There’s a particular kind of emptiness that sets in after you’ve turned the final page of A Dance with Dragons. Or maybe you’ve just finished binge-watching the HBO series (we don’t talk about season eight). Either way, you’re left with a void shaped like Westeros: a craving for sprawling political intrigue, morally complicated characters who make you question your own ethics, and worlds so richly detailed you could get lost in them for years.
The good news? You’re not alone, and the fantasy genre has been quietly building a treasury of epic series that can fill that Game of Thrones-sized hole in your reading life. These aren’t just books similar to A Song of Ice and Fire in surface detail, they’re series that understand what made George R.R. Martin’s work so addictive. The politics. The unpredictability. The sense that no character is truly safe. The understanding that heroism is complicated and villainy is often a matter of perspective.
If you’re searching for fantasy series like Game of Thrones, you’re essentially looking for stories that respect your intelligence, challenge your assumptions, and refuse to hold your hand through neat moral lessons. You want worlds that feel lived-in, conflicts that matter, and the courage to let consequences be real.
This isn’t a generic list. These are seven book series to read after Game of Thrones that each capture different aspects of what made Martin’s saga so compelling—and in some cases, they might even surpass it.
What Makes a Good Game of Thrones Alternative?
Before we dive in, let’s be clear about what we’re looking for. You don’t just want medieval fantasy with dragons. You want:
- Political intrigue that would make Littlefinger proud
- Morally grey characters who refuse to be simply good or evil
- High-stakes worldbuilding with real consequences
- Epic scope that spans multiple books and thousands of pages
- Unpredictability where plot armor doesn’t exist
The books similar to A Song of Ice and Fire on this list aren’t copies—they’re kindred spirits. Each brings something unique to the table while delivering that same sense of immersion and complexity you’ve been missing.
1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
Series Status: Ongoing (5 of 10 planned books released)
Where to Start: The Way of Kings
If Game of Thrones taught you to expect betrayal and moral ambiguity, The Stormlight Archive will remind you why you fell in love with fantasy in the first place—but it won’t insult your intelligence in the process.
Brandon Sanderson has built something extraordinary here: a world called Roshar where storms rage with apocalyptic fury, where the laws of physics work differently, and where the weight of history presses down on every character’s shoulders. This is epic fantasy recommendations at its finest—books that understand scope doesn’t just mean page count, it means making every page count.
Why It’s Perfect for GOT Fans
The political maneuvering in The Stormlight Archive rivals anything in King’s Landing. You’ve got warring kingdoms, assassinations in the night, and characters playing chess with nations as their pieces. But what sets Sanderson apart is his commitment to exploring trauma, mental health, and the cost of leadership with unflinching honesty. His characters struggle with depression, PTSD, and the burden of impossible choices.
Kaladin Stormblessed, one of the main characters, faces a journey as emotionally devastating as anything Tyrion Lannister endured. The difference? Sanderson gives you hope alongside the darkness. It’s not grimdark, but it’s not naive either—it’s fantasy that acknowledges both the horror and the beauty of existence.
The magic system here is intricate and logical in a way that Martin’s more mysterious magic never tried to be. If you loved theorizing about dragonglass and Valyrian steel, you’ll lose yourself in Sanderson’s carefully constructed rules of Surgebinding and the deeper mysteries of Roshar’s cosmology.
Memorable moment: The climax of The Way of Kings, where Kaladin stands alone against impossible odds on the Tower, has the same heart-stopping intensity as the Red Wedding—but it offers catharsis instead of just trauma.
Adaptation note: A Stormlight Archive adaptation is currently in development, so now’s the perfect time to get ahead of the curve.
The Reading Experience
These are not quick reads. The Way of Kings alone clocks in at over 1,000 pages. But unlike some doorstoppers that feel padded, Sanderson earns every page. The worldbuilding is so dense you’ll find yourself stopping to marvel at details about the ecology, the social structures, the religious conflicts. It’s the kind of immersive experience you had when you first discovered Westeros.
2. The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
Series Status: Complete trilogy, plus standalone novels in the same world
Where to Start: The Blade Itself
If what you loved most about Game of Thrones was the moral ambiguity and the gut-punch realization that the heroes you’d been rooting for might actually be terrible people, then Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy is going to feel like coming home.
This is grimdark fantasy at its finest—but not in the gratuitous, edgy-for-the-sake-of-edge way. Abercrombie writes characters who are broken, selfish, and deeply flawed, yet somehow you can’t stop caring about them. It’s like if George R.R. Martin focused exclusively on the most cynical, pragmatic characters and let them run wild.
