George R.R. Martin Books in Order: Complete Guide

By Anna Marie CarrollFantasy

This is a complete reference guide of the George R.R. Martin books in order, covering his major series, standalones, and short fiction collections in a clear reading order.

Yes, A Song of Ice and Fire is the headliner, but Martin wrote plenty before Westeros. His earlier work leans into science fiction, smaller-scale fantasy, and short stories that show the same instincts for power, consequence, and characters making terrible choices. Use the list below to read straight through his career or jump to the era and genre you care about most.

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Westeros Books

Below is a complete publication-order list of Martin’s Westeros books, from the core A Song of Ice and Fire novels to the shorter prequel novellas and the companion histories that flesh out the timeline.

This section is meant to be a clean reference list, so you can quickly see what exists and when it released. If you want reading orders with recommended paths, check out my full Game of Thrones books guide.

A Song of Ice and Fire Main Books

These are the primary novels that tell the main story of the Seven Kingdoms. If you only plan to read one part of Martin’s Westeros bibliography, this is it.

  1. A Game of Thrones (1996)
  2. A Clash of Kings (1999)
  3. A Storm of Swords (2000)
  4. A Feast for Crows (2005)
  5. A Dance with Dragons (2011)
  6. The Winds of Winter (TBA)
  7. A Dream of Spring (TBA)

Novellas

Tales of Dunk and Egg

If you want a smaller, more focused taste of Westeros before committing to the main saga, these novellas are for you. They follow Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg, and if you’d rather read them in one volume, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms collects all three.

  1. The Hedge Knight (1998)
  2. The Sworn Sword (2003)
  3. The Mystery Knight (2010)

Targaryen History Novellas

If what you love most is the dynasty drama, this set scratches that itch. They read more like in-world history, spotlighting key Targaryen-era conflicts and the people behind them, and they’re a natural bridge into the companion books.

  1. The Princess and the Queen (2013)
  2. The Rogue Prince (2014)
  3. The Sons of the Dragon (2017)

Companion Books

Companion books are the deep-lore side of Westeros: history, dynasties, and worldbuilding that sits alongside the main novels rather than continuing them. They’re optional, but they’re the best place to go when you want the bigger timeline and the background that the story only hints at.

  1. The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones (2014)
  2. Fire and Blood (2018)
  3. The Rise of the Dragon: An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty, Volume One (2022)
  4. House of the Dragon: The Official Coloring Book (2024)

Graphic Novels

  1. A Game of Thrones, Volume One (2012)
  2. A Game of Thrones, Volume Two (2013)
  3. The Hedge Knight with Ben Avery (2013)
  4. The Sworn Sword with Ben Avery (2014)
  5. A Game of Thrones, Volume Three (2014)
  6. A Game of Thrones, Volume Four (2015)
  7. The Mystery Knight with Ben Avery (2017)
  8. A Clash of Kings, Volume One (2018)
  9. A Clash of Kings, Volume Two (2019)
  10. A Clash of Kings, Volume Three (2021)
  11. A Clash of Kings, Volume Four (2022)

Standalone Books

These are Martin’s standalone books from before Westeros took over his bibliography. You don’t need to read them in any specific order to enjoy them, so feel free to start with whichever premise grabs you. If you want to track how his style evolves over time, publication order is the cleanest way to do it.

  1. Starlady and Fast-Friend (1976) — Out of Print
  2. Dying of the Light (1977)
  3. Windhaven with Lisa Tuttle (1981)
  4. Fevre Dream (1982)
  5. The Armageddon Rag (1983)
  6. Nightflyers (1985)
  7. Tuf Voyaging (1986)
  8. Hunter’s Run with Gardner Dozois, Daniel Abraham (2007)

Wild Cards Books

Wild Cards is a long-running shared-world series set in an alternate history where an alien virus is released above New York City in 1946, reshaping humanity. Most people die, some survivors are physically changed, and a small number emerge with extraordinary abilities.

George R. R. Martin has been a key editor and contributor throughout the project’s lifespan. The list below follows publication order and includes the different formats the series uses, from collaborative mosaic novels to themed anthologies and other shared-world entries.

