Happy birthday 'Game of Thrones'! - CNET

It's been 20 years since "A Game of Thrones" was released. In August 1996, a very different Clinton was President of the US, " Macarena" and "Wannabe" were the top of the charts, and NASA announced the discovery of evidence of primitive life on Mars contained within a meteorite.

For one thing, "Game of Thrones" was not George R. R. Martin's first book. By the time that book published, he was already a three-time Hugo Award winner (once each for best novella, novelette and short story), an established novelist, and a screenwriter (including writing episodes for the 1985 revival of "The Twilight Zone").

Now, five books and seven HBO seasons later, we all know there's a lot more going on in Westeros and Essos than most people realize. The official universe (or "canon," as it's called) of "A Song of Ice & Fire" books (commonly referred to as ASOIAF) includes everything written within the main books, plus quite a few prequels, some excerpts and a couple of history and art books -- plus the prerelease "Winds of Winter" chapters and the graphic novels based on the main book series.

Phew. It's a lot for anyone to keep track of.

In case you haven't read the series, back out of here and go pick them up! Here's an easy box set, or here they are in published order:

• "A Game of Thrones"
• "A Clash of Kings"
• "A Storm of Swords"
• "A Feast for Crows"
• "A Dance with Dragons"

GRRM has been busy over the years. In between writing the ASOIAF series, he's published other books, edited multiple sci-fi and fantasy anthologies, made numerous appearances at conferences and been quite involved with the HBO show.

On this birthday, to ease both our pain of still not having any idea when book 6 will arrive and those now-extended "Game of Thrones" withdrawals, here is nearly every major work in the canon, plus some related to the TV show only. They're broken down by book canon, show-related and some non-canon works that are just fun to check out. They're not in any order, nor am I trying to say that you should read them in this order. I'm just trying to give you the keys to the kingdom.

Up close with the new Game of Thrones card... See full gallery

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Book canon

Writings by GRRM

• "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms": The Dunk & Egg prequels. This book consolidates three previously published short stories about the adventures of Dunk (future commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall) and Egg (future King Aegon V Targaryen) and are set roughly 90 years prior to the events of the "A Song of Ice & Fire" series.

  • The Hedge Knight. Originally published in the 1998 anthology Legends, it currently exists for purchase separately only in its graphic novel format.
  • The Swo Sword. Originally published in the 2003 anthology Legends II, it can also be purchased separately only in graphic novel format.
  • The Mystery Knight. Published in 2010 in the cross-genre anthology Warriors. It cannot be purchased separately at the moment in any format, though Random House previously announced plans to produce the graphic novel version of the novella almost two years ago.
  • Plans for more of the Dunk & Egg's adventures have been discussed by GRRM more than once.
• Other released prequels, short stories. There have been a few published stories that take place in-world, and they're also buried in published anthologies.
  • The Dangerous Women anthology, published in 2013, features an abridged version of The Princess and the Queen, Archmaester Gyldayn's story of the warfare between Targaryen women. You can read an excerpt here.
  • The Rogues anthology, published in 2014, features Everybody Loves a Rogue, an introduction to the anthology, and an abridged version of The Rogue Prince, or, The King's Brother. This story is a prequel to The Princess and the Queen, and is also "written by" Archmaester Gyldayn.
  • GRRM has also announced that he plans to one day bring together each of these stories in unabridged form in a book of Targaryen history, tentatively titled Fire & Blood.
• Novellas. These are essentially excerpts of chapters and were published in magazines, either ahead of or directly following the release of their book publication. If you've read all the books, you've probably seen these writings in an updated format, but I've included them for the sake of completeness.
  • Blood of the Dragon, published in July 1996 in Asimov's Science Fiction, the novella would appear the following month as a Daenerys chapter in "A Game of Thrones."
  • Path of the Dragon, published in December 2000, in Asimov's Science Fiction, this novella is based on a Daenerys chapter that had been published in that year's "A Storm of Swords."
  • Arms of the Kraken, published in August 2002 in Dragon magazine, this novella would later become the Iron Islands chapters of "A Feast for Crows" that feature the Kingsmoot.
• The Ice Dragon. A short story published originally published in 1980, it reads like an in-world fairy tale and is generally accepted as canon (but this is disputed by some). It's currently available with newly added illustrations.
• The "Winds of Winter" chapters. Ever since "A Dance with Dragons" (ADWD) was released, fans have been wondering when the next installment will be published. While fan pressure hasn't sped up his writing, GRRM has taken to releasing some chapters sporadically on his personal website or reading others in person at certain appearances. Where noted, some chapters are available to read in the World of Ice & Fire app (free; available on Android and iOS), and I've also included links to those available to read, watch or listen to online.
  • Theon Greyjoy: Released in December 2011, this chapter takes place during the chronology of ADWD. It has been archived online and is available in the app.
  • Arianne Martell (Part 1): Released in January 2012, this chapter was destined for ADWD before being cut. It has been archived online. (Prior to this chapter release, GRRM had read bits of what he called Arianne II at a con in 2011. There are no recordings of it, but there are fan recounts.)
  • Victarion. This chapter is not available in the app, as a portion of it was read by GRRM at a convention in March 2012. Here's where you can listen to it.
  • Ser Barristan Selmy I: First read at a convention in 2013, it is also available as a preview chapter within ADWD and in the app.
  • Tyrion: First read at Worldcon in August 2013, now available in the app.
  • Mercy: This Arya chapter was originally intended to be a part of "A Feast for Crows" and has shifted between books before being placed into "Winds of Winter." It has been archived online and is available in the app.
  • Alayne: Sansa's chapter was released in April 2015 and is now available archived online and in the app.
  • Arianne Martell (Part 2): Her second chapter is the latest sample released and can be read right now on Martin's site.

