http://entertainment.time.com/2013/05/24/dead-tree-alert-the-westeros-wing-or-why-game-of-thrones-is-the-best-tv-show-about-politics

"One reason GoT is so bracingly different from other pop-culture fantasy stories," says James Poniewozik, "is how it combines the fantastical with the realistic—in this case, realistic attention to the way power is gained, maintained, and exercised."
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#7HW8Wgy4RUMMCB4a.99