What to Read After
A Song of Ice and Fire left you exhausted, devastated, and desperate for more. Here are the books that scratch that same itch — epic scope, brutal politics, and characters who die when you least expect it.
You've watched kingdoms rise and fall, trusted characters betray everything you believed in, and lived inside a world so dense it felt real. Now you need a book that earns that same level of investment. These picks were chosen for exactly that.
Ordered by similarity to what made A Song of Ice and Fire addictive — political scheming, morally grey characters, massive world-building, and consequences that actually stick.
A crippled torturer, a barbarian warrior, and a disgraced noble are drawn into a conflict that will expose the rot at the heart of their civilization.
Abercrombie is the writer most often compared to Martin — same grimdark sensibility, same talent for reversing your expectations about heroes and villains. The First Law trilogy is the closest thing to GoT in fantasy.
A legendary wizard sits in a tavern and tells the true story of his life — a tale of magic, music, love, and the enemies that made him infamous.
If you loved the richness of Martin's world, Rothfuss matches it. The prose is exceptional, the magic system original, and the central mystery compelling. Warning: the series is unfinished.
On a world ravaged by magical storms, three people from different walks of life are pulled into a war they don't yet understand — and a truth that could unmake everything.
Sanderson is the antithesis of Martin in one key way: he actually finishes his books. The Stormlight Archive is the most ambitious epic fantasy being written today — massive cast, intricate politics, and payoffs that earn the investment.
A gang of con artists in a city of thieves executes an audacious scheme against the nobility — until someone else has a scheme against them.
The same pleasure as watching Tyrion out-manoeuvre his enemies: brilliant characters playing a dangerous game inside a world that feels lived-in and morally complicated. Sharply funny where GoT is bleak.
A group of young villagers is forced to flee their home when dark forces converge on one of them — someone who might be the prophesied hero destined to save or destroy the world.
The Wheel of Time is the gold standard for long-form epic fantasy with an enormous cast. If you want 14 books of densely built world with high-stakes political manoeuvring, this is it.
The Dark Lord won a thousand years ago. Now a street thief with impossible powers joins a crew planning to do what's never been done: steal an entire empire.
Sanderson at his most propulsive — the magic system is brilliant, the heist structure keeps the pace tight, and the political betrayals land as hard as anything in GoT. A great entry point before tackling Stormlight.
In 12th-century England, a master builder dreams of constructing a cathedral while power-hungry nobles, corrupt priests, and a civil war conspire to destroy everything he loves.
If the medieval politics drew you more than the dragons, this is the book. No magic, but the same web of scheming, betrayal, ambition, and people caught in the machinery of power. Surprisingly gripping for an 1,100-page book about architecture.
A miner from the lowest caste infiltrates the ruling class and starts a revolution that will tear a solar system apart.
This is Game of Thrones in space — massive in scope, brutal in consequence, and propelled by the same kind of status games and betrayals. The closest sci-fi equivalent to Martin's appetite for killing beloved characters.
A royal bastard is trained as an assassin in a court that despises him — and discovers the cost of serving a kingdom that will never truly be his.
Where Martin uses a wide lens, Hobb goes deep on a single character — but the court politics, the sense of powerlessness, and the devastating emotional honesty are all there. The Realm of the Elderlings is one of the great hidden fantasy series.
Six dangerous outcasts plan an impossible heist into the most secure prison in the world — each carrying a secret that could unravel the entire scheme.
A faster, younger read than the others on this list, but the political intrigue and multi-POV cast hit similar notes. If you loved the smaller-scale scheming scenes in GoT — Littlefinger's gambits, Cersei's manoeuvres — this delivers that pleasure in concentrated form.
As of 2026, The Winds of Winter is still unfinished. Martin has been working on it for over a decade. There's no release date. If waiting is painful, Brandon Sanderson's complete Stormlight Archive is the best alternative — and he reliably publishes on schedule.
Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself (The First Law trilogy) is the most direct equivalent — same grimdark realism, morally grey cast, and willingness to let bad things happen to people you care about. Many GoT fans consider it the obvious next step.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is set in 12th-century England and is pure political drama with no magic at all. For something with a fantasy setting but laser focus on court intrigue, try The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.
Yes — The First Law (Abercrombie), Mistborn (Sanderson), The Wheel of Time (Jordan/Sanderson), and Red Rising (Brown) are all complete. The Name of the Wind is unfinished. The Stormlight Archive has 5 of a planned 10 books published.
Six of Crows is a complete duology and reads quickly. The Lies of Locke Lamora is a standalone-ish novel (the sequels are independent). Both give you political scheming and morally grey characters without the 1,000-page commitment.
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