The Mad King

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Summary: An early ERB pulp fiction yarn about a European "Mad King"
Review: For those of us who went through a phase of tracking down ACE paperback editions of everything Edgar Rice Burroughs ever wrote, it is interesting to see how many of his yarns were originally published in different issues of different pulp fiction magazines of the day. Such is the case with "The Mad King," a tale of confused identities involving European royalty in the tradition of "The Prisoner of Zenda." The first part was published in "All-Story Weekly" as "The Mad King" in March of 1914 with the follow up, "Barney Custer of Beatrice" appearing the following year in "Blue Book Magazine."

The story is set in the fictional land of Lutha where the corrupt regent Peter of Blentz has been keeping Leopold, the late king's mentally unbalanced son, locked up. But after a decade's imprisonment Leopold has escaped and the regent has his minister of War, Coblich, order Captain Maenck to recapture Leopold. Meanwhile, American tourist Barney Custer is visiting his mother's homeland. Seeing a description of the "mad king," he saves a young woman from a runaway horse and on a whim introduces himself as the "mad king."

At this point ERB pours on the contrivances. The young woman believes him, at which point explaining the truth does no good, because she is really the Princess Emma von der Tann, who father supported the old king and would like to see nothing better than Leopold assume the throne. The whole point of the first part of the story is to get the real Leopold on the throne, which does nothing to resolve the romantic tension between Barney and Emma, especially in light of all the political intrigue. The second part finds that the problems of Barney and Lutha are not settled by having Leopold on the throne and Burroughs plays on the various tensions in Europe that were leading the continent towards the First World War.

Your enjoyment of this early ERB potboiler depends almost entirely on your tolerance for confused identities and your knowledge of European politics in the years before WWI. Burroughs would use the idea of look alike characters often, most notably in a couple of Tarzan novels, which is one of the reasons this is an average ERB offering. Burroughs does have a plausible reason for why Barney and Leopold look so much alike, but that really just amounts to another trick from the same deck. You do get strong dosages of adventure and romance that you come to expect from a Burroughs pulp fiction yarn, but the total package is not especially special.

Rating:
Summary: Best of ERB!
Review: If you ever felt Burroughs over-does it a bit, you will love this book. Sorry it's out of print... Set in a tiny European Kingdom moments before WW1, the hero is a little less wild and fantastic than, say, John Carter of Mars. He is still none-the-less, a man of principle, integrity and action - a true ERB hero. I loved it. The basic story follows: A man travels on holiday to his mother's homeland - she always had spoken of how beautiful it was, but otherwise would tell nothing of her past. He quickly finds himself embroiled in political intrigue, fights for survival, not to mention sword-play (it's still ERB, right?) as he is mistaken for... the Mad King. But is the King really mad? Or was the story a fabrication of the evil uncle, who wants to rule? The people of the land think he's a hero... Oh, and of course, there is the heart of a beautiful woman involved. If you like adventure stories, if you like ERB at all, if you can possibly get this book - read it.

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Summary: Burroughs Does Prisoner of Zenda
Review: One of my favorites of ERB's stand-alone novels. The resemblance to The Prisoner of Zenda/Rupert of Hentzau is uncanny, even to the two part structure of the story; one could almost say they were twins. This version of the story, set to the backdrop of pre and early World War I, substitutes an American for an English imposter, but for all intents and purposes this is the same story told in Burrough's style.

American, Barney Custer, travelling in Europe visits, Lutha, the homeland of his mother, located near the border of Austria and Serbia. He is instantly caught up in the politics of the two factions within the nation. For those that have not read Prisoner of Zenda, the premise is that the main character bears an almost twin-like resemblance to the nation's king who is being menaced by a rival to the throne, the resulting confusion between the two men and love for the king's betrothed provide the meat of the story plot.

The original Prisoner of Zenda is by far the better adult read, as it incorporates more twists and deeper character development. However, for early teens, or just a fun read without the moral agonizing, this is the better choice. P-)

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Summary: GREAT FUN AND HUMOR
Review: Outstanding read for fun and humor nonf of which is lost in a book over 86 years old. The only book he wrote which is better is the first Tarzan book.