  1. Wild Cards (1986)
  2. Aces High (1987)
  3. Jokers Wild (1987)
  4. Aces Abroad (1988)
  5. Down and Dirty (1988)
  6. Ace in the Hole (1990)
  7. Dead Man’s Hand (1990)
  8. One-Eyed Jacks (1991)
  9. Jokertown Shuffle (1991)
  10. Double Solitaire (1991)
  11. Dealer’s Choice (1992)
  12. Turn of the Cards (1993)
  13. Card Sharks (1993) — Out of Print
  14. Marked Cards (1994) — Out of Print
  15. Black Trump (1995) — Out of Print
  16. Deuces Down (2002)
  17. Death Draws Five (2006)
  18. Inside Straight (2008)
  19. Busted Flush (2008)
  20. Suicide Kings (2009)
  21. Fort Freak (2011)
  22. When We Were Heroes by Daniel Abraham (2013)
  23. The Button Man and the Murder Tree by Cherie Priest (2013)
  24. The Elephant in the Room by Paul Cornell (2013)
  25. Lowball (2014)
  26. Prompt. Professional. Pop! by Walter Jon Williams (2014)
  27. Discards by David D. Levine (2016)
  28. High Stakes (2016)
  29. The Thing About Growing Up in Jokertown by Carrie Vaughn (2016)
  30. The Atonement Tango by Stephen Leigh (2017)
  31. Mississippi Roll (2017)
  32. When the Devil Drives by Melinda M. Snodgrass (2017)
  33. Low Chicago (2018)
  34. Evernight by Victor Milán (2018)
  35. How to Move Spheres and Influence People by Marko Kloos (2018)
  36. The Flight of Morpho Girl by Caroline Spector and Bradley Denton (2018)
  37. Texas Hold’em (2018)
  38. Knaves Over Queens (2018)
  39. Fitting In by Max Gladstone (2018)
  40. Long is the Way by Carrie Vaughn and Sage Walker (2019)
  41. The City That Never Sleeps by Walton Simons (2019)
  42. Naked, Stoned, and Stabbed by Bradley Denton (2019)
  43. American Hero (2020)
  44. The Visitor: Kill or Cure by Mark Lawrence (2020)
  45. Ripple Effects by Laura J. Mixon (2021)
  46. Joker Moon (2021)
  47. Three Kings (2022)
  48. Hearts of Stone by Emma Newman (2022)
  49. Grow by Carrie Vaughn (2022)
  50. Full House (2022)
  51. Pairing Up (2023)
  52. Sleeper Straddle (2024)
  53. House Rules (2025)

Short Stories

There are also several short stories by Martin that were initially individually published.

  1. The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr (1976)
  2. The Ice Dragon (1980)
  3. The Skin Trade (1988)
  4. The Pear-Shaped Man (1991) — Out of Print

Short Story Collections

Martin has also published several short story collections throughout the course of his career.

  1. A Song for Lya (1976) — Out of Print
  2. Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977) — Out of Print
  3. Sandkings (1981) — Out of Print
  4. Portraits of His Children (1987) — Out of Print
  5. Quartet (1996) — Out of Print
  6. Dreamsongs: A RRetrospective (2003) — Out of Print
  7. Nightflyers: Other Stories (2018)

Graphic Novels

There are also a handful of George R.R. Martin books in order which are graphic novels. The first two titles on our list are adaptations of previous books, while the other titles are original content.

  1. Sandkings (1992) — Out of Print
  2. Fevre Dream (2010)
  3. Doorways (2011)
  4. Skin Trade with Daniel Abraham (2014)
  5. Meathouse Man with Raya Golden (2014)
  6. In the House of the Worm (2015)
  7. Windhaven with Lisa Tuttle (2018)
  8. Starport with Raya Golden (2019)
  9. Voyaging, Volume One: The Plague Star with Raya Golden (2023)

Anthologies

By far, however, the bulk of Martin’s bibliography is made up of anthology titles. This is both as a contributor and as an editor.

In Print Anthologies

Our first list of anthologies are the ones that are still in print and widely available.

  1. The Year’s Best Science Fiction Third Annual Collection (1986)
  2. Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King (1998)
  3. The Reel Stuff (1998)
  4. Future on Ice (1998)
  5. The Good New Stuff (1999)
  6. Galileo’s Children (2005)
  7. Futures Past (2006)
  8. The Living Dead (2008)
  9. Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honour of Jack Vance (2009)
  10. Warriors 1 (2010)
  11. Warriors 2 (2010)
  12. The End of the World: Stories of the Apocalypse (2010)
  13. Werewolves and Shape Shifters: Encounters with the Beasts Within (2010)
  14. Songs of Love and Death (2010)
  15. Down These Strange Streets (2011)
  16. The Mammoth Book of Angels and Demons (2011)
  17. Warriors 3 (2011)
  18. Necro Files (2011)
  19. Extreme Zombies (2012)
  20. The Eighth Science Fiction Megapack (2013)
  21. Future Games (2013)
  22. Super Stories of Heroes and Villains (2013)
  23. Dangerous Women (2013)
  24. In Space No One Can Hear You Scream (2013)
  25. Old Mars (2013)
  26. Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2013 (2013)
  27. The Time Traveler’s Almanac (2013)
  28. Rogues (2014)
  29. Fantasy For Good (2014)
  30. Old Venus (2015)
  31. Unidentified Funny Objects 4 (2015)
  32. Warrior Women (2015)
  33. The Book of Swords (2017)
  34. Knaves Over Queens (2018)
  35. The Book of Magic (2018)
  36. Infinite Stars (2019)
  37. Conversations From the Edge: The Galaxy’s Edge Interviews (2021)

Dreamsongs Anthologies

Next are two volumes that collect Martin’s earlier shorter works of fiction. In addition to republishing those earlier stories, these anthologies also include extensive author commentary.

