I think it's like... everyone, both audience and author, is too focused on the lore/history? - Edit 1
Before modification by beetnemesis at 14/05/2014 01:08:50 PM
It's like, he slowly hints at a grand and majestic world filled with neat stuff. The audience really wants to read more about the lore, and the world, and the Cosmere stuff. Then he writes hundreds of pages that slowly reveal parts of the lore. Then the plot advances a little, and the book ends.
Also, yeah- Steelheart's characters were a little flat. Still entertaining, though.