Nick Perumov
Encyclopedia
Nick Perumov is the pen name
of Nikolay Daniilovich Perumov , a Russia
n fantasy
and science fiction
writer
.
, USSR. He began writing short stories since 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 Нисхождение тьмы (Descending of Darkness), a fantasy duology, which consisted of two novels: Эльфийский Клинок (Elven Blade) and Черное Копье (Black Lance). The events of the book took place in J. R. R. Tolkien
's Middle-earth
, 300 years after the War of the Ring
. His novel, as Perumov says, was just fan fiction
written for friends, before one of his colleagues offered to publish this work. In 1993 the duology, re-edited and re-named Кольцо Тьмы (Ring of Darkness) was published in Severo-Zapad publishing, which paid Perumov just $300. Ring of Darkness has sold at least 100,000 copies, and ranked high in popularity among Russian fantasy readers, though it also provoked a wave of criticism from old Tolkien fans. Their main arguments against Perumov's work was that no one has the right to write sequels to The Lord of the Rings and to change Middle-earth's history. Other critics argue that Perumov eroded the edge between Good and Evil by giving Uruk-hai
humanlike behaviour.
After the success of his debut, Perumov decided to start a career of a professional writer. He wrote the novel Гибель Богов (Godsdoom), in which he mentioned Упорядоченное (The Consistent) for the very first time, his universe of multiple connected worlds. The Consistent became the main locale of his following books, including the most known, 8-volume series Хранитель Мечей (The Keeper of Swords).
Perumov's books published in overall number of more than 4 millions of copies and translated to many languages, Northern
and Eastern Europe
an mostly. One of his books, Godsdoom has also been translated to English. At Eurocon
2004 he was awarded as the best fiction writer of Europe
.
Perumov now lives in the United States of America, where he works at a research center as a microbiologist. He claims writing is his 'hobby', while science is his work.
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).
Хроники Хьерварда (Hjorward chronicles)
A three-volume series of non-connected novels tells the different parts of Hjorward world history, including the rebellion of Hedin and Rakot against the Young Gods, the main event of Consistent history. Perumov is currently writing a finale to the whole Consistent universe tentatively titled Гибель Богов 2 (Godsdoom 2) to be released early 2010.
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.
Short novels connected:
Империя Превыше Всего (Empire Above All)
Science fiction dualogy tells about a distant future in which the "German nation" became the human hegemon in the Galaxy, namely through abandonning 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".
Техномагия (Technomagic)
Семь зверей Райлега (Seven Bests of Raileg)
Co-authored works
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of Nikolay Daniilovich Perumov , a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Biography
Perumov was born November 21, 1963 in LeningradLeningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, USSR. He began writing short stories since he was a teenager, and after reading The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
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 Нисхождение тьмы (Descending of Darkness), a fantasy duology, which consisted of two novels: Эльфийский Клинок (Elven Blade) and Черное Копье (Black Lance). The events of the book took place in J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
, 300 years after the War of the Ring
War of the Ring
In the fictional high fantasy-world of J. R. R. Tolkien, the War of the Ring was fought between Sauron and the free peoples of Middle-earth for control of the One Ring and dominion over the continent. The War of the Ring took place at the end of the Third Age. Together with the Quest of Mount Doom,...
. His novel, as Perumov says, was just fan fiction
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
written for friends, before one of his colleagues offered to publish this work. In 1993 the duology, re-edited and re-named Кольцо Тьмы (Ring of Darkness) was published in Severo-Zapad publishing, which paid Perumov just $300. Ring of Darkness has sold at least 100,000 copies, and ranked high in popularity among Russian fantasy readers, though it also provoked a wave of criticism from old Tolkien fans. Their main arguments against Perumov's work was that no one has the right to write sequels to The Lord of the Rings and to change Middle-earth's history. Other critics argue that Perumov eroded the edge between Good and Evil by giving Uruk-hai
Uruk-hai
The Uruk-hai are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth. They are introduced in The Lord of the Rings as an advanced breed or breeds of Orcs that serve Sauron and Saruman...
humanlike behaviour.
After the success of his debut, Perumov decided to start a career of a professional writer. He wrote the novel Гибель Богов (Godsdoom), in which he mentioned Упорядоченное (The Consistent) for the very first time, his universe of multiple connected worlds. The Consistent became the main locale of his following books, including the most known, 8-volume series Хранитель Мечей (The Keeper of Swords).
