Cross-media recommendations across film, TV, games, books & music — picked by taste.
House of the Dragon is a prequel set roughly a century before Game of Thrones, charting the internal collapse of a Targaryen dynasty at the peak of its strength. The crisis begins when King Viserys names his daughter Rhaenyra heir, then later has a son — leaving two rival claims that neither court custom nor loyalty can reconcile. The series documents the slow drift toward the devastating civil war called the Dance of the Dragons.
House of the Dragon is an American fantasy drama television series created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO. A prequel to Game of Thrones (2011–2019), it is the second television series in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire franchise. Based on parts of Martin's 2018 book Fire & Blood, the series begins about 100 years after the Seven Kingdoms are united by the Targaryen conquest, nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, and 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. Featuring an ensemble cast, the show portrays the events leading up to the decline of House Targaryen, a devastating war of succession known as the "Dance of the Dragons".
From the Wikipedia article House_of_the_Dragon, available under CC BY-SA.
Film
Game of Thrones - Conquest & Rebellion: An Animated History of the Seven Kingdoms
Traces the Targaryen conquest that created the unified realm *House of the Dragon* later tears apart.
Film
Merlin and the War of the Dragons
A young man navigating rival powers and magic in a fractured kingdom echoes the show's apprenticeship-to-conflict arc.
Film
Vikings: Battle of Heirs
A disputed royal bloodline and rivals scrambling to claim a throne mirrors the succession crisis at the heart of the show.
Film
Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire
Twin heirs turn dragon-granted power against each other in a throne dispute that echoes the Dance of the Dragons.
Film
Fire and Ice: The Dragon Chronicles
A kingdom saved only by confronting a dragon distills the show's core motif of power that is also existential threat.
Film
The Dark Kingdom
Warriors crossing forbidden lands against an undead army shares the show's tone of sacrifice under existential siege.
Game
A Game of Thrones - Genesis
Players choose how to rule Westeros through the same battles and house intrigues the show dramatises.
Game
Game of Thrones
An RPG set in Westeros lets you inhabit the political and military stakes the show portrays from the inside.
Game
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - Digital Edition
Spreading influence across Westeros through strategy and alliance captures the board-level power plays driving the show.
Game
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
Rival warlords jockeying for dominance after a single decisive battle mirrors the uneasy fragmentation the show depicts.
Game
Thronefall
Build and defend a kingdom against waves of enemies — the show's see-saw of power in stripped-down form.
Game
Ascension to the Throne
A hero fighting to regain power and take revenge in a vast fantasy world of contested rule.
Book
A Game of Thrones
The novel that introduced Westeros's noble houses and succession politics the show traces back to their origins.
Book
The World of Ice & Fire
A comprehensive guide to Targaryen kings and the wars that shaped Westeros — direct context for the show.
Book
Blood of Dragons
Dragons and their keepers unlocking ancient power in a rediscovered city echoes the show's fascination with draconic potential.
Book
House of war
A king hardened by conflict faces renewed scheming and ancient threats — the same pattern of rule besieged from within.
Book
Fortress of Ice
A ruler rebuilding after devastation with unexpected allies captures the show's sense of a dynasty reassembling its shattered pieces.
Book
The King's Blood (The Dagger and the Coin #2)
War falls over lands once ruled by dragons, with a young woman's resolve at the centre.
Series
Game of Thrones
Noble houses wage total war over Westeros's throne in the same political world the show's civil war will eventually produce.
Series
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Two unlikely figures navigate Westeros while the Targaryen line still holds — a quieter angle on the same dynasty.
Series
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
An ensemble cast confronts the re-emergence of evil across a vast layered world — epic in the same political register.
Series
The Legend of Jinyan
Rivals who become allies while steering a kingdom shares the show's dynamic of personal bonds strained by political duty.
Series
The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin
A mythic figure's tragic upbringing and descent into madness unfolds as a prequel legend — structurally akin to the show.
Series
Dragon Goes House-Hunting
A dragon cast out by his own family for failing their standards goes searching for a new home.
Game of Thrones is the obvious next step — set in the same world roughly two centuries later, following the consequences of the succession wars House of the Dragon sets in motion. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms offers an earlier, quieter view of Westeros while the Targaryen line still holds.
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game – Digital Edition puts you in command of a noble house spreading influence across Westeros through strategy and alliance, closely mirroring the show's political texture. A Game of Thrones – Genesis covers the battles and house intrigues that shaped Westeros from its earliest days.
The World of Ice & Fire is a comprehensive guide covering the reign of the Targaryen kings and the history of Westeros up to Robert's Rebellion — essential context for the show. A Game of Thrones is where the wider saga began and deepens the world the show inhabits.