A Thousand Heroes and One

Book excerpt: This master's thesis approaches the heroes in George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire", analyzing the journeys of Eddard Stark, Quentyn Martell, Jon Snow, and Daenerys Targaryen. The application of Campbell's famous Monomyth, or Hero's Journey, did not prove particularly successful when it comes to this series, which leads to a series of ponderations about its universality and the role point of view plays in this debate. "A Song of Ice and Fire" is a masterpiece of fantasy literature that helps scholars to rethink axioms they have been taking for granted for decades, and there is still much more to be said about it.