《權力的遊戲》爲何封神

Fantasy novels can be a ticket to a land of magic. The Lord of the Rings (《指環王》) by J.R.R. Tolkien takes us to Middle-earth to experience a battle of good and evil with dwarves (矮人), fairies (精靈) and wizards (巫師). And A Song of Ice and Fire (《冰與火之歌》), a series of novels by US author George R.R. Martin, invites us to another fictional world where powerful families compete to win the most important throne (王座) of all.

奇幻小說可以說是通往魔幻世界的入場券。J.R.R.托爾金的《指環王》將我們帶入中土世界，去體驗矮人、精靈與巫師之間的正邪之戰。而美國作家喬治·R·R·馬丁所著的《冰與火之歌》系列小說則邀請我們前往另一個虛構世界，在那裏，幾大權貴家族爭奪着最尊貴的王座。

Today, most people know Martin’s work by the name of the first book, Game of Thrones (《權力的遊戲》), since it is also the name of the famous TV series. On March 29, the trailer (預告片) for the seventh season of the highly successful series came out. Millions of fans eagerly await the new season, which starts on July 16.

今天，大多數人都是因該系列第一部書的名字《權力的遊戲》而熟知馬丁的作品，因爲這也是那部著名電視劇的劇名。3月27日，這部大熱劇集的第七季預告片正式出爐。數百萬的粉絲熱切期盼着將於7月16日開播的新一季。

So how can we explain the wild success of Game of Thrones?

所以我們要如何解釋《權力的遊戲》的大獲成功呢？

BBC reporter Ken Tucker got it right: it’s the escapism (逃避現實) that makes it a winner. This quality makes it very different from other popular TV series of recent times. Take Breaking Bad (《絕命毒師》) for example. This was a quality drama but it didn’t provide escapism. Too many viewers understood the difficult situation of the cancer-stricken (罹患癌症的) science teacher Walter White. He turned to crime (犯罪) because he couldn’t afford his hospital bills.

BBC記者肯·塔克對此做出了恰當的回答：正是逃避主義讓這部劇獲得成功。這一特質將其與近年來的其他電視劇區分開來。以《絕命毒師》爲例。這是一部高品質的電視劇，但卻缺乏逃避主義。有太多的觀衆理解罹患癌症的化學老師沃特·懷特的艱難處境。他因爲付不起醫療費，而走向了犯罪。

In Game of Thrones, however, there is what TV writer Josue Cardona called the huge attraction of “world-building”: “The show is super complex (複雜的), with so many characters”. Viewers love the sense that they are being invited to build another world in their minds.

然而，在《權力的遊戲》中，存在着電視劇編劇約書亞·卡多納所說的“構建世界”的巨大魅力：“這部劇超級複雜，有大量的角色。”觀衆們喜歡那種讓他們在腦海中構建另一個世界的感覺。

This isn’t to say that the 25.7 million global viewers of the TV series don’t enjoy the more subtle (微妙的) side of the story. Unlike in other fiction stories, the characters are complex. Martin said that he tried to have a “good and bad, noble (高尚的) and selfish well-mixed” choice of them. This makes him a storyteller very unlike Tolkien, whose world is one of heroes and villains in which good will win in the end. In Martin’s world, we are not sure of that. Indeed, we aren’t even sure who is good and who is evil.

這並不是說，該電視劇全球2570萬的觀衆不喜歡這個故事更爲微妙的一面。和其他虛構故事不同，劇中的角色十分複雜。馬丁表示，他自己試圖讓善與惡、高尚與自私很好地融合在角色當中。這也讓他和托爾金的敘事風格十分不同。托爾金的世界中僅有英雄和惡人之分，最終正義的一方將會獲勝。而在馬丁的世界裏，我們對此卻並不確定。事實上，我們甚至都無法準確的說出誰是好人，誰是壞人。

But the overall secret to this show’s success may be its dreamlike quality. As Martin wrote on his website: “The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real.” Watching Game of Thrones is like entering a deep sleep. Fans of the long-running hit will hope that they’ll be sleeping and dreaming for many years to come.

但總的來說，這一劇集成功的祕密或許是其夢幻般的特質。就像馬丁在自己網站上所寫的那樣：“最棒的奇幻小說是以夢的語言寫成的。它就像夢境一樣鮮活，比真實更加真實。”觀看《權力的遊戲》就像陷入睡夢之中。這一長篇鉅製的粉絲們希望自己還能在夢中沉睡多年。