A Song of Ice and Fire reading order

A plan for the whole series

6 volumes, 5,273 pages, about 95 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 4 months.

• The thickest volume runs 1,040 pages. One volume is one stage: a break after it, not the next volume.
• Readers scored volume 4, “A Feast for Crows”, below its predecessor (8.1 after 9.0). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.
• The series is still running; the last volume came out in 2011. You will wait for the next one anyway, so no need to rush.

Stages

6 stages, with 5 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around April 17, 2027, about 6 weeks later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 115 h20 daysby November 18, 2026

   • 1. A Game of Thrones1996 · 801 pages · 15 h
2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 22, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 214 h19 daysby December 10, 2026

   • 2. A Clash of Kings1998 · 761 pages · 14 h
4. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by December 19, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 318 habout 3 weeksby January 13, 2027

   • 3. A Storm of Swords2000 · 992 pages · 18 h
6. BreakBorn a Crime · Trevor Noah · 304 pp. · score 8.96 h, by January 22, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
7. 4
   Stage 415 h20 daysby February 11, 2027

   • 4. A Feast for Crows2005 · 800 pages · 15 h
8. BreakI'm Glad My Mom Died · Jennette McCurdy · 320 pp. · score 8.96 h, by February 20, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 519 habout 4 weeksby March 18, 2027

   • 5. A Dance with Dragons2011 · 1,040 pages · 19 h
10. BreakFlowers for Algernon · Daniel Keyes · 274 pp. · score 8.85 h, by March 27, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
11. 6
    Stage 616 habout 3 weeksby April 17, 2027

    • 6. The Winds of Winter · ≈ 879 pages · 16 h
12. The end of the series

    April 17, 2027

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

≈ next to a page count: a volume with no page count in our data is counted at this series’s average.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: best at the start. Readers scored the first volumes (8.7) above the last ones (8.5).

Best volume: A Storm of Swords (9.0, 3,058 ratings). Weakest: A Feast for Crows (8.1). The series is not finished; the last volume came out in 2011. The last volume (8.5) scores close to the series average or above it.