An interesting 4th installment to the series. It seems the adventures might have ended with the events of the 3rd book. But maybe not. In this book we really do not get a clear idea of when the stories take place. We can only assume it is sometime after or maybe in the middle of Mad Moon of Dreams. More than likely Lumley was left with bits and pieces from the first three that either did not make the cut or were just scraps he threw together. The stories are interesting enough anyway. Seemingly a play on some Greek literature. The first story reminded me of the Foot washer. Well written and literate they bring the adventures of the duo to a close. I am glad that Lumley gave more attention to Titus Crow. ( )

This fourth volume of David Hero and Eldin the Wanderer is made up of five disparate stories, rather than a single novel.

The title story "Iced on Aran" is the first in the book. It's not very long or very exciting, and has little connection with the later stories of the sequence. It is not a "quest" tale per se; it simply recounts a narrow scrape resulting from bored one-upsmanship between the heroes.

The second tale "Augeren" is perhaps my favorite of all of the Lumley Dreamlands tales. It really gets dreamlike, after the manner of Alice in Wonderland or even Cabell's The Nightmare Has Triplets, with ample wordplay and preposterous plotting. I especially liked the exposition of soul-shuddering horror inspired by circumstances that--to waking reason--are really just absurd.

The penultimate story "A-Mazed in Oriab" is a long novelette, and it is flanked by two very short stories that are closely tied to it, to the point where they almost serve as prologue and epilogue. These all center on doings around the island of Oriab, with key plot purposes served by the "seer with invisible eyes" (a.k.a. s.w.i.e.). As a set, these three stories are comparable to the earlier Lumley Dreamlands books, although not quite as long. The dream-sensibility of "Augeren" persists in them, although not as conspicuously.