Why It’s Perfect for GOT Fans
The politics in The First Law are less about grand conspiracies and more about watching ambitious people claw their way toward power while pretending to be civilized. Sand dan Glokta, a torturer with a darkly hilarious internal monologue, would fit right into the Small Council. He’s been brutally tortured himself, leaving him physically broken, and now he inflicts the same on others—not because he’s evil, but because it’s his job and he’s grimly good at it.
Logan Ninefingers, the legendary warrior trying to leave his bloody past behind, grapples with the kind of violence and reputation that follows characters like the Hound. The brilliance is in how Abercrombie refuses to let anyone off the hook. There are no clean redemptions here, no neat moral victories.
The war that forms the backbone of the trilogy feels real in the way wars in fantasy rarely do—messy, brutal, decided by logistics as much as heroism. If you appreciated how Martin showed that battles are chaos and glory is mostly propaganda, you’ll appreciate Abercrombie’s unflinching approach.
Memorable moment: The closing chapters of Last Argument of Kings deliver a twist that recontextualizes the entire trilogy in a way that feels both inevitable and shocking—much like discovering the truth about Jon Snow’s parentage, but darker.
The Reading Experience
Abercrombie’s prose is sharp, cynical, and wickedly funny. His characters think in sardonic quips and bitter observations. This isn’t the poetic prose of Rothfuss or the dense complexity of Erikson—it’s lean, mean, and utterly compelling. You’ll tear through these books faster than you expect, then immediately want to read his standalone novels set in the same world (Best Served Cold, The Heroes, Red Country), which are equally excellent.
3. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (completed by Brandon Sanderson)
Series Status: Complete (14 books)
Where to Start: The Eye of the World
When people ask what to read after Game of Thrones, The Wheel of Time might seem like an odd choice at first. It’s not as dark, the magic is more prominent and structured, and the early books lean into more traditional fantasy tropes. But hear me out—this series offers something Game of Thrones couldn’t: completion.
With 14 books and over 4 million words, The Wheel of Time is one of the most ambitious epic fantasy series ever completed. Robert Jordan built a world with the kind of depth and detail that rivals Tolkien, with political intrigue and complex character arcs that echo Martin’s work.
Why It’s Perfect for GOT Fans
The politics in Jordan’s world are Byzantine and fascinating. The White Tower—home to the all-female order of magical channelers called Aes Sedai—is basically King’s Landing if the courtiers could throw fireballs. The scheming, backstabbing, and maneuvering for power rivals anything in Westeros. Different factions within the Tower, different nations with competing interests, prophecies that everyone interprets differently—it’s political fantasy gold.
The series also subverts expectations in quieter ways than Martin’s shock deaths. Characters you think are heroes reveal darker sides. Allies become enemies. The lines between Dark and Light blur more than you’d expect from a series that seems, on the surface, to be about a clear battle between good and evil.
And here’s the thing GOT fans will really appreciate: consequence and scope. Actions in book two have repercussions in book twelve. Jordan tracks multiple storylines across multiple continents, and everything eventually weaves together (hence the title). It’s the kind of payoff Martin’s readers are still waiting for.
Memorable moment: Dumai’s Wells in Lord of Chaos is one of the most shocking, violent, and cathartic battles in fantasy literature—a moment where the rules completely change and the brutality of channeling warfare is displayed in full.
Adaptation note: Amazon’s Wheel of Time series is currently airing, though book fans have mixed feelings about the adaptation.
The Reading Experience
Yes, there’s a infamous “slog” around books 8-10 where the pacing slows down. But even the slower books are still building toward something. And when Sanderson takes over for the final three books after Jordan’s death, the pace picks up dramatically while honoring Jordan’s vision. If you can commit to the journey, the destination is worth it. This is the only complete epic fantasy on this list that matches Game of Thrones in scope.
4. Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
Series Status: Complete (10 books in main series, multiple companion novels)
Where to Start: Gardens of the Moon
Let’s be honest: Malazan is the deep end of the pool. If Game of Thrones occasionally made you feel like you were missing context or struggling to keep track of characters, Malazan is that feeling amplified tenfold. And somehow, that’s exactly why it’s brilliant.
Steven Erikson doesn’t hold your hand. He throws you into the middle of a continent-spanning military campaign involving gods, mages, undead armies, and political machinations that make the War of the Five Kings look like a minor border skirmish. You will be confused. You will need to take notes or consult the wiki. And it will be absolutely worth it.
Why It’s Perfect for GOT Fans
This is books similar to A Song of Ice and Fire on hard mode. The complexity, the moral ambiguity, the sense that history is vast and you’re only seeing a sliver of it—Malazan delivers all of this in spades. The difference is scale. Where Martin focuses on one continent with occasional glimpses of Essos, Erikson gives you multiple continents, multiple timelines, and a magic system so ancient and mysterious that even the gods don’t fully understand it.
