<em>Game of Thrones</em>: A Brutal Fantasy With Mass Appeal
HBO’s new series, Game of Thrones, premieres on Sunday. This week, we’re featuring five different takes on the show, which is the first foray into fantasy for a network that has built its programming on grimly realistic stories like The Sopranos and The Wire. Atlantic correspondent Alyssa Rosenberg began the conversation, and The American Prospect’s Adam Serwer and Mother Jones’s Nick Baumann continued it. Now, Amber Taylor picks up the thread:
HBO’s new adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s bestselling series of fantasy novels is yet more evidence that television, not motion pictures, is now where truly sweeping, complex stories are for ready lending and conversion), it's heartening to see a fantasy narrative given a respectful and serious airing. Because magic is so peripheral in the early episodes of , the fantasy trappings are not a long leap from these already familiar to viewers of shows like , , or . And after they've been hooked by the characters and complex plot, even people normally allergic to swords and sorcery won't be able to change the channel.
