What did you love about Game of Thrones?
The First Law
The First Law kills off people you thought mattered and makes you care about the ones who deserve nothing.
The Lies of Locke Lamora
The Lies of Locke Lamora gives you con artists layering betrayals on betrayals in a city where everyone's running an angle.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
The Traitor Baru Cormorant shows you someone who understands exactly how empires function and uses that knowledge as a weapon.
6 books like Game of Thrones
- A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin — Game of Thrones adapts this novel and its sequels, following the Stark family and rival houses throu…
- The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson — Game of Thrones uses political calculation as a survival tool, and Baru Cormorant does the same in a…
- The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang — Game of Thrones escalates from political intrigue to total war, and The Poppy War traces the same ar…
- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch — Game of Thrones builds tension through competing schemes, and Locke Lamora does the same in a city r…
- The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold — Game of Thrones treats court politics as a battlefield, and The Curse of Chalion does the same with …
- The First Law by Joe Abercrombie — Game of Thrones refuses to separate heroes from perpetrators, and The First Law does the same across…
Picked for the feeling of Game of Thrones, not its genre. Each one is explained below. One show isn’t much to go on: rate four more and the books are picked for you.
Why these books
Game of Thrones builds a world where power is never stable and no character is safe from consequence. It moves between perspectives without settling on heroes, tracking ambitious families through betrayals, alliances, and the grinding logic of feudal warfare. The series rewards attention to detail and punishes attachment, sustaining tension through scope rather than speed. These books operate by the same rules: sprawling casts, layered political maneuvering, and the understanding that violence reshapes the map.
A Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones adapts this novel and its sequels, following the Stark family and rival houses through the wars that fracture Westeros. Martin structures the narrative as interlocking character perspectives, each revealing a fragment of the larger conflict while concealing others. The book establishes the series' willingness to kill major figures without warning, making every chapter feel precarious. Political strategy matters as much as combat, and magic operates at the margins rather than the center. The prose is dense with genealogy, geography, and historical grudges that accumulate into motive.
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The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Game of Thrones uses political calculation as a survival tool, and Baru Cormorant does the same in a world shaped by empire and economics. Dickinson follows a young accountant who infiltrates the colonial power that conquered her homeland, ascending through bureaucracy and manipulation rather than force. The book treats statecraft as a sequence of impossible choices, each one narrowing the protagonist's options while expanding her influence. Betrayal is structural rather than emotional, and the cost of winning becomes the real subject. The moral architecture is unforgiving.
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The Poppy War
Game of Thrones escalates from political intrigue to total war, and The Poppy War traces the same arc in a world inspired by twentieth-century China. Kuang begins with a war orphan clawing her way into a military academy, then follows her through campaigns that collapse into atrocity. The book withholds easy heroism, showing how desperation and nationalistic fervor turn soldiers into instruments of mass violence. Magic becomes another form of weaponry, terrible in its consequences. The tonal shift from ambition to horror mirrors the series' willingness to darken over time.
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The Lies of Locke Lamora
Game of Thrones builds tension through competing schemes, and Locke Lamora does the same in a city ruled by criminal factions and corrupt nobility. Lynch follows a team of con artists who survive by reading people and manipulating appearances, only to find themselves caught in a larger conspiracy. The book balances elaborate heists with sudden violence, letting danger puncture careful planning. Dialogue carries much of the characterization, sharp and profane, and the setting—a fantasy Venice—feels lived-in rather than decorative. Loyalty matters, but it does not guarantee safety.
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The Curse of Chalion
Game of Thrones treats court politics as a battlefield, and The Curse of Chalion does the same with a protagonist who survives by understanding power without wielding it directly. Bujold follows a broken soldier who becomes tutor to a royal family, navigating succession crises and religious intrigue while physically unable to fight. The book foregrounds negotiation and timing, showing how influence moves through whispers and careful alliances. Magic operates through divine intervention, unpredictable and costly. The pacing is patient, building stakes through incremental shifts in position rather than spectacle.
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The First Law
Game of Thrones refuses to separate heroes from perpetrators, and The First Law does the same across a cast of deeply compromised characters. Abercrombie follows a torturer, a vain swordsman, and a crippled war hero through a conflict where every faction is equally ruthless and no victory feels clean. The book treats violence as consequence rather than catharsis, grinding down ideals until pragmatism is all that remains. Dialogue is caustic, humor exists alongside brutality, and the structure moves between perspectives to show how individual actions ripple into disaster. Cynicism is structural, not decorative.
Read it with your book club →Is Game of Thrones based on a book?
Game of Thrones is based on George R. R. Martin’s novel A Game of Thrones (first in A Song of Ice and Fire).
What should I read if I loved Game of Thrones?
Start with A Game of Thrones, The Traitor Baru Cormorant and The Poppy War. 6 books on this page were picked for the feeling of Game of Thrones, not its genre, with a reason for each.
Which book is most like Game of Thrones?
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Game of Thrones adapts this novel and its sequels, following the Stark family and rival houses through the wars that fracture Westeros.
These are for everyone who loved Game of Thrones. Want books picked for you?
Someone who loved Game of Thrones and The Big Lebowski reads different books from someone who loved Game of Thrones and Kill Bill: Vol. 1. One show isn’t much to go on. Rate four more — Game of Thrones already counts — and the books are picked for you.
Rate four more moviesOr read it with your book club and talk about it while you’re still reading.