A Song of Ice and Fire Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| A Game of Thrones | 1996 | Buy |
| A Clash of Kings | 1998 | Buy |
| A Storm of Swords | 2000 | Buy |
| A Feast for Crows | 2005 | Buy |
| A Dance with Dragons | 2011 | Buy |
| A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms | 2015 | Buy |
| Fire & Blood | 2018 | Buy |
George R.R. Martin worked in television before he became fantasy’s most famous procrastinator. He wrote for The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast in the 1980s, learning to craft stories within strict budgets and page counts. When he returned to novels with A Game of Thrones in 1996, he deliberately wrote scenes that would be impossible to film. Dragons, battles, and a cast of hundreds. Television had taught him what he couldn’t do there, so he did it in print.
The books found a devoted audience, but HBO’s 2011 adaptation turned them into a phenomenon. At its peak, Game of Thrones was the most-watched show on premium cable. The problem: the show caught up to the books. Martin had published five novels between 1996 and 2011. As of 2025, The Winds of Winter remains unfinished.
Martin’s writing is dense with political intrigue, family drama, and sudden violence. He kills characters other authors would protect. This unpredictability became the series’ trademark. Readers learned not to assume anyone was safe.
Beyond Westeros, Martin has written science fiction, horror, and edited anthologies. His Wild Cards series, a shared-world superhero project, has run since 1987 with contributions from dozens of authors. He owns a movie theater in Santa Fe and has produced several HBO spinoffs set in his world, including House of the Dragon.
The main series will conclude with two more books. Martin insists he’s working on them.