How to Read Your Way Through ‘Game of Thrones’

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In case you haven’t noticed, we’re currently living through the Great Game of Thrones Revival. First came the Renaissance between 2011 and 2019, when the HBO adaptation racked up more Emmy awards than any other drama in history, and George R.R. Martin’s books earned a massive display table at every bookstore in America.

Then came the Dark Age, when the TV series ended with the most disappointing final stretch since ABC’s Lost (unless you ask Esquire’s Justin Kirkland), while Martin continued suffering from “the most public case of writer’s block in human history,” leaving fans wondering if we’d ever get a chance to read the two final books in the Song of Ice and Fire saga.

But in the summer of 2022, everything changed again with the premiere of HBO’s House of the Dragon. Based on Fire & Blood, Martin’s 2018 prequel to the main series that focuses on the dragon-and-incest-filled history of the Targaryen family, House of the Dragon proved the franchise could not only survive but thrive without Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B Weiss—and without Emilia Clarke, the breakout star of the original series.

These days, in addition to a second season of House of the Dragon, HBO has greenlit another prequel series called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, which goes into production this summer and is set to premiere in late 2025. Plus, at least two additional spin-offs are in development at HBO: one based on the first half of Fire & Blood, which focuses on Aegon I Targaryen’s conquest of the Seven Kingdoms, and another about the nine voyages of Corlys Velaryon, whom House of the Dragon fans already know as the Sea Snake.

Although navigating the Seven Kingdoms can be challenging for beginners and experts alike, we’ve put together a reading order designed to deliver the richest possible experience, whether you’re new to the franchise or you’ve already watched every episode of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Here’s hoping we can add The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring to this list sometime before 2040. (While you wait, check out our maps to The Lord of the Rings, Dune, and The Wheel of Time.)

Fire & Blood

Chronologically, the story of A Song of Ice and Fire starts with this prequel, the latter half of which served as the basis for seasons one and two of HBO’s House of the Dragon. To use a Tolkien analogy, this is Martin’s Silmarillion—a worldbuilding bible that imbues his main series of books with more meaning. Beginning 300 years before the events of A Game of Thrones, it tells the story of Daenerys Targaryen’s first royal ancestor, King Aegon I Targaryen, who conquered all Seven Kingdoms atop his massive dragon, as well as several generations of his descendants, including Rhaenyra (played by Emma D’Arcy in the HBO adaptation) and her uncle/husband Daemon (played by Matt Smith). However, unlike Martin’s main series, Fire & Blood isn’t written like a novel: it’s narrated by an in-universe historian, leading some critics to compare it to a bound volume of Wikipedia entries. Still, I’m one of those people who thinks you should read The Silmarillion first to maximize your enjoyment of The Lord of the Rings, so as long as you don’t mind the stylistic departure from a traditional work of fiction, Fire & Blood is the best place to begin your journey in Westeros—especially if you’re watching House of the Dragon.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Surprise! This is not the first book in the main series—it’s a collection of three novellas set between Fire & Blood and A Game of Thrones. It’s also the source of Martin and HBO’s next TV adaptation, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight. Set during the rule of Rhaenyra’s descendants (and Daenerys’ ancestors), these novellas—The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003), and The Mystery Knight (2010)—are buddy comedies starring two characters known as “Dunk and Egg.” Ser Duncan the Tall (to be played by Peter Claffey) is a wandering knight who becomes Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, while his squire, Aegon “Egg” V Targaryen (Dexter Sol Ansell), becomes the fifteenth Targaryen king on the Iron Throne. This book is definitely the funniest thing Martin has ever written, and knowing these characters and their history makes the main series more rewarding. In interviews, Martin has said he wants to write somewhere between three and nine additional novellas featuring Dunk and Egg, but don't hold your breath.

A Game of Thrones

After the prequels, Martin’s main series begins here with one of the most riveting prologues ever written. In just a few pages, Martin introduces us to the Night’s Watch, the Wall, and “pale shapes gliding through the wood”—the mysterious inhuman race known only as the Others. First published in 1996, A Game of Thrones is still a masterclass in worldbuilding and characterization, as we encounter many of Westeros’ settings, characters, and mysteries for the first time. When the King’s right-hand advisor turns up dead, the noble Eddard Stark and his entire family are embroiled in a Machiavellian battle for power between the wealthy Lannisters and the warmongering Baratheons. Meanwhile, across the ocean, the exiled princess Daenerys Targaryen (a direct descendant of House of the Dragon’s Rhaenyra and Daemon) discovers her true purpose and otherworldly strength. Many fans consider A Game of Thrones the best book in the series—or second-best, after A Storm of Swords—and it earned a spot on our list of the 50 best fantasy books of all time.

