Irene Radford

Irene Radford is a pen name of the American fantasy and science-fiction writer also known as C.F. Bentley and Rachel Atwood. Published primarily by DAW Books, she is best known for the long-running Dragon Nimbus novels, a secondary-world fantasy sequence centered on dragons, magic, and political intrigue that grew into a wider Dragon Nimbus Universe of related series. Her other work includes the Merlin's Descendants sequence, a historical fantasy that follows a lineage of Arthurian magic across generations, and the contemporary fantasy adventures of Tess Noncoiré. Writing as Rachel Atwood, she has drawn on a lifelong fascination with British history and the Robin Hood legend for historical fantasy; as C.F. Bentley she writes space opera. Across more than a hundred books, she has remained a steady presence in traditionally published genre fiction.