'Game of Thrones' fantasy gets 'the HBO spin'

By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY

Game of Thrones is no children's fantasy.

Author George R.R. Martin says he's pleased with the 10-episode series on HBO.

HBO's adult-themed Thrones (Sunday, 9 ET/PT), a series based on the work of best-selling author George R.R. Martin, takes viewers into the treacherous, violent seven kingdoms of Westeros, where King Robert Baratheon tries to hold power while facing threats near and far.

The 10 episodes, which mark HBO's first venture into fantasy, follow Martin's A Game of Thrones, the first of a seven-book series he's still writing called A Song of Ice and Fire.

HBO has "a history of taking genres and redefining them. There's never been a Western before like Deadwood. There's never been a gangster film like The Sopranos or a cop show like The Wire," says Martin, who is a co-executive producer and writer on the project. "I'm pleased they chose my fantasy to put the HBO spin on it."

Thrones, which goes light on magic, mixes palace intrigue with personal stories of love, greed, power and sex.

Martin acknowledges the influence of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien but says he also likes historical drama. "I wanted (to) take some of the wonder and magic you get from the best fantasy, but also gritty realism you get in good historical fiction," says the author, whose fifth Song book, A Dance With Dragons, comes out July 12. (Thrones is No. 41 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list.)

Thrones' intricate plot plays out on multiple tracks: the king (Mark Addy) trying to protect the Iron Throne; a new alliance posing a potential threat; and a foreboding sense of danger coming from wild lands north of a 700-foot-high ice wall.

Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), the king of Westeros, is trying to protect the Iron Throne.

Sean Bean, a Rings alumnus who plays the king's righthand man, Ned Stark, marvels at Martin's "incredible collection of stories and ideas. It just twists from one place to another. It's very clever how he created this world that's very believable, strangely."

Lena Headey, who plays Robert's queen, Cersei, likes the rough-edged nature of Thrones, "the fact that it's the fantasy genre but done with real emotion and real issues, no glam, big, over-the-top acting — sort of like street drama within that epic drama."

Executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss acknowledge the complexity of the stories and the characters' connections, and they hope their interpretation will appeal both to Martin's zealous following and those who are unfamiliar with his work.

"I think one of the reasons fans become so devoted to these books is because of the complexity," Weiss says. "If you allow yourself to get swept up in this world, you're going to figure it out pretty quickly."

Emilia Clarke, whose character's marriage forges the alliance that could challenge King Robert, found herself immersed in Martin's story. "My copy of the first book is tattered, it's torn. It's got so many notes in it," she says. "When you look at all the plotlines by themselves, you think they could just be individual films. How on earth is anyone going to merge and weave it together? But George did, and HBO did as well."

Martin, who once worked in series TV (Beauty and the Beast), wrote the Song books not expecting any screen adaptation. But HBO and Benioff and Weiss felt the drama could translate. "He populated his world with characters who seemed eminently human," Benioff says. "They're driven by sexual attraction and ambition and fear, as opposed to (being in) some cosmic battle between good and evil."

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