Bulgarian prominent writer of fiction, author of game books and translator of Tolkien, Lyubomir Nikolov, has passed away at the age of 74 on July 20,  his relatives announced on social networks.

Lyubomir Nikolov aka Narvi is the award-winning author of the novels "The Mole", "A Worm Under the Autumn Wind" and "The Grey Road".

Lyubomir Nikolov was born on January 10, 1950 in Kazanlak. He studied mechanical engineering in Tula, Russia. In 1977, he graduated in journalism from the University of Sofia "Kliment Ohridski". He worked in the Bulgarian National Television, the periodical press, and later as a freelance translator.

For his translation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy into Bulgaria, he was awarded the Prize of the Bulgarian Translators' Union. He has also translated authors of the stature of Stephen King, Khaled Hosseini, Robert Shackley and John Grisham, among others.

In an interview with Free Europe in January 2023, Lyubomir Nikolov said of himself that he is "a bit like Tolkien" - he does not believe he knows the world well, so he writes fiction.