Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

This book got much better in its second half than the first. Things really started moving when Egwene returned to Salidar and was invested as a rival Amyriln Seat to Elaida in the Tower. If the rest of the series is more like the first half of this book, it will be a slog to get through it; if it keeps up the pace of the second half, it will be much more enjoyable.