With the first season of HBO’s new Game of Thrones prequel now airing, many viewers want to jump into the original stories. The good news is that reading the books behind A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is simple. There are only three novellas so far, and they are all collected in one single volume.
The stories follow Ser Duncan the Tall, a wandering hedge knight, and his young squire Egg. Their adventures take place about 90 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The tone is different from the main series, focusing more on travel and friendship than on massive battles for the Iron Throne .
The Three Novellas in Order
George R.R. Martin wrote these stories over more than a decade. They were first published in fantasy anthologies before being brought together. The best way to read them is in the order they were written, which also matches the characters’ timeline .
The Hedge Knight (1998)
This is where it all begins. Dunk buries his master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree, and decides to head to a tourney at Ashford Meadow to try his luck as a knight. He meets a bald boy who insists on becoming his squire. The story introduces the bond between the two main characters and sets up a major conflict with Prince Aerion Targaryen. The tournament leads to a brutal Trial of Seven that changes the Targaryen family line forever .
The Sworn Sword (2003)
Set about a year later, Dunk and Egg enter the service of an old lord in the Reach named Ser Eustace Osgrey. A dispute over water rights puts them against a wealthy neighbor, Lady Rohanne Webber, known as the Red Widow. This story digs into old loyalties from the Blackfyre Rebellion and shows how past wars still affect the smallfolk .
The Mystery Knight (2010)
The third story takes place at a wedding tourney at Whitewalls. Dunk enters the competition disguised as the Gallows Knight. Behind the scenes, a group of nobles plot to start another Blackfyre Rebellion using a stolen dragon egg. The Hand of the King, Lord Bloodraven, shows up to shut it down. This novella connects more directly to the larger history of Westeros .
The Collected Edition
You do not need to hunt down rare anthologies to read these stories. In 2015, all three novellas were published together in one book titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The collection includes more than 160 black-and-white illustrations by artist Gary Gianni, which appear throughout the text .
The audiobook version is read by Harry Lloyd, who played Viserys Targaryen in the first season of Game of Thrones. His narration adds depth to the Targaryen connections in the story .
A new collector’s edition is scheduled for release on April 28, 2026, featuring a hardcover binding .
What Are the Stories About?
The novellas focus on two main characters. Ser Duncan the Tall is a genuinely good man trying to live by the knightly vows he believes in, even when the world around him is corrupt and selfish. He is not the smartest person in Westeros, but his heart is always in the right place .
Egg is the sharp-witted boy who sees everything clearly. The big secret of the series, revealed in the first story, is that Egg is really Aegon Targaryen, the grandson of the king. He shaves his head to hide his silver-gold hair and travels in disguise to learn how common people actually live .
Together, they wander from one village to another, getting caught up in local disputes, old grudges, and the occasional conspiracy. The stories have been described as having a “Scooby-Doo feel” of two friends solving mysteries while traveling through a dangerous world .
Why Read Them Now
The first season of the HBO series, which finished airing in February 2026, adapts The Hedge Knight. The show stars Peter Claffey as Dunk and Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg . HBO has already renewed the series for a second season, which is set to premiere in 2027 and will adapt The Sworn Sword .
Reading the books gives you the full story behind the show. The novellas also connect to the wider history of Westeros. You will meet younger versions of characters mentioned in the main series and see the roots of conflicts that still matter a century later.
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Are There More Books Coming?
George R.R. Martin has said he plans to write more Dunk and Egg stories. He has mentioned working titles like The She-Wolves of Winterfell, which would take the pair to the North, and The Village Hero, set in the Riverlands .
However, Martin has stated that he will finish the next main novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter, before writing more novellas. No release dates have been announced for any future Dunk and Egg stories .
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