Written with the involvement of GRRM

• "The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones." Released in 2014, this history book is filled with fun facts, interesting tidbits and things you never thought you wanted (or needed) to know.
• The Lands of Ice & Fire. This is actually a collection of 12 poster-sized maps. In the same vein as the history book, it features depictions of cities and places not discussed in the books as of yet. It has been stressed that the maps herein do not to represent the entire world and are not intended to be perfect, instead they are more like depictions of the Maester-known world.
• "A Game of Thrones" graphic novels. Four graphic novel volumes, each of which consists of six comics, adapting the story of the first book in the series. They offer no new information, but feature a preface by GRRM, as well as commentary from his longtime editor, Anne Groell.

HBO show-related books

• "Game of Thrones: A Pop-Up Guide to Westeros." This book features five large fold-out spreads of areas in Westeros and for some reason one of them is "The Continent of Essos," hmm.
• "Game of Thrones: The Noble Houses of Westeros Seasons 1-5." Illustrated with show photography, this book features sigils, profiles, and family trees and histories.
• "Inside HBO's Game of Thrones." Released in 2012, this book covers the production of the show through its first two seasons and includes a preface by GRRM, spectacular set photos and interviews with cast members.
• "Inside HBO's Game of Thrones, Seasons 3 & 4."Like the original, this 2014 book features behind-the-scenes look at the making of the successful show.
• "Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion." Published in 2013, this funny book features Tyrion's best one-liners paired with illustrations.
• "Living Language Dothraki." This is actually a book and a leaing CD to help you pronounce and lea to speak Dothraki, and comes complete with basic phrases, step-by-step grammar guides and vocabulary exercises.
• "Game of Thrones: In Memoriam."Released at the beginning of this year, this book is an account of all the show's dead up to season 5. Can we expect an update soon HBO?
• "Game of Thrones: The Poster Collection Book" and "Volume II." Exactly what it sounds like, this 2013 book is made up of 40 removable posters including a map of Westeros.

Various related works

• "The Official A Game of Thrones Coloring Book." Featuring almost 100 pages of drawings for you to obsess over.
  • A second coloring book is coming in November from Chronicle Books.
• Limited edition "Game of Thrones" Moleskines. For keeping track of your own lists.
• "Beyond the Wall." A collection of essays about author GRRM and his influences.
• "The Art of Ice & Fire, Volume I & Volume II." Both books feature paintings and artwork inspired by ASOIAF.
• "A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook to A Game of Thrones."Published in 2012, this official cookbook features a foreword by GRRM.
• Various games, both virtual and board games, including:
  • Monopoly Game of Thrones Collector's Editionseems self-explanatory; it's just a GOT-branded version of the classic.
  • Game of Thrones Cluecomes with a double-sided board so you can solve murder mysteries in either The Red Keep or Meereen.
  • PC gameA Game of Thrones: Genesis, which is also available on Steam.
  • Game of Thrones: The Game, available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows machines.
  • Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series, a video game based on the TV show, is available in various formats including Android and iOS, with in-app purchases for each playable "episode."
  • Game of Thrones: Ascentis a free-to-play social-media game available to play on iOS, Android, Facebook and online.
  • A Game of Thrones, The Card Game. A massive collection of cards from Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) based on the book series and first released in 2002.
  • A Game of Thrones, The Board Game.Also by FFG and based on the book series, the first edition was released in 2003, with the second edition in 2011.
  • Battles of Westeros. A two-player board game from FFG and based on the books, it was released in 2010.

Like I said in the beginning, there's a a lot out there to (attempt to) satisfy you until either "Winds of Winter" is released or "Game of Thrones" retus for its final seasons. How will you pass the next year+ of waiting??

Editors' Note: This post was originally published June 20, 2015, and is regularly updated.