a multicultural "Empire Above All" nationalism. The book centers on the quest of Ruslan Fateev to attain independence for his homeworld of New Crimea, the sole Russian-speaking corner of the Empire (according to the books, the overwhelming majority of Russians chose voluntary Germanisation over the centuries). All this is set in an atmosphere of uprisings of a federation of colony worlds against the Empire and the invasion of human planets by mysterious alien creatures named "Biomorphs".

1. (Skull on a Sleeve, 2002)
2. (Skull in the Sky, 2004)

Техномагия (Technomagic)

1. (Legal Wizardy, 1996)
2. (Enemy is Unknown, 1997)
3. (Zone of Mages, cancelled)

Семь зверей Райлега (Seven Beasts of Raileg)

1. (Thorn, 2007)
2. (Aliedora, 2009)
3. (The Name of the Beast: Take a Look into Abyss, 2011)
4. (The Name of the Beast: Dragon Exodus, 2011)

Я, Всеслав (Me, Vseslav)

1. (Russian Sword, 2008)
2. (Vapour Iron from Blood, 2008)
3. (Vseslav's Cur, 2008)
4. (Incident near Kubinka, TBA)
5. (Elve from The World's End, unknown)
6. (Heroic Outpost, unknown)

Out of Series

• (Security Specialist, unknown)
• (Messiah's Mission, unknown, to be renamed)
• (Sterns - Fire!, TBA)
• (Tribunal, finished, not to be published, based on "Hard to be a God" by Arkadi and Boris Strugatski)
• (unknown)
• (Stronghold of Ethgenard, unknown)
• не представлялось возможным (...Perishing seems not to be possible, unknown)
• (Little Tale, unknown)

Co-authored works

• (Black Blood, 1996) with Svyatoslav Loginov
• Драконов (No Time For Dragons, 1997) with Sergey Lukyanenko.
• (Armageddon, 2000, published in United States as 'Lords of Terror') with Allan Cole.
• (Mediator, 1996) with Polina Kaminskaya.
• (Kidnappers of Souls, 1996) with Polina Kaminskaya.
• (One on One, 1997) with Polina Kaminskaya.
• (Mlava the Red, 2011) with Vera Kamsha.
• (Black Snowstorm, at work, sequel of 'Mlava the Red') with Vera Kamsha.
• (True Word, 2016) with Darja Zarubina.

Story collections

• (Tested on Self, 2007)
• (Wolve's marge, 2008)
• (Voevode and The Night, 2010)
• (Molly from Nord-York, 2015)

(Molly Blackwater Trilogy)

• (Moly Blackwater. Beyond World's Edge. 2016)
• (Steel, Steam and Magic. TBA)

External links

• perumov.com Official site
• Ring of Darkness English Cooperative Translation