Pharaoh's Broker: Being the Very Remarkable Experiences in Another World of Isidor Werner

In Short

This work is a turn-of-the-century science fiction adventure that blends speculative physics with a satirical look at human commerce. When Isidor Werner, a high-stakes "plunger" in the Chicago wheat pit, follows Dr. Hermann Anderwelt to Mars in a gravity-defying projectile, they find a world caught in a cycle of agricultural struggle and political intrigue. The book has endured as a curious relic of Victorian-era scientific optimism, capturing the era’s fascination with "canals" on Mars and the belief that the cosmos might harbor parallel versions of human history.

The Story

The narrative begins with a missing person report: Isidor Werner, a young and successful Chicago commodities trader, has vanished. The truth, revealed in his own account, is far more extraordinary. Werner is recruited by Dr. Hermann Anderwelt, a physicist who has mastered the secret of "gravity propulsion." The doctor scoffs at the "money-mad" nature of Chicago, convincing Werner that the exploration of the heavens offers a higher form of excitement than the wheat pit. Leaving behind his uncle and his cousin Ruth, Werner boards a specialized projectile, and the two men launch themselves into the ether.

The journey to Mars is a long, surreal drift through space, marked by the technical challenges of maintaining life and the dizzying refraction of light as they pass the Moon and Earth. Upon arrival, they find a world that looks suspiciously like a terrestrial ancient civilization. The planet, which they call Ptah, is inhabited by the "Kemi," a people who live in a society governed by agriculture, stone-age technology, and an absolute ruler known as the Pharaoh.

The travelers soon realize that their arrival is anything but accidental. Through a series of misunderstandings and displays of superior technology—including a telescope and firearms—the two Earthlings become power players in Martian politics. They navigate the court of Zaphnath, a ruler whose status and challenges mirror the biblical story of Joseph in Egypt. Werner, drawing on his experience as a commodity broker, manages to manipulate the local grain supply to secure their position, effectively "cornering" the Martian market just as he did in Chicago.

However, the adventure is not without tragedy. As they navigate the complex, often cruel, customs of the Kemi, Werner finds himself disillusioned by the parallels between the greed of Earth and the rigid hierarchies of Mars. The doctor eventually formulates his "Theory of Parallel Planetary Life," suggesting that all worlds follow similar evolutionary and societal paths. By the time Werner returns to Earth, he is a changed man, weary of the "dizzy whirl" of modern commerce. He settles into a brief, intense life of domestic happiness, only for it to be cut short by bereavement. The book concludes with the restless Werner preparing to join the doctor on a new, even more ambitious expedition—this time to Venus—to observe a civilization supposedly 31,000 years further advanced than our own.

How It Unfolds

The call to adventure Dr. Anderwelt reveals his gravity-based invention to Werner, mocking his obsession with the wheat market and urging him to seek greater glory among the stars. Werner, initially reluctant to leave his business and his cousin Ruth, eventually succumbs to the "fever in his blood" for a secret, high-stakes journey.

The celestial voyage The two men ascend into the ether, using the Earth’s own rotation to slingshot their way through space. They endure a monotonous, disorienting period of travel, marked by the difficulty of tracking time and the strange, haunting beauty of distant celestial bodies.

Arrival on Ptah The travelers land on Mars and immediately encounter a primitive but formidable society of archers and slingers. They use their superior weaponry and scientific instruments to secure their safety, establishing a tenuous foothold within the palace of the Pharaoh.

The market of Mars Werner applies his expertise in speculative trading to the Martian grain supply, manipulating a local famine to gain immense wealth. This segment highlights the central irony of the book: the broker brings the very vices he fled on Earth to a new world.

The departure After experiencing love and loss upon his return to Earth, Werner finds the local financial markets unbearable. He agrees to join the doctor for a follow-up expedition to Venus, driven by the desire to witness a more "perfect" stage of human evolution.

The People

Isidor Werner is the narrator, a man defined by his conflicting desires for financial conquest and profound meaning. While he is initially portrayed as a sharp, cynical trader, his experiences on Mars soften him; he finds in his cousin Ruth a soulmate, though his restless nature—and the influence of the doctor—prevents him from staying grounded.

Dr. Hermann Anderwelt acts as the visionary catalyst. Driven by a cold, scientific fervor, he views Earthly human concerns as small and tedious. He is the architect of their displacement, perpetually pushing Werner toward the next discovery, seemingly indifferent to the personal toll his experiments take on his companion.

Zaphnath, the Martian ruler, serves as a dark mirror to Werner. He is a master of political maneuvering and resource management, welcoming the strangers only so far as they can serve his own interests. He represents the inevitable rise of "civilization" and bureaucracy, proving that no matter how far one travels, the struggle for power and bread remains universal.

In Its Own Voice

"Has a reasoning Divinity created the heavens and peopled the myriad stars with thinking, capable beings, who must be perpetually isolated?"

The doctor poses this rhetorical question while justifying his belief that gravity is a medium for inter-planetary communication.

"The motion of the Earth upon its axis is such an immense advantage that if we were only going from Chicago to London, the trip could be more easily and quickly made by going to the westward some twenty-one thousand miles."

Werner recounts the doctor's explanation of celestial navigation as they begin their journey away from the Earth’s surface.

"There is no greater blessing for a woman than to belong to the household of the Pharaoh."

Werner records the chilling, detached sentiment of the Martian locals regarding the status of women in their society.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book is a critique of the "money-mad" commercialism of the Gilded Age. By transplanting a Chicago wheat speculator to a planet that mirrors ancient Egypt, the author argues that the structures of human greed, hierarchy, and political manipulation are not unique to Earth but are inherent to civilization itself. The story poses the question of whether progress is truly possible, or if humanity is doomed to repeat the same cycles of famine, trade, and rule across the galaxy. It suggests that while science may provide the tools to reach the stars, it does little to solve the internal, moral failures of the human heart.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy vintage science fiction—the kind that prioritizes grand, "what if" ideas over psychological realism—will find this a fascinating window into late 19th-century thought. It captures the specific, turn-of-the-century anxiety about the rapid expansion of global commerce and the potential for a technological future.

However, a modern reader must be prepared for the book's period-specific attitudes. The writing reflects the casual, Eurocentric social hierarchies of 1899, and the characters’ perspectives on gender and the "primitive" nature of other cultures are deeply rooted in the era’s biases. The prose is often breathless and earnest, moving from high-concept physics to heavy-handed political allegory without hesitation. It is not a subtle book, but it is an incredibly energetic one. What stays with you is the sheer audacity of the premise: that a man could be so bored with the stock market that he would simply catch a ride to Mars, and that he would find there not a utopia, but only more of the same. It is a strange, jarring, and ultimately compelling artifact of a time when the universe felt much smaller, yet infinitely more mysterious.