Game of Thrones: Books vs. Series
Game of Thrones is David Benioff and D. B. Weiss's 2011 series, adapted from books by George R. R. Martin. It stars Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and ran for 8 seasons and 73 episodes on HBO.
From Books Adapted
Which books each season covers
The original series overtakes the published books
The first two seasons mainly follow the first two books. After that, the series splits books across seasons and combines stories that happen at the same time.
| Season | Books and coverage |
|---|---|
| 1 | A Game of Thrones (book 1). |
| 2 | Mainly A Clash of Kings (book 2), with some material brought forward from A Storm of Swords. |
| 3 | Roughly the first half of A Storm of Swords (book 3), with some stories moving at different speeds. |
| 4 | Mainly the later parts of A Storm of Swords, alongside material from A Feast for Crows (book 4) and A Dance with Dragons (book 5). |
| 5 | Combines A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, with substantial changes and some remaining material from A Storm of Swords. |
| 6 | Uses remaining material from books 4 and 5 while moving beyond them, drawing on Martin's plans and the television writers' own stories. |
| 7 | Continues beyond the published books, using Martin's outline and the television writers' own developments. |
| 8 | Concludes the television story beyond the published books. It is not an adaptation of a published final book. |
| A guide, not an exact match: shows move scenes and storylines between books and seasons. | |
A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons overlap in time and follow different groups of characters. Their stories cannot be separated neatly into two successive television seasons.
The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring remain unpublished. Some book storylines, built around characters the show left out, have never been adapted. Martin has said that some events in his ending will match the series and others will differ.
House of the Dragon takes several seasons from one history book
House of the Dragon adapts part of Fire & Blood. Its subject is the Dance of the Dragons and the events leading to it. The book covers a much longer stretch of Targaryen history.
| Season | Book and coverage |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fire & Blood: the succession disputes and family history leading into the Dance of the Dragons. |
| 2 | Fire & Blood: the opening stages of the civil war. |
| 3 | Fire & Blood: continues the civil war, including the Battle of the Gullet. |
| 4* | Planned final season continuing the Dance of the Dragons. A precise final book boundary has not been announced. |
| A guide, not an exact match: shows move scenes and storylines between books and seasons. | |
* Season 4 is announced for 2028 and has not aired.
The Dance's conclusion remains ahead of the series. Earlier reigns and other parts of Fire & Blood are not covered in full by these seasons. This is a prequel drawn from a separate book, not the next part of A Song of Ice and Fire.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms starts with one of three shorter stories
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms begins with The Hedge Knight. The book called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms collects that story with The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight, in that order.
| Season | Story adapted |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Hedge Knight, the first Dunk and Egg story. |
| 2* | The Sworn Sword, the second story. |
| A guide, not an exact match: shows move scenes and storylines between books and seasons. | |
* Season 2 is announced for 2027 and has not aired.
The Sworn Sword is the next announced adaptation. The Mystery Knight remains unadapted; Martin has said he hopes to bring it to a later season.
The books, in order
Details
- Author
- George R. R. Martin
- Year
- 1996
- Pages
- 704
- Audiobook length
- 33 hr 46 min
- Narrator
- Roy Dotrice
- Series
- A Song of Ice and Fire, book 1
Eddard Stark leaves Winterfell to serve as the king’s chief adviser, entering a court where his predecessor’s death conceals dangerous secrets. While his family becomes exposed to rival interests, Jon Snow joins the watch at the northern Wall and the exiled Daenerys Targaryen is drawn into a marriage intended to help reclaim her family’s throne.
Details
- Author
- George R. R. Martin
- Year
- 1998
- Pages
- 784
- Audiobook length
- 37 hr 12 min
- Narrator
- Roy Dotrice
- Series
- A Song of Ice and Fire, book 2
Rival kings claim authority over a fractured Westeros while Tyrion Lannister attempts to hold the royal court together in King’s Landing. The Stark children face separation and concealment, Daenerys searches for support overseas, and the Night’s Watch ventures beyond the Wall, where the danger gathering in the north has little interest in who wins the throne.
Details
- Author
- George R. R. Martin
- Year
- 2000
- Pages
- 1008
- Audiobook length
- 47 hr 34 min
- Narrator
- Roy Dotrice
- Series
- A Song of Ice and Fire, book 3
The war for Westeros continues through uneasy alliances, broken promises, and prisoners whose lives are bargaining pieces. Robb Stark struggles to maintain his campaign, Jon Snow moves among the wildlings beyond the Wall, and Daenerys seeks an army overseas, while marriage negotiations and divided loyalties threaten to change the course of the conflict.
Details
- Author
- George R. R. Martin
- Year
- 2005
- Pages
- 784
- Audiobook length
- 33 hr 51 min
- Narrator
- Roy Dotrice
- Series
- A Song of Ice and Fire, book 4
In the wake of war, Cersei Lannister tries to secure royal power while new religious and political forces gather around the weakened crown. Brienne searches the devastated countryside for the missing Stark girls, and rival ambitions in Dorne and the Iron Islands reveal that the struggle over Westeros is far from settled.
Details
- Author
- George R. R. Martin
- Year
- 2011
- Pages
- 1040
- Audiobook length
- 48 hr 55 min
- Narrator
- Roy Dotrice
- Series
- A Song of Ice and Fire, book 5
Daenerys attempts to rule Meereen, where ending slavery has created enemies she cannot simply conquer. Across the sea, Tyrion travels into exile, while Jon Snow faces the demands of command at the Wall and the hostility provoked by his efforts to prepare for the threat beyond it.
No comments yet. Vote, then say why.