Reader discussion: The Mad King

Public reader discussion about The Mad King in the WeRead Catalog by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

***Spoiler Alert - King Sorrow I binged the audiobook and want to talk about it! Where are my King fans :)

By AquaHeron2005

Okay, first of all—if you’re one of those Constant Readers, you really should pick this up. Like, it’s basically required. :) I honestly don’t know how to start because this book just grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go. I hit play and listened straight through, except for the parts where I obviously fell asleep for a minute. 😂 It’s written so beautifully, and the audiobook setup is the absolute best I’ve ever listened to. And if you already read it and loved it, you’ve got to hear it too. That very first scene with the old movie reel—oh my gosh. The echo and how everything is slowed down… it scared the crap out of me. I was in bed in the dark listening, and I literally had to get up and turn on every light in the room. I haven’t felt that kind of intensity in forever, and I’m not even young anymore. Also I never once wanted to skim, which is saying something. 😂 I’ve been reading Stephen King since I was twelve, and his stuff from that time always feels magical to me. He always talks about twelve being this nostalgic sweet spot, and yeah… this book brought that exact feeling back. It made me feel like I was twelve again, reading *It* for the first time, completely sucked into the world and not wanting to leave. And I don’t mean this as a knock on Joe Hill at all, but it totally felt like reading a Stephen King novel. Honestly, that’s the best compliment I can give. It even felt like this sincere nod/thank-you to his dad. The little references to King’s universe had me smiling nonstop—especially the Dark Tower thing, where it’s the mad King trying to get into the Tower. That was so cool. Hill also does the haunting foreshadowing thing really well. There were lines that absolutely destroyed me, and I couldn’t stop thinking about them after. Also, the spiders?? Yeah, Joe really did inherit some phobias from his dad. The cave part with the troll already had me super tense, but then the spiders start multiplying and biting and I swear I couldn’t breathe. It reminded me of that horrible, amazing dread from *It* and the stuff in *The Shining* too. Like… that specific kind of terror. Pure brilliance. And that death—Arthur—was straight up shocking in the “Bachman” way. I did not see it coming. The twists felt just right and not predictable. I also loved the King Arthur/Guinevere wink, because it was clever. Overall, to me it reads like this heartfelt tribute to everything King has given us, whether that was intentional or not. I feel like only another Constant Reader would really catch what I mean. And some of the reviews from people who didn’t love it as much? Yeah, they didn’t seem like they were Constant Readers. The writing and storytelling were balanced really well, and the character building was on point—something I’ve felt missing in a lot of recent books I’ve read. Joe and his dad are both masters at that. I swear I treat new King-ish books like a “healthy addiction.” When a new one comes out, I’m like an addict needing a fix. This one definitely locked that feeling in again. Chasing that first high where you get that wonder like you did at twelve? That’s real. I was back in that headspace, reading *Talisman*, *It*, and *The Stand* back to back at 12, feeling like anything could happen and life was full of strange magic. This book brought that back. Does anyone else feel that? Anyway—this Gen X Constant Reader is really grateful. I wish I could read it for the first time again. Thank you, Joe Hill, for making me feel like a kid again. :)

Is there a book with a protagonist like the Mad King from ASOIAF?

By notebookLunar61

The thing I like most about Aerys II Targaryen is that it doesn’t feel like he was just born crazy or that one single event pushed him over the edge. It seems more like a bunch of problems just piled up for years, got worse and worse, and then finally snapped in this really dramatic way. That kind of slow, creepy shift is kinda fascinating, and I’d be into seeing a similar setup. A redemption arc would be great, like he actually figures out how to get out of the insanity, but honestly I’d still be okay with a tragic ending too. I also think this is the kind of story that really shows how stressful and miserable being king could be. Like, I can totally see how it could feel lonely even when you’re surrounded by people—no real friends, just folks who stick around out of duty or fear, and then the flatterers who only care about his power and trying to get something from him.

Game of Thrones - The story behind the Mad King's fall, Robert's kingship, the Targaryen exile, the dragons, etc.

By JDusty1982

I’m partway through season 1 of *Game of Thrones*—just hit episode 9—and I’m curious about some stuff in the title. Like, is there more info about the Targaryens and how they relate to dragons? Do the books actually go into how the Mad King slid into madness, how Robert ended up on the throne, the Targaryens getting exiled, the dragons, that whole timeline? And also, how close is season 1 to what’s in the book?

The Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs, cover Frank Frazetta

By quill_monesia31

Frank did something like this once, even before it was actually spelled out in his contract that he’d get his original art back. He just really liked the painting, though, so he reached out to Ace and basically asked to borrow it again after they were done with it so he could get a good photo for his portfolio. They returned it, and in the span of a night Frank turned around a fairly quick copy, handed Ace that one, and kept the original. Also, later when Ace reprinted the book, they put the cover using a noticeably worse copy of the painting… and somehow they never seemed to notice it wasn’t the real original. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0894/8394/files/frank-frazetta_the-mad-king_ny-ace-nd.jpg?v=1683928841

[US] Supersonic quiz - Edgar Rice Burroughs

By field_simple

So I’m not totally sure about all of these, but here’s what I’d pick. For the five Burroughs books: **Tarzan of the Apes**, **Pellucidar**, **The Land That Time Forgot**, **John Carter of Mars**, and **The Mad King**. For the five true facts: I think **he lived to 74**, **was born in Chicago**, **worked as a war correspondent**, **inspired Avatar**, and that **there’s a Mars crater named after him**. And for Tarzan actors: **Ron Ely**, **Buster Crabbe**, **Johnny Weiss-muller**, **Christopher Lambert**, and **Alexander Skarsgård**.