  1. Dreamsongs: Volume I (2003)
  2. Dreamsongs: Volume II (2003)

Out of Print Anthologies

Finally, our third list of anthologies by George R.R. Martin are, unfortunately, no longer in print. However, links to second-hand copies have been included for each book.

  1. Nebula Award Stories 9 (1974)
  2. Andromeda 1 (1976)
  3. Analog Annual (1976)
  4. Science Fiction Discoveries (1976)
  5. The Best Science Fiction of the Year 5 (1976)
  6. The Ides of Tomorrow (1976)
  7. The Hugo Winners: Volume 3 (1977)
  8. The Infinite Arena (1977)
  9. The Best Science Fiction of the Year 6 (1977)
  10. The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories 3 (1977)
  11. New Voices I (1978)
  12. 100 Great Science Fiction Short Stories (1978)
  13. The Best of Analog (1978)
  14. Galaxy Science Fiction, September-October 1979 (1979)
  15. Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year 1979 (1980)
  16. The Best Science Fiction of the Year 9 (1980)
  17. Dragons of Light (1980)
  18. Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year 1980 (1981)
  19. Nebula Winners 15 (1981)
  20. The Best Science Fiction of the Year 10 (1981)
  21. Fantasy Annual V (1982)
  22. The Road to Science Fiction 4 (1982)
  23. Fears (1983)
  24. The Science Fiction Weight Loss Book (1983)
  25. The First Omni Book of Science Fiction (1983)
  26. Isaac Asimov’s Fantasy (1985)
  27. Night Visions: The Hellbound Heart (1986)
  28. Nebula Awards 21 (1987)
  29. A Very Large Array (1987)
  30. The Year’s Best Fantasy First Annual Collection (1988)
  31. Demons & Dreams: The Best Fantasy and Horror 1 (1988)
  32. Masters of Darkness 2 (1988)
  33. Night Visions 5 (1988)
  34. Dark Visions (1989)
  35. The Seventh Omni Book of Science Fiction (1989)
  36. Splatter-Punks: The Definitive Anthology (1990)
  37. A Century of Fantasy 1980-1989 (1990)
  38. Foundations of Fear (1992)
  39. Omni Best Science Fiction Two (1992)
  40. Worlds of Fear (1994)
  41. Shadow Twin (2005)

George R.R. Martin Screen Adaptations

Most people found Martin on screen before they ever opened one of his books. Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms are all covered in our Game of Thrones reading guide, including how the companion books fit into the wider Westeros timeline.

Outside of Westeros, Nightflyers has had one of the more interesting adaptation histories. It started as a lean sci-fi horror story, then grew into multiple screen versions over the years, which tells you everything you need to know about how flexible Martin’s earlier work can be when it lands in the right hands.

One of his most famous short stories made the jump to television too. “Sandkings” was adapted as the feature-length opener for the revived The Outer Limits, and it’s still one of the cleanest examples of Martin’s short fiction translating into something that plays well on screen.

More recently, Martin’s work showed up in theaters with In the Lost Lands. If you only associate him with medieval fantasy, this one is a good reminder that his imagination has always wandered far beyond castles and crowns.

About George R.R. Martin and His Writing Career

George R.R. Martin’s career started decades before A Song of Ice and Fire. According to his official “Life and Times” biography, he was writing young, publishing in fanzines, and made his first professional sale in 1970, with the story appearing in Galaxy in 1971. That early body of work matters because it shows his range: science fiction, fantasy, horror, and shorter formats where he sharpened the character and consequence-driven style readers now associate with his biggest books.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Martin also worked in television, but he eventually ran into the medium’s practical limits. As The New Yorker reported, he left Hollywood in 1994 after years of being told his first drafts were “too big and too expensive,” and returning to prose let him build on a scale TV could not. That shift is the clearest bridge between the earlier bibliography and the world-spanning ambition that defines A Song of Ice and Fire.

George R.R. Martin FAQ

What was George R.R. Martin’s first novel?

His first novel was Dying of the Light (1977). It’s classic early Martin: big ideas, sharp character tension, and a very different vibe than what most people associate with his name today.

What genres does George R.R. Martin write?

Martin’s catalog jumps all over the map: science fiction, fantasy, horror, and plenty of stories that mash those together. If you’re using this bibliography as a reference list, that genre range is the main reason the sections feel so different from each other.

Is Wild Cards written by George R.R. Martin?

Wild Cards is a shared-world series, so it isn’t “written by Martin” in the same way a single-author series is. He’s been one of the driving forces behind it for decades, editing the line and contributing stories while a larger group of authors writes the individual entries.

Did George R.R. Martin work in Hollywood?

Yes. Before his name became synonymous with fantasy, he spent years writing for television, which is part of why his storytelling often feels so scene-driven and visual even on the page.

What are the best George R.R. Martin books to start with if you want standalones?

Start with Fevre Dream if you want gothic horror with a strong sense of place, or The Armageddon Rag if you like mystery with a dark edge and a lot of cultural bite. If you prefer shorter reads, his collections are where you’ll get the fastest sense of his range without committing to a long novel.

Looking for more books in order?

If you want more fantasy authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Fantasy Books in Order index.

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