A Clash of Kings

After a shocking conclusion to A Game of Thrones, Martin expands the scope of the series in the second book by exploring new locations and adding new characters like Brienne of Tarth, Davos Seaworth, and the red priestess Melisandre. The second season of the Game of Thrones TV series was adapted from the plot of 1998’s A Clash of Kings, as a civil war breaks out in the Seven Kingdoms for control of the Iron Throne. One of Martin’s chief inspirations for the series was Britain’s historical Wars of the Roses between the House of Lancaster and the House of York; that influence is particularly visible here. But instead of two rival houses, Martin throws four into the ring: the Starks, the Lannisters, the Greyjoys, and two separate factions of the Baratheons. At the same time, Daenerys Targaryen—now known as Mother-of-Dragons—loses many of her followers on a grim journey to the east, where she stumbles upon a city ruled by warlocks. A Clash of Kings might not be as memorable or propulsive as the books immediately before and after it, but it’s still an essential entry in the series that deepens the political intrigue and broadens the horizons of Westeros and Essos.

A Storm of Swords

Often celebrated as the highlight of the series, 2000’s A Storm of Swords is so eventful (and so long) that it was split across the third, fourth, and fifth seasons of the HBO Game of Thrones series. Martin takes the biggest swings of his career in this book, shocking readers with reveals, betrayals, and deaths that have since become iconic moments in pop culture (don’t google “Red Wedding” or “Rains of Castamere” if you don’t already know what they mean). The War of the Five Kings gets more complicated as new alliances form while old ones fall, and a host of wildlings from beyond the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms marches on the undermanned Wall. In Essos, Daenerys starts channeling the Daemon Targaryen side of her ancestry and transforms from a queen in exile into a city-conquering warlord.

A Feast for Crows

Martin’s original manuscript for the fourth book in the main series was so long that his publishers split it into two separate novels set during the same period of time. A Feast for Crows was published first in 2005, and follows roughly half of the main characters—including Arya and Sansa Stark, Jaime and Cersei Lannister, and Brienne of Tarth—on their adventures in King’s Landing, the Riverlands, the Vale, and elsewhere. Unfortunately, it’s the first truly disappointing book in the series, and perhaps even the worst. The pacing is glacial, the characterizations are a little off, the other half of the cast is sorely missed, and, well, not enough happens to justify all 753 pages. It also forms the basis (along with A Dance with Dragons) for the first poorly received season of the Game of Thrones TV series, season five. Still, A Feast for Crows features some unforgettable scenes, like Cersei’s conflict with the Faith of the Seven, and some crucial information about cities like Braavos, Oldtown, and Sunspear.

A Dance with Dragons

When A Feast for Crows was published in 2005, A Dance with Dragons was scheduled to come out the following year. In a twist that would surprise zero Martin fans today, it did not come out in 2006, but in 2011. Even longer and more meandering than its predecessor, A Dance with Dragons reveals what happened to the other half of the cast—Daenerys, Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, Bran Stark, and Theon Greyjoy—during the same timeframe as A Feast for Crows. Jon Snow tries to negotiate a truce between the Night’s Watch and the wildlings, Tyrion is smuggled to Essos after committing a shocking crime, and Daenerys runs into some problems with her dragons. Some fans consider it a mild improvement over A Feast for Crows, while others deem it the worst example of Martin’s tendency to stretch things out. Either way, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons probably should have remained a single book with half as many pages, at the very least. Sadly, now more than a decade old, it’s also the last book in the main series published to date, so this is where Martin’s story ends until The Winds of Winter.

The World of Ice And Fire

One of the (many) projects that must have slowed down Martin’s progress on The Winds of Winter, this book is far more than a reference guide to the history of Westeros; rather, it’s an essential, beautifully illustrated companion to the main series that fills in many of the world’s missing pieces while explaining the forces that shaped it. It’s also the best possible book to have in your lap while watching House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones, or any of the future spin-offs. Published in 2014, it answers a lot of the questions you might have about the First Men, the Children of the Forest, the Targaryen dynasty, and the lands beyond the Seven Kingdoms, like Valyria, the Free Cities, and the Further East.

The Lands of Ice and Fire

For the true Westerosi scholar, the 12 maps contained in The Lands of Ice and Fire are a crucial research tool. Without hyperbole, they are the most lifelike maps of a fictional world I’ve ever seen, filled with natural, political, and narrative details that make Martin’s world-spanning story a lot easier to follow. I almost considered putting this book first in the reading order, just to have these superior maps on-hand while reading the main series. But unlike Karen Wynn Fonstad’s The Atlas of Middle-earth, there is no accompanying text to read. It’s not even really a “book,” but rather a series of posters folded between the covers. Nonetheless, reading any of the books above (or watching any of the TV series) is a richer experience when you’ve got these maps at hand.

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