The military campaigns feel real because Erikson and his co-creator Ian C. Esslemont are both archaeologists and anthropologists. They understand how cultures clash, how logistics win wars, and how soldiers think. The Malazan marines are some of the most compelling military characters in fantasy—cynical, competent, darkly funny, and deeply loyal to each other.
The philosophical depth here goes beyond what Martin attempted. Erikson grapples with empire, compassion, genocide, and the meaning of civilization. Characters debate these themes not in abstract academic terms, but while fighting for their lives or watching empires crumble.
Memorable moment: The Chain of Dogs in Deadhouse Gates is an emotional journey so brutal and beautiful it’ll break you. It’s military fantasy at its absolute finest—tragic, heroic, and devastating.
The Reading Experience
Gardens of the Moon, the first book, is notoriously difficult. Erikson revised it multiple times before publication, and it shows—there are rough patches and confusing jumps. But if you push through, the payoff is extraordinary. By book two, Erikson hits his stride. By book three (Memories of Ice), you’ll understand why fans consider this one of the greatest achievements in fantasy literature.
This isn’t for everyone. But if you’re the kind of reader who loved puzzling out the timeline of Robert’s Rebellion or theorizing about the long night, Malazan will give you endless material to work with.
5. The Witcher Saga by Andrzej Sapkowski
Series Status: Complete (5 novels, 2 short story collections)
Where to Start: The Last Wish (short stories)
Before there was a Netflix series or a beloved video game franchise, there was Andrzej Sapkowski’s original Witcher novels—and they’re closer in spirit to Game of Thrones than either adaptation suggests.
Sapkowski’s world is dark, cynical, and deeply European in a way that feels refreshing. This is fantasy that draws from Slavic folklore rather than Tolkien’s Anglo-Saxon influences. The monsters are real, but the humans are usually worse. Sound familiar?
Why It’s Perfect for GOT Fans
Geralt of Rivia operates in a world where neutrality is impossible and every choice has consequences. He tries to stay out of politics, but politics keeps dragging him back in—a dynamic that fans of Ned Stark’s doomed honor will recognize. The politics in The Witcher aren’t about throne rooms and councils; they’re about refugees fleeing war, about racism against non-humans, about how ordinary people suffer when kingdoms clash.
The war that forms the backbone of the later novels feels genuinely grim. Sapkowski doesn’t romanticize battle or heroism. He shows war as chaos and suffering, with occasional moments of courage that feel all the more powerful for their rarity.
Yennefer, Ciri, and the other female characters are complex and flawed—no damsels in distress here. The relationships are messy and real. Geralt and Yennefer’s toxic-but-genuine love story has echoes of Jaime and Cersei without the incest, thankfully.
Memorable moment: The Battle of Brenna in The Tower of Swallows rivals any battle in Martin’s work for brutality and chaos—and Sapkowski’s meditation on war’s futility feels especially relevant.
Adaptation note: The Netflix series is popular but significantly softens the books’ edges. The video games by CD Projekt Red are excellent but take place after the books. Start with the source material for the full experience.
The Reading Experience
Sapkowski’s prose (especially in the English translations) can be dense and literary. He loves his cultural references and doesn’t always explain them. But the payoff is a series that feels genuinely intelligent and different from the Anglo-American fantasy tradition. It’s shorter than most epic fantasy—you can read the complete saga in less time than The Stormlight Archive—but it packs an emotional punch that lingers.
6. The Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence
Series Status: Complete (3 books, plus additional trilogies in the same world)
Where to Start: Prince of Thorns
If you thought Joffrey Baratheon was irredeemable, wait until you meet Jorg Ancrath. Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire trilogy asks a dangerous question: what if we told the story from the perspective of the monster?
Jorg is a prince, a murderer, and a 13-year-old boy when we first meet him, leading a band of murderous outlaws. He’s brilliant, broken, and absolutely fascinating. This is not a comfortable read. But if you appreciated how Game of Thrones refused to flinch from violence and moral complexity, The Broken Empire takes that commitment to its extreme.
Why It’s Perfect for GOT Fans
Lawrence understands that the line between hero and villain is often just marketing. Jorg does terrible things. He’s cruel, manipulative, and driven by vengeance. But Lawrence writes him with such clarity and dark charisma that you can’t look away. It’s the same magnetic repulsion you might have felt watching Tywin Lannister calmly orchestrate atrocities.
The world itself is post-apocalyptic fantasy—set in a far future where an advanced civilization has collapsed, leaving behind magical artifacts that people don’t fully understand. It’s medieval Europe rebuilt on the ruins of our own world, which adds a layer of uncanniness to everything.
The politics are vicious and personal. There are no grand ideological battles here—just people clawing for power in a world that’s already broken. Jorg’s path to claiming his birthright involves outmaneuvering necromancers, navigating treacherous courts, and confronting the trauma that made him who he is.
