Your first step into Westeros
Where to Start
A Song of Ice and Fire can look like a wall of a thousand pages and a hundred names. It needn't. Whichever way you come to it, there is a clear first step. Choose the door that fits you.
Choose your door
I'm new to it all
New reader
Start at the beginning and read in the order the books were published. Begin with A Game of Thrones, then A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. Publication order is how the story was built to be read — the mysteries unfold, the world widens, and nothing is spoiled. Don't worry about the histories or the timelines yet; the first book teaches you everything you need.
One tip: a book has a cast list and family trees in the back. Lean on them without shame.
See the full reading order →I watched the show
Coming from the show
The books give you far more than the screen could hold — the inner voices of the point-of-view characters, whole storylines and characters the show trimmed, and a plot that steadily diverges from the series, especially in its later years. You already know the shape of the early story, so the joy here is depth and difference. Start with A Game of Thrones anyway; the prose is where the world truly lives.
The two tell the same tale only up to a point — then the pages keep secrets the screen never showed.
How the books and show differ →I've been away a while
Returning reader
Coming back after years? You have more to read than when you left. Beyond the five main novels, there are the Tales of Dunk and Egg, the two-volume history of the Targaryens in Fire & Blood, and the great atlas of The World of Ice and Fire. A guided re-read or a chronological path can make the return richer — and the maester's reading order lays out every option.
The main saga stands at five books of a planned seven; The Winds of Winter is still awaited.
Walk the maester's reading order →
Whichever door you took
Every path leads to the same first joy: opening A Game of Thrones and meeting Westeros for yourself. The rest of this chronicle is here for whenever you want a map, a family tree, or a gentle answer to 'wait, who is that again?'
Where should I start reading Game of Thrones?
Start with A Game of Thrones, the first novel in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, and read the books in publication order from there. It is the natural entry point for everyone — new readers and show-watchers alike — and needs no preparation. The histories and companion books can wait until after.
In what order should I read the A Song of Ice and Fire books?
For a first read, publication order is best: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons run in parallel across different characters, but reading them in publication order works perfectly well. Companion works like Fire & Blood and the Tales of Dunk and Egg are best saved for afterward.
I watched the show — should I still read the books?
Yes. The novels carry the interior thoughts of their point-of-view characters, storylines and characters the series cut for time, and a plot that diverges from the show more and more as it goes — especially in the later seasons. Even knowing the early beats, most readers find the books a deeper and often different experience.
Is A Song of Ice and Fire finished?
Not yet. Five of a planned seven novels have been published, ending with A Dance with Dragons. The sixth, The Winds of Winter, remains forthcoming, with a seventh, A Dream of Spring, planned to close the saga. This chronicle keeps a tracker for news of the next book.