You'd think following the order of the Game of Thrones books would be easy. Pick up the first one, read it, grab the next. Simple, right? Well, George R.R. Martin doesn't exactly make things easy for his readers. If you're looking at that shelf of thick paperbacks with the iconic metallic covers, you aren't just looking at a series; you're looking at a massive, sprawling puzzle of history, geography, and "wait, didn't that guy die three chapters ago?"
The series is technically titled A Song of Ice and Fire. People call it "Game of Thrones" because the HBO show became a global juggernaut, but the books are a different beast entirely. They’re denser. They’re meaner. And frankly, the timeline in the later books gets so weird that some fans have spent a decade inventing "combined reading orders" just to make sense of who is where.
The Basic Publication Order: Where Everyone Starts
If it's your first time, don't overthink it. Just read them as they came out. George R.R. Martin published the first book, A Game of Thrones, back in 1996. It’s a masterpiece of pacing. Honestly, it's probably the most "normal" book in the series. You have the Starks, the Lannisters, and a whole lot of political backstabbing in Winterfell and King's Landing.
Next comes A Clash of Kings (1998). This is where the world expands. You get the Five Kings, the shadow babies, and the Battle of the Blackwater. Then we hit A Storm of Swords (2000). Ask any hardcore fan, and they'll tell you this is the peak. It’s huge. It’s so big it’s often split into two volumes in the UK (Steel and Snow and Blood and Gold). This is the book with the Red Wedding. It’s brutal.
Then things get... complicated.
After a long five-year wait, A Feast for Crows arrived in 2005. But there was a catch. Martin realized the story was too big for one book. Instead of cutting it chronologically, he split it by geography and characters. So, if your favorite character was Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, or Daenerys Targaryen, you were out of luck. They weren't in it. They didn't show up until A Dance with Dragons in 2011.
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So, the standard order of the Game of Thrones books looks like this:
- A Game of Thrones (The one where it all starts)
- A Clash of Kings (The civil war kicks off)
- A Storm of Swords (The one everyone cries about)
- A Feast for Crows (The political fallout in the South/Iron Islands/Dorne)
- A Dance with Dragons (The Wall, across the sea, and the North)
The "Feastdance" Rabbit Hole
Wait. If Feast and Dance happen at the same time, can you read them together? Yes. And honestly? You probably should if you're on a re-read.
Hardcore nerds—the kind who hang out on Westeros.org or the ASOIAF subreddit—created something called "Boiled Leather" or "A Ball of Beasts." These are custom reading orders. You jump back and forth between chapters of the fourth and fifth books. It’s a lot of work. You’ll be flipping books every twenty minutes. But it solves the problem of not seeing Jon Snow for a thousand pages.
It makes the narrative feel like one giant, cohesive epic again. It’s the way the story was meant to be told before the "Meereenese Knot" (a famous plot tangle Martin struggled with) forced him to split the manuscript.
Don't Forget the Prequels
If you finish those five and find yourself staring into the abyss waiting for The Winds of Winter (join the club, we have jackets), you aren't done. There is a lot of "extra credit" reading that is actually essential.
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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a collection of three novellas: The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight. These follow Dunk (a massive knight) and Egg (his tiny squire who is secretly a prince). They take place about 90 years before the main series. They’re lighter. They’re fun. But they also give you deep lore about the Blackfyre Rebellions, which actually matters for the main books.
Then there’s Fire & Blood. This isn't a novel. It’s a "fake history" book written by an Archmaester. It covers the first 150 years of Targaryen rule. If you’ve seen the show House of the Dragon, this is the source material. It’s dry in spots, but the drama is top-tier.
The World-Building Layers
There is also The World of Ice & Fire. This is basically a coffee table book, but it’s packed with art and history of the Far East, Yi Ti, and the Age of Heroes.
Is it necessary? No. Is it cool to see what Sothoryos looks like? Absolutely.
Many people get confused by the different versions of these books. You might see The Princess and the Queen or The Rogue Prince in various anthologies like Dangerous Women. Just ignore those if you have Fire & Blood. Those shorter stories were eventually expanded and folded into the "history" book anyway. You’d just be reading the same thing twice.
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Why the Order Actually Matters for Your Sanity
The biggest mistake new readers make is skipping to the "exciting" parts. Don't do that. George writes like a gardener. He plants tiny seeds in book one that don't sprout until book five.
Take the character of "Alleras the Sphinx" in A Feast for Crows. If you haven't been paying attention to the specific physical descriptions of characters in book two, you’ll miss a massive reveal about a certain Martell princess. The order of the Game of Thrones books is designed to build layers of suspicion.
Also, keep an eye on the dates. The timeline in the books is much tighter than the show. In the books, only about two to three years have passed since Ned Stark left Winterfell. These kids—Arya, Sansa, Bran—are still very much children. It makes their trauma hit way harder.
The Winds of Winter and the Future
We have to talk about the elephant in the room: the series isn't finished. The Winds of Winter has been "coming soon" since the Obama administration. After that, we are supposedly getting A Dream of Spring.
Because of the delay, some people suggest reading the sample chapters George has released on his blog. I wouldn't. It’s agonizing. You’ll read a brilliant Theon or Arianne chapter and then realize the rest of the book might be years away. Save them. Keep the mystery alive.
Actionable Steps for Your Reading Journey
If you are ready to dive into Westeros, here is how you should actually handle the order of the Game of Thrones books for the best experience:
- Start with the Core Five: Stick to the publication order for your first read. Don't try the "combined" orders yet; they are too confusing for a newbie.
- Keep a Map Handy: George’s world is huge. Having a physical or digital map of the Free Cities and the Seven Kingdoms makes the movements of the armies much easier to track.
- Read Dunk and Egg Between Books 3 and 4: A Storm of Swords is exhausting. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a perfect "palate cleanser" before you dive into the slower, more political A Feast for Crows.
- Listen to the Audiobooks: Roy Dotrice (who passed away a few years ago) narrated the main series. He holds a Guinness World Record for the most character voices in an audiobook. It’s an experience. He makes the world feel lived-in, even if his "Dany" voice is a bit... questionable.
- Track the Houses: Don't try to memorize every minor lord. Focus on the "Great Houses." The rest will click into place as you go.
The books are better than the show. Truly. There are entire plotlines—like the "Young Griff" arc or the real Lady Stoneheart—that the TV series completely ignored. By following the correct order, you're not just reading a story; you're entering a world that is far more complex and rewarding than anything that appeared on a screen.