Can’t watch eight seasons? Here are five books to read for ‘Game of Thrones’

Over 17 million people worldwide tuned into HBO to catch the eighth season of ‘Game of Thrones’ and the TV series is impressively dominating conversations across social media platforms.

Among peers and friends, it could undoubtedly be intimidating to feel left out when chit-chats about the most hilarious or valiant ‘GoT’ characters are broached and it’s surprisingly easy for many who are not as jittery about ‘GoT’ to feel alienated from trends.

Do you fall into this category? Perhaps you’re only interested in behind-the-scenes secrets, cracking the riddles surrounding unfolding storylines, or gaining a better understanding of the characters.

Be that as it may, not only would the books detailed below help you catch up on the currently trendy TV series, they would also help you get ahead of the movie and make a great addition to your bookcase.

‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series

For an epic fantasy, ‘A song of Ice and Fire’ series written by George R.R. Martin, American screen writer and novelist, spans five books and is the main basis on which the script for ‘Game of Thrones’ was written.

A Game of Thrones (1996): ‘A game of Thrones’ is the first novel of the series. It begins with Lord Eddard ‘Ned’ Stark executing a deserter who betrayed his vows by fleeing from the wall of the Night’s Watch.

A Clash of Kings (1998): Clash of Kings picks up the story where ‘A game of Thrones’ leaves off. Seven kingdoms are plagued by civil war as the Night’s Watch mounts a reconnaissance force north of the wall. Disgruntled Daenerys Targaryen continues her quest to return to the seven kingdoms and claim her birthright.

A Storm of Swords (2000): Continuing the story, the novel portrays the increasingly vicious war of five kings in Westeros, Daenerys’s strengthening forces in the east, and the threat of a ghostly army that is nearly invincible.

A Forest for Crows (2005): Picking up the tale from ‘A Storm of Swords’, the novel portrays the five-king war winding down as Robb Stark; Joffrey Baratheon; Renly Baratheon and Balon Greyjoy lose their lives.

A dance with Dragons (2011): Continuing the story while overlapping in time with the previous novel, the book begins with Stannis Baratheon occupying the wall. Samwell Tarley is sent to the citadel to become a Maester. Slynt is beheaded for dismissing Jon Snow’s authority as Stannis on his part executes Mance.

Others: Two other novels that are expected to come after ”A Dance with Dragons’ are ‘The Winds of Winter’ and ‘A Dream of Spring’.

Although, both are yet to be published, looking out for and reading them would help you get ahead of the main TV series itself.

Meanwhile, there are other books that are prequel to the events portrayed in the movie. Although they don’t necessarily detract from the major books if not read, they’ll sure give in-depth details on preceding plots — sometimes spanning at most a hundred years back.

If you’ll like to read exactly in order of plots, we recommend you read the first book of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series before continuing with the ‘Tales of Dunk and Egg’ series whose novellas are detailed below.

‘Tales of Dunk and Egg’ series

The Hedge Knight (1998): ‘The Hedge Knight’ is the first prequel novella to the main events of ‘A Game of Thrones’ (1996). It follows the death of ‘Ser Arlan of Pennytree, a nomadic ‘hedge knight’, and the daunting events that followed his squire’s taking over of his equipment in hopes of becoming a knight in Ashford.

The Sworn Sword (2002): This is the second novella of the ”Tales of Dung and Egg’ series. It continues with Ser Arlan’s squire (disguised as the knight’Duncan the Tall’) being eventually sworn to Ser Eustace Osgrey of Standfast. He then illuminates the feudal system of Westeros.

The Mystery Knight (2010): The book ‘The Mystery Knight’ comes through with plots taking place during the reign of Aerys I and the aftermath of the Blackfyre Rebellion.

The Rogue Prince (2014): ‘The Rogue’ Prince is a novelette published in 2014 Bantam Spectra Anthology and is set in Westeros of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ Series. The plot portrayed in the book falls back to hundreds of years before the events of the book ‘A Game of Thrones’ (1996).

The She-Wolves of Winterfell (Forthcoming): As the fourth novella of ‘Tales of Dung and Egg’ series, ‘The She-Wolves of Winterfell’ would feature Ser Duncan the Tall and Egg, his own squire, meeting the She-Wolves, group of formidable stark wives; widows; mothers and grandmothers.