What Book Is Game of Thrones Based On? Spoiler: It’s Different from House of the Dragon

Years after Game of Thrones ’ last season hit the screens, its universe keeps an even more successful run with the original show’s prequel, House of the Dragon, which potentially may stay around for several more years to come.

Both series dive deeper into a bunch of atrocities, political intrigues and wars in Westeros, a fictional land where numerous wealthy families are eager to sacrifice their own members in a fight for ultimate power.

Though Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are pretty much the same thing, just taking a closer look at different events at a different time, they’re not parts of one and only book — in fact, there’s still a pretty big gap between the two stories which George R.R. Martin promises to fill in soon (you shouldn’t rely on this whatsoever).

Despite both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon coming as some kind of historical chronicle of the same universe adapted for TV, they’re based on completely different sources.

The original show comes first since the novel it’s based on, A Game of Thrones, was also the first to be published back in 1996. Since then, George R.R. Martin dropped four more sequels — A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons — which also serves as the basis for the following seasons of Game of Thrones.

Ironically enough, the book series may yet take a long time to be complete even considering that the show came to its end in 2019. As Martin has repeatedly stated throughout the last several years, he keeps working on two more books which are supposed to wrap the whole story up — The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.

The former has been promised to arrive at bookstores long enough to eventually deprive fans of any hope to know what’s next for Westeros anytime soon.

However weird it may sound, House of the Dragon is a completely different story to consider here. The show covering the history of the Targaryens’ conquests and fights for the status of the only ruling dynasty in Westeros is essentially based on Martin’s other book titled Fire & Blood, which is not part of A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Those who would possibly like to get familiar with the shows’ original sources as well might consider reading Fire & Blood first, yet there’s another tricky detail that awaits everyone there.

Martin’s story about House Targaryen isn’t finished either since Fire & Blood ends soon after the Dance of the Dragons, leaving some 150 years for the next novel to cover before eventually arriving at the moment when Daenerys embarks on her own fight for the Iron Throne.