The tradition of the return of the hero can be traced back at least as far as Homer's Odyssey. Joseph Campbell discusses it at length in his classic work The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) and it also receives some attention in most critical studies of the bildungsroman. Within the context of science fiction and fantasy literature, two of the most famous examples of the return of the hero tradition may well be seen in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954). One of the major plot threads in that novel involves the transformation of the disreputable Ranger, Strider, into Aragorn, rightful ruler of the greatest kingdom of Middle Earth. The final volume of Tolkien's trilogy, after all, is entitled The Return of the King (1955). Echoing this traditional heroic return, however, is a similar, though more humble return home that occurs late in that...