HBO is a good home for George RR Martin’s sprawling, adult-readers fantasy series. The Tolkien-esque-with-sex story of swords, magic creatures, power politics and family secrets is expected to play out for seasons, to allow the dozens of leading characters time to develop. They’ll need that time if early episode hiccups are anything to go by. The direction has very little visual flair and in some scenes the camp is spread thick. But Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister is perfect casting, and one gets the sense the show is just gearing up for viewing as addictive as the books are to read, especially since they’re drawing on the source text with such a keen faith.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2011.