But such escapism has a social import, too. The sequence of doorstop fantasy novels that George R R Martin began with A Game of Thrones provides the sort of immersive experience of an alien world that has always been popular.
There are to be more series, and possibly even films. So unsurprisingly, that won’t be the last you’ll see of it. The fourth season of Game of Thrones has gripped scores of people with its epic story of warring factions in a strange and changing landscape, dragons and dire wolves, incursions and sieges, plots and betrayals, battlefield brilliance and cunning with coin.