Perumov's books published in overall number of more than 4 millions of copies and translated to many languages, Northern
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an mostly. One of his books, Godsdoom has also been translated to English. At Eurocon
Eurocon
Eurocon is an annual science fiction convention held in Europe. The organising committee of each Eurocon is selected by vote of the participants of the previous event. The procedure is coordinated by the European Science Fiction Society. The first Eurocon was held in Trieste, Italy, in 1972. Unlike...
2004 he was awarded as the best fiction writer of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Perumov now lives in the United States of America, where he works at a research center as a microbiologist. He claims writing is his 'hobby', while science is his work.
Series
Кольцо Тьмы (Ring of Darkness)This fantasy novel takes place in J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
, 300 years after the War of the Ring. The books tell the story of hobbit
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
Folko Brandybuck, the heir of Meriadoc
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck, usually referred to as Merry, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings....
, 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
Nazgûl
The Nazgûl are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium...
's Rings of Power
Rings of Power
The Rings of Power in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium are magical rings created by Sauron or by the Elves of Eregion under Sauron's tutelage...
. The original duology was later followed with the third book, Адамант Хенны (The Adamant of Henna).
- Эльфийский Клинок (Elven Blade, 1993)
- Черное Копье (Black Lance, 1993)
- Адамант Хенны (The Adamant of Henna, 1995)
Хроники Хьерварда (Hjorward chronicles)
A three-volume series of non-connected novels tells the different parts of Hjorward world history, including the rebellion of Hedin and Rakot against the Young Gods, the main event of Consistent history. Perumov is currently writing a finale to the whole Consistent universe tentatively titled Гибель Богов 2 (Godsdoom 2) to be released early 2010.
- Гибель Богов (Godsdoom, 1995)
- Земля Без Радости (The Land Without Joy, 1995)
- Воин Великой Тьмы (Warrior of Great Darkness, 1995)
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
Necromancy
Necromancy is a claimed form of magic that involves communication with the deceased, either by summoning their spirit in the form of an apparition or raising them bodily, for the purpose of divination, imparting the ability to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge...
, 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.
- Алмазный Меч, Деревянный Меч (Diamond Sword, Wooden Sword, 1998)
- Рождение Мага (Birth of the Mage, 1999)
- Странствия Мага (Wandering of the Mage, 2000)
- Одиночество Мага (Loneliness of the Mage, 2001)
- Война Мага: Дебют (War of the Mage: Debut, 2003)
- Война Мага: Миттельшпиль (War of the Mage: Middlegame, 2004)
- Война Мага: Эндшпиль (War of the Mage: Endgame, 2006)
- Война Мага: Конец Игры (War of the Mage: Game Over, 2006)
Short novels connected:
- Дочь Некроманта (Daughter of the Necromancer)
- Вернуть Посох (Bring Back the Rod)
- Эльфийская Стража, или Лемех и Борозда (Elfguard, or Plough and Furrow)
Империя Превыше Всего (Empire Above All)
Science fiction dualogy tells about a distant future in which the "German nation" became the human hegemon in the Galaxy, namely through abandonning 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".
- Череп на Рукаве (Skull on a Sleeve, 2002)
- Череп в Небесах (Skull in the Sky, 2004)
Техномагия (Technomagic)
- Разрешенное Волшебство (Legal Wizardy)
- Враг Неведом (Enemy is Unknown)
Семь зверей Райлега (Seven Bests of Raileg)
- «Тёрн (Tern)» (2007)
- «Алиедора (Aliedora)» (2009)
- «Имя Зверя (Beast's Name)» (2011) comes in 2 volumes due to decision of the publisher:
- «Взглянуть в бездну (Take a Look at Abyss)» (22 March 2011)
- «Исход Дракона (Dragon's Outcome)» (19 April 2011)
Co-authored works
- Чёрная Кровь (Black Blood, 1996) with Svyatoslav LoginovSvyatoslav LoginovSvyatoslav Vladimirovich Vitman, primarily known under the pen name Svyatoslav Loginov is a Russian writer. He writes mostly science fiction....
- Не Время Для Драконов (No Time For Dragons, 1997) with Sergey LukyanenkoSergey LukyanenkoSergei Vasilievich Lukyanenko is a science fiction and fantasy author, writing in Russian, and is arguably the most popular contemporary Russian sci-fi writer...
. - Армагеддон (Armageddon, 2000, published in USA as 'Lords of Terror') with Allan ColeAllan ColeAllan Cole is an American author and television writer, who has written or co-written nearly thirty books.The son of a CIA operative, Cole was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East...
. - Посредник (Mediator, 1996) with Polina Kaminskaya.