A Dance with Dragons
Several reviews of 2011's "A Dance with Dragons" noted the return to the narrative of Jon, Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister, the three popular characters whom fans had missed most from the previous volume, "A Feast for Crows". These "favorites" had last been featured 11 years before in Martin's "A Storm of Swords". In "A Dance with Dragons", Jon's leadership of the Night's Watch is complicated by several unprecedented challenges, including a wildling alliance, the demands of would-be-king Stannis Baratheon and the conflicting factions developing within the Watch itself. "The New York Times" notes that "Jon’s leadership is the best hope of Westeros, so naturally he’s in imminent danger throughout "A Dance With Dragons"." James Hibberd of "Entertainment Weekly" called Jon's final chapter in "A Dance with Dragons" "a harsh chapter in terms of fan expectations. You go from this total high of Jon giving this rousing speech about going after the evil Ramsay Bolton, to this utter low of his men turning against him." Jon's presence in the forthcoming volume "The Winds of Winter" is uncertain.