Books

First look at official Game of Thrones oral history Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon

EW's James Hibberd has written a behind-the-scenes book about the hit HBO show.

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Published on July 23, 2020 11:00AM EDT

Throughout the eight-season run of HBO's Game of the Thrones, EW editor-at-large James Hibberd covered the show with diligence and deftness which would have impressed even the best of author George R.R. Martin's fantasy world schemers. Now, Hibberd has written an oral history of the show titled Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series.

Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon details how showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss won over Martin in the first place, the making of the show's disastrous original pilot, and the writing and production of the greatest and most debated episodes. It also gives exclusive insight into the show's divisive final season and explores the future of the Game of Thrones franchise, including the House of the Dragon HBO series. The book is based on hundreds of interviews with the cast and crew, network executives, and others associated with the show from Benioff and Weiss to cast members Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gwendoline Christie, and many others. Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon also features more than 70 behind-the-scenes photos.

Hibberd was nominated for 2019 Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles Press Club for his coverage of the show's final season.

"I've written hundreds of articles about the show, but each was about something specific—such as discussing an iconic scene like The Red Wedding or interviewing Emilia Clarke about the fate of Daenerys Targaryen," says Hibberd. "With Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, I got to tell the full story of making Thrones from the very beginning to the very end and uncovered a lot of surprising new stories along the way. I cannot wait for Thrones's fans to take this journey where they'll get a new perspective on their favorite moments of an epic series."

Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon was published by Dutton on Oct. 6, 2020, and is now available. Exclusively see the cover of the book below.