Information creates tension, suspense, and drama. George R. R. Martin is a master of information which is what makes A Song of Ice and Fire a riveting series. As the reader, you are a detective trying to fit the narratives of each character and connect them to a single story.

I’ve heard people complain that each volume is taking longer to be published and from the fan’s point of view, rightly so. However, the task is monumental. More often than not, characters in a story share the same timeline but not the same information (this is what creates drama), and this is very difficult to do well. Martin has made the task herculean by varying chronology as well.

So, you have Jon at The Wall and Daeyrnas at Meeren separated by space and time with different pieces of information. Furthermore, the narrative is non-linear even in the structure. So, A Dance with Dragons covers a storyline from the previous book which has been resolved from another character’s point of view (in the previous book) but now, from a different point of view.

It’s no surprise that each book takes a long time to complete; Martin has to keep an index of where each character is and what each character knows while keeping the story consistent.

Best of luck.