House of the Dragon returns June 21, 2026, and with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms having premiered in January, 2026 is a big year for Westeros on HBO Max. All of it comes from George R.R. Martin’s books. Here is the full Westeros shelf in chronological order, with where each one sits on screen and how to read or listen.

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Where to Start

I’m watching House of the Dragon or A Knight of the Seven KingdomsI want to read the whole saga
Start with Fire & Blood or A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms below, whichever matches your showStart with A Game of Thrones (Book 1) and save Fire & Blood and Dunk & Egg for after the five novels

Book to Season Map

BookShowSeason
Fire & BloodHouse of the DragonSeasons 1, 2, 3
A Knight of the Seven KingdomsA Knight of the Seven KingdomsSeasons 1, 2, 3*
A Game of ThronesGame of ThronesSeason 1
A Clash of KingsGame of ThronesSeason 2
A Storm of SwordsGame of ThronesSeasons 3 and 4
A Feast for CrowsGame of ThronesSeason 5
A Dance with DragonsGame of ThronesSeasons 5 and 6

*A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is three novellas in one book, one per season. Season 1 adapted The Hedge Knight. Season 2 (2027) adapts The Sworn Sword, confirmed by HBO. Season 3 as The Mystery Knight is expected but not yet officially greenlit.

The Books in Chronological Order

The cards run in Westeros timeline order. Most readers tackle the five main novels first and come back to Fire & Blood and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms after, but if you are here from the current shows, those two are up first.

[Fire & Blood](https://amzn.to/4eccTU1) by George R.R. Martin Fire & Blood Targaryen history · 2018 · House of the Dragon

Not a novel in the traditional sense, but an in-world history written as if compiled by a Maester of the Citadel. It covers three centuries of Targaryen rule, from Aegon the Conqueror’s landing to the years before Game of Thrones, with the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons at its center. The Dance, a bloody succession struggle between two rival claimants with armies of dragons behind them, is what House of the Dragon adapts, and Season 3 premieres June 21, 2026, continuing the war’s most devastating chapter. The chronicle format means you get battles, court politics, and dragon lore in the style of a history book rather than a conventional story. It is the first of two planned volumes.

[A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms](https://amzn.to/4eoALm5) by George R.R. Martin A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Tales of Dunk and Egg · 2015 · [A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms](https://amzn.to/4eoALm5)

Three novellas collected in one volume: The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight. They follow Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight of no particular reputation, and his young squire Egg as they travel the roads of Westeros getting into trouble about ninety years before Game of Thrones. The tone is lighter and more self-contained than the main saga, closer to knightly adventure than sprawling war, and each story works on its own. Egg, for those who know their Targaryen history, turns out to be more than he first appears. The HBO show, which premiered in January 2026, adapts The Hedge Knight as its first season, with the remaining two novellas to follow.

[A Game of Thrones](https://amzn.to/4uBIMdu) by George R.R. Martin A Game of Thrones Book 1 · 1996 · Game of Thrones Season 1

Ned Stark, the honorable lord of Winterfell, is pulled south to serve as the Hand of the King and finds that the politics of King’s Landing are far more dangerous than anything he faced in the north. The book runs multiple storylines at once: Ned at court uncovering something he was not meant to find, his daughters Sansa and Arya navigating a world they weren’t prepared for, his son Robb holding Winterfell, Jon Snow joining the Night’s Watch at the Wall where something old and cold is stirring, and Daenerys Targaryen across the sea beginning the long road to reclaim her family’s throne. It is a large book, dense with characters and history, and it established the template for modern prestige fantasy. Roy Dotrice reads the audiobook in what became one of the most celebrated fantasy audio recordings, with hundreds of distinct character voices.

[A Clash of Kings](https://amzn.to/4a1xc4b) by George R.R. Martin A Clash of Kings Book 2 · 1998 · Season 2

After the death of King Robert, five men claim the Iron Throne and the realm goes to war at once. Stannis and Renly Baratheon clash as brothers on opposite sides, Robb Stark presses his campaign in the north, and Joffrey holds King’s Landing through cruelty and his mother’s maneuvering. Meanwhile Daenerys searches for allies in the city of Qarth with three young dragons and an exhausted khalasar, Jon Snow marches beyond the Wall with the Night’s Watch, and Arya makes her way through a country tearing itself apart. The show adapted it as its second season, covering the war’s opening moves and the battle of Blackwater.

[A Storm of Swords](https://amzn.to/3Q4yUuV) by George R.R. Martin A Storm of Swords Book 3 · 2000 · Seasons 3 and 4

The war grinds toward its most brutal turns, including the Red Wedding, one of the most talked-about plot events in recent fiction. Jon infiltrates the wildling army north of the Wall and comes back changed. Daenerys takes her growing dragons south through the slave cities of Essos and builds real power for the first time. The politics at King’s Landing turn venomous, with a royal wedding that ends worse than the last one. Martin packed so much incident into this book that the show split it across its third and fourth seasons, and both are among the series’ best.

[A Feast for Crows](https://amzn.to/4xBE2aO) by George R.R. Martin A Feast for Crows Book 4 · 2005 · Season 5

Martin split the cast geographically when writing the fourth and fifth books, and this one covers the south and west. Cersei tries to hold power in King’s Landing after the war, making decisions that compound on each other badly. Arya arrives in Braavos and begins an apprenticeship that changes who she is. The Ironborn dispute their succession after Balon Greyjoy’s death, and Sam Tarly makes a long, difficult journey to Oldtown. Jon, Daenerys, and Tyrion are absent from this book entirely, held for the next one. It covers the same stretch of time as A Dance with Dragons rather than following after it, which catches some readers off guard.

[A Dance with Dragons](https://amzn.to/4vUeSCz) by George R.R. Martin A Dance with Dragons Book 5 · 2011 · Seasons 5 and 6

The characters missing from A Feast for Crows: Jon Snow managing a fragile, dangerous peace at the Wall between the Night’s Watch and the wildlings, Daenerys struggling to hold Meereen as a ruler and watching her control slip, and Tyrion making his way east through considerable danger. The book overlaps with Feast in its early chapters and then continues past it. Around the events at the end of this book, the TV show ran out of published material and moved out ahead of Martin’s writing, charting its own course from Season 6 onward. The sixth novel, The Winds of Winter, has been in progress for over a decade.

The sixth and seventh novels, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, are still to come.

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