Memorable moment: The reveal of what happened to Jorg’s mother and brother, and how it shaped him, is gut-wrenching and perfectly executed—Lawrence shows rather than tells, letting you piece together the horror.
The Reading Experience
These are short, brutal books. Lawrence’s prose is sharp and literary, almost poetic at times. He doesn’t waste words. The trilogy can be read in a fraction of the time it takes to get through Jordan or Erikson, but the impact is visceral. Fair warning: the first book includes some deeply disturbing content, including sexual violence. Lawrence never glorifies it, but he doesn’t shy away from showing the depths of his protagonist’s darkness.
If you can handle it, The Broken Empire offers one of the most unique character studies in fantasy. And Lawrence’s later trilogies in the same world (The Red Queen’s War and Book of the Ancestor) are equally excellent and slightly less dark.
7. The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne
Series Status: Complete (4 books)
Where to Start: Malice
John Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen might be the most underrated series on this list. It doesn’t have the name recognition of Wheel of Time or Malazan, but it absolutely deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as fantasy series like Game of Thrones.
This is epic fantasy in the classic sense—a battle between good and evil with ancient prophecies and legendary warriors. But Gwynne subverts expectations at every turn. The prophecy could refer to multiple characters. The “heroes” make devastating mistakes. The villains have compelling motivations. And the action scenes are some of the best I’ve ever read in fantasy.
Why It’s Perfect for GOT Fans
Gwynne understands stakes and consequences. Characters die—important characters, characters you’ve invested in for hundreds of pages. Battle scenes are visceral and brutal, reminiscent of the Battle of the Bastards in terms of sheer intensity. The political maneuvering might not be as Byzantine as King’s Landing, but the conflicts between kingdoms and within families feel genuine and earned.
What sets Gwynne apart is his mastery of pacing and payoff. Every book builds to a climax that delivers on its promises while setting up new complications. It’s the kind of plotting that makes you stay up until 3 AM because you absolutely must know what happens next.
The cast is huge—Game of Thrones huge—with multiple POV characters whose arcs intersect in satisfying ways. Gwynne tracks them all with clarity, and by the end, you feel like you’ve witnessed something epic in the truest sense of the word.
Memorable moment: The final battle in Wrath is an absolute tour de force—multiple storylines converging, desperate last stands, shocking revelations, and earned catharsis. It’s everything the Battle of Winterfell should have been.
The Reading Experience
Gwynne writes with a directness that keeps the pages turning. His prose isn’t flowery, but it’s effective. The first book takes some time to set up all the pieces, but once the dominoes start falling, the series becomes addictive. And unlike Martin, Gwynne actually finished his series—four books that tell a complete, satisfying story from beginning to end.
Finding Your Next Epic Fantasy Adventure
So where should you start? That depends on what you loved most about Game of Thrones.
If you loved the politics and scheming: Start with The First Law trilogy or The Stormlight Archive. Both deliver intricate plots and characters playing dangerous games.
If you want massive worldbuilding bigger than Westeros: The Wheel of Time or Malazan Book of the Fallen will consume your life in the best possible way.
If you crave morally grey characters and dark themes: The Broken Empire or The Witcher won’t disappoint. Both refuse to soften the harsh realities of their worlds.
If you want epic battles and satisfying conclusions: The Faithful and the Fallen delivers on both fronts with exceptional pacing.
If you want all of the above: Honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of these. Each brings something unique to the table while capturing the complexity and depth that made what to read after Game of Thrones such a pressing question for millions of readers.
The End Is Just the Beginning
Finishing Game of Thrones (or accepting we might never get The Winds of Winter) doesn’t mean your journey through epic fantasy is over. If anything, it’s an opportunity to discover just how rich and varied the genre has become. These seven series prove that fantasy has evolved far beyond simple good-versus-evil narratives. Modern fantasy grapples with politics, morality, trauma, power, and the cost of survival with sophistication that rivals literary fiction.
The best part? Several of these series are complete. You won’t be left hanging the way Martin left us. You can start The First Law today and reach a definitive ending. You can commit to The Wheel of Time knowing the journey concludes. Even the ongoing series like The Stormlight Archive release on relatively reliable schedules.
Your next obsession is waiting. The question isn’t whether these books similar to A Song of Ice and Fire exist—it’s which one you’ll fall in love with first. So pour yourself some wine (Dornish red or Arbor gold, your choice), settle into a comfortable chair, and prepare to lose yourself in another world.
Want to read something simple? Here’s 9 Books Like Divergent for Fans of Dystopian Thrills and Heroic Journeys
The night is dark and full of excellent books. Happy reading.