Books Like Game of Thrones: 12 Epic Reads
If you want more of A Game of Thrones's betrayal, start with The Fellowship of the Ring.
Updated November 2026
12 books like Game of Thrones, from The Way of Kings to Dune, Wolf Hall and The Pillars of the Earth, for readers who want power, betrayal and big worlds.
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12 books like A Game of Thrones
A ranked list of books similar to A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin — if you liked it, start at the top and work down. Each pick includes why it works and who it's for.
The Fellowship of the Ring
Martin has said Tolkien is where it all started for him. The Fellowship of the Ring is gentler than Westeros, but the scale is the same: ancient kingdoms, a world-ending threat and a band of people who don't all make it to the end of the road unchanged.
The Way of Kings
If you want a big, multi-point-of-view epic with wars, politics and a world that feels lived in, The Way of Kings is the natural next step. Fair warning: it's long. Kind of the point, right?
Red Rising
by Pierce Brown
Red Rising has the Red Wedding energy you either loved or never recovered from. Darrow infiltrates a ruling class that would happily kill him, and the betrayals come fast. It's brutal, propulsive and very hard to put down.
The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
No dragons, all the drama. The Pillars of the Earth follows the building of a cathedral through decades of civil war, church politics and family feuds in medieval England. If you liked the scheming in King's Landing, this will feel very familiar.
The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon retells the Arthur legend through the women behind the throne. If your favorite Thrones characters were Cersei, Catelyn and Daenerys, this is a sprawling, sad, beautiful look at what queens and priestesses lose to keep a kingdom together.
The Once and Future King
by T.H. White
The Once and Future King starts light and funny with a young Arthur and ends in war, heartbreak and a kingdom torn apart by the people who loved each other most. Ned Stark fans: this one's for you.
The Serpent and the Pearl
by Kate Quinn
The Borgias were basically the Lannisters, but real. The Serpent and the Pearl drops you into Renaissance Rome with a corrupt pope, his dangerous children and a court where poison counts as conversation.
Fourth Wing
Came for the dragons? Fourth Wing bonds riders to dragons inside a war college where classmates die regularly and nobody in charge is telling the whole truth. Spicier than Westeros, and just as willing to kill people off.
The Hunger Games
At its core, The Hunger Games is about a ruling capital that turns violence into entertainment, and a girl who learns to play their game better than they do. If you watched Thrones for the power plays, Katniss is your kind of player.
Why readers loved A Game of Thrones
Let's be honest. Part of the reason you loved Game of Thrones is that it hurt. You got attached to someone, and George R.R. Martin looked you dead in the eye and said, "Don't." Missing that particular kind of emotional whiplash doesn't make you a masochist. It means you like stories where the stakes are real.
Across thousands of reviews, readers keep coming back to the same notes: betrayal, historical, epic fantasy. Every book on this list was chosen because it delivers on at least two of those threads.
Shared themes & tropes
The threads that connect these recommendations to A Game of Thrones.
Who this list is for
Age group
Genre fit
Perfect for readers who want…
- betrayal — without losing what made A Game of Thrones special.
- historical — without losing what made A Game of Thrones special.
- epic fantasy — without losing what made A Game of Thrones special.
- war — without losing what made A Game of Thrones special.
- arthurian — without losing what made A Game of Thrones special.
- quest — without losing what made A Game of Thrones special.
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