Elmandr, I think you mean that my writing still is just imbued with life force. It's vibrant! (Yay, the sub-text in those two sentences!)
I think one of the reasons why I didn't like Well of Ascension as much as Final Empire or Hero of Ages is because it did not really focus on the classical era of Scadriel (that is, Alendi/Kwaan/Rashek's time period). After that remarkable twist in FE, I wanted to know what the Lord Ruler's final words meant in the greatest detail. These questions about the mythology and the magic captivated me more than the notion of "what happens after the Dark Lord is defeated?" was. So, for what I wanted in the book, it definitely lagged until the koloss attacked. After that point, the book was extremely dynamic, but before that (with the exception of the scene where Vin and Zane attack the keep), it lagged a lot.
It all comes down to what you wanted with the book. Me, I wanted more of the mythology, so the ending of Well of Ascension was extremely satisfying in that regard. However, the first couple of sections in the book weren't the same sort of dynamic coolness that FE was. One of the reasons why I didn't like Zane was that he wasn't nearly as destructive as Kelsier could be. Zane seemed more like some homicidal emo than an actually cool character. Zane was remarkably well reigned-in compared with Kelsier. Zane was so conflicted, he was just "mysterious" and inactive. The character did not mesh with me at all. Knowing that he was controlled by Ruin does not make me pity him any more.
I wanted answers with mythology, you see, and Hero of Ages far surpasses Well of Ascension in that regard.
While I can see where you're coming from, I'm going to have to disagree on one point. You said that WoA didn't really touch on the classical era of Scadriel (Alendi/Kwaan/Rashek), but I think it was doubly important for a few reasons.
1) Kwaan's metal script which made up the chapter bumps were incredibly insightful into the mind of the Terrisman at that time, as well as further explore Alendi's character. We already had Alendi's first person view from the journal in FE, but now we had an outside objective source from the man who knew him better than anyone. I always read these parts and really wanted to know more about Alendi's journey.
2) It sets up Ruin's influence and starts to show us his ability to manipulate that which is not cast in steel.
3) In a way, it influenced Sazed himself into following the same path as Kwaan did with believing someone was the HoA. Obviously, like Kwaan, he realizes something is amiss, but unlike Kwaan, is too late to stop it. I found this to be an incredible character development for Sazed, for it was after this that he finally lost faith. (obviously I'm biased, since Sazed is my favorite character, and I felt like his character's journey was incredibly paced and written 
).
As for Zane, I've found it's either a love him or leave him type situation. It is incredibly split down the middle for like/dislike of the character. I always just found him interesting. /shrug
Yes there were some things that revealed themselves in WOA but i think what chaos is trying to say is that the focus was on the rebuilding and confliction of the now TLR-less world. He did mention that the very end gave him what he was looking for, however, it was a fairly long book--i can only imagine the exasperation he felt as he read through them...
For me though, i wasn't too interested in the specifics and the clarification of the prophecies and engine behind Scadriels deterioration. I was more interseted in how the characters would get through the impossible...again.
I remember, way back when i was reading FE, thinking "This is the craziest thing...their actually gonna do this...?" (something along those lines) and i remember reading the part where the crew met to discuss what exactly they were gonna do--it seemed so dire. However, when they finally managed to overthrow TLR, it didn't feel forced or...i don't know--like somebody was sitting in a chair saying "Okay, the stories gotta end now. The lord ruler dies, every thing is dandy, the end."
It was believable. And yet it still amazed me that they did it. I don't think its coming out clearly enough. Imagine how wierd it must feel to believe something that was supposedly impossible is done--now imagine how hard it it to believe it knowing its a fictional story....
See what i mean.
I'm not sure if i'm making any sense.
Really, each book surprised me in that sense, but book one had kelsier...'nough said.
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