How long does it take to read the Game of Thrones books?
George R.R. Martin · 5 books
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, all 5 books of A Song of Ice and Fire take about 125 hours to read. The unabridged audiobooks run 201 hours at 1x, or 134 hours at 1.5x.
A Song of Ice and Fire is the longest series most readers will ever start. A Storm of Swords and A Dance with Dragons each run past 400,000 words by audiobook estimate, longer than Anna Karenina. And the series isn't finished: The Winds of Winter is still unpublished.
Average is about 250 WPM. Measure yours in two minutes and every time on this page recalculates.
Every book, timed
| Book | Words | Read | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Game of Thrones | ~314,030 | 20h 56m | 33h 46m |
| A Clash of Kings | ~345,960 | 23h 4m | 37h 12m |
| A Storm of Swords | ~442,370 | 29h 29m | 47h 34m |
| A Feast for Crows | ~314,805 | 20h 59m | 33h 51m |
| A Dance with Dragons | ~454,925 | 30h 20m | 48h 55m |
How much to read a day
At 250 words a minute, to finish the whole series:
Have a deadline in mind? The pages-per-day calculator works it out for any date.
How we measured it
Method: audiobook estimate. Published word counts for these books disagree with each other, so these are estimated from Roy Dotrice's unabridged US recordings at 155 words a minute. They run a few percent above the most-quoted figures; treat them as close, not exact.
Part of our study of the 100 most popular books, last checked October 2026. Reading times assume steady reading; editions, translations and your own pace all move them.
See how long it really takes you
Log each book in Parch as you read. It tracks your pages, sessions and streak, so you'll know your real pace, and how long the next one will take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read the Game of Thrones books?
About 125 hours at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 156 hours at 200 and 104 hours at 300. That covers all 5 books, from A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons.
How many words are in the Game of Thrones books?
About 1.9 million words across 5 books. The longest is A Dance with Dragons (454,925); the shortest is A Game of Thrones (314,030). That's estimated from the unabridged audiobook at a narration pace of 155 words a minute, so treat it as close, not exact.
How long are the audiobooks?
About 201 hours unabridged at 1x for the whole series: 134h 12m at 1.5x and 100h 39m at 2x.
How many pages a day to finish the Game of Thrones books in a month?
About 227 pages a day, or 4h 10m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 6,808 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
Which Game of Thrones book is the longest?
A Dance with Dragons, at just under 49 hours as an audiobook, with A Storm of Swords about an hour and a half behind. A Game of Thrones is the shortest of the five, at under 34.
Can I read the books after watching the show?
Yes. The show follows books one to three closely and then diverges, so the last two books hold plenty you haven't seen, including whole storylines the show cut.