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.
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 job.
After studying at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute, Perumov worked at a research institute, and later as a translator.
In 1985-1991 he wrote his debut "Descending of Darkness", a fantasy duology, which consisted of two novels: "Elven Blade" and "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. Perumov initially regarded his novel as just a fan fiction written for friends, until one of his colleagues offered to publish it. In 1993 the duology, re-edited and renamed "The Ring of Darkness" was published in Severo-Zapad publishing, which paid Perumov just $300. "The Ring of Darkness" has sold at least 100,000 copies, and ranked high in popularity among Russian fantasy readers. At the same time it also provoked a controversy in Tolkien fandom. Some Tolkien fans considered 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 professional writer. He wrote the novel "Godsdoom", the first to be set in "The Consistent", his universe of multiple connected worlds. "The Consistent" became the main locale of his following books, including the most known, 8-volume series "The Keeper of Swords".
