A Cruel Wind is an omnibus edition of the first three Dread Empire books (A Shadow of All Night's Falling, October's Baby and All Darkness Met), which were published before The Black Company books. I think it's great that Night Shade Books decided to publish this omnibus edition, because these books are difficult to find nowadays.
These Dread Empire books were quite small and compact, so it didn't take long to read them. They were interesting, well written and fascinating fantasy books for adults. Although these books weren't as excellent as The Black Company books, they were quite original and enjoyable books. I think it's great that Glen Cook doesn't recycle basic fantasy elements in his books. He has his own voice and he knows how to write top quality fantasy (I think I could say that these books were more interesting than many other fantasy books).
I can recommend A Cruel Wind to all Glen Cook fans and other fantasy readers. If you've never read any books by Glen Cook, this omnibus edition is a good starting point.