The first three books are really only an intro story to the series, and things get quite a bit more interesting later on. IMO, Cook's true talent with writing comes out in the later books as well, where he displays several different voices in the novels, each to particular and great effect. I highly recommend finishing the series (though you don't have to read The Silver Spike where it is in the omnibus; it's really sort of an outlier novel. You'll probably want to plow right ahead to Bleak Seasons after you finish Dreams of Steel).