The yes men of Venus

In Short

This book serves as a spirited homage to the "scientifiction" serials of the early twentieth century. It follows a series of square-jawed, hyper-masculine protagonists who stumble through interdimensional transmigration, heroic brawls, and romantic reunions across the solar system. By framing its narrative as a recovered, unfinished manuscript from a fictional pulp legend, the work captures the earnest, breathless energy of old-fashioned adventure stories. It endures as a playful meta-fictional exercise, poking gentle fun at the conventions of its genre while simultaneously leaning into them with full-throated, unironic enthusiasm.

The Story

The narrative begins with a man of science and leisure, whose life of peace is upended when his Zeppelin deflates over the Pacific. After a bizarre encounter with a giant clam, he awakens to meet Lowell Hawthorne, a man who claims to have lived many lives—including a past one as an Egyptian priest—and who currently maintains a radio link to the interior of Venus. Hawthorne begins to recount his own journey, which started when he was accosted by delinquents in Central Park and subsequently teleported to the surface of Mars.

On Mars, Hawthorne arrives during a time of economic despair caused by a government that prioritized social security over the production of military death rays. Despite the hostility of the environment, he befriends three green giants and eventually discovers a beautiful woman, Dina Taurus, being accosted by a local talent agent. Hawthorne dispatches the man with his sword, only to recognize Dina as the reincarnation of Isis, his long-lost love from ancient Egypt. His romantic triumph is short-lived, however, as he is promptly arrested for the murder of the talent agent and thrown into a dungeon beneath the capital city of Maroom.

In the depths of the arena, Hawthorne shares a cell with Joel Lars, a man raised by apes on the interior of Venus. Lars reveals his own tragic history: his missionary parents were murdered by mutinous crewmen, leaving him to survive the Venusian jungles until he reached manhood. Just as Lars begins to detail his quest to save his beloved Virl Yank from a group of villains known as the "Yes Men of Venus," their conversation is interrupted by guards. The two men are forced into the arena to fight in the Great Games as last-minute replacements for a sick gladiator. The story concludes abruptly, with the narrator noting that the subsequent events are far too extensive to fit into this volume, promising a continuation that mirrors the serialized, never-ending nature of the pulp stories he is emulating.

How It Unfolds

The Pacific mishap A man’s honeymoon journey in a Zeppelin ends in a sudden, watery disaster after he is attacked by a giant clam. This bizarre incident serves as the catalyst for his rescue and his introduction to the enigmatic Lowell Hawthorne.

The Martian transmigration Hawthorne explains how a struggle in Central Park led to his sudden appearance on the red, desert plains of Mars. He finds himself navigating a society defined by political turmoil, economic depression, and the strange, oversized physiology of green Martians.

The rescue and arrest In the decadence of the Martian capital, Hawthorne defends a woman he believes to be his reincarnated Egyptian lover. The act of heroism leads to his immediate incarceration at the hands of the local authorities.

The cell-block revelations While awaiting his fate in the dungeon, Hawthorne learns of the plight of Joel Lars. This second narrator weaves a tale of jungle survival on Venus and introduces the mysterious, titular antagonists who threaten his own lost love.

The arena climax The two men are pulled from their cell to face combat in the Great Games. The narrative ceases at the threshold of this final confrontation, leaving the protagonists’ fates suspended in a classic cliffhanger.

The People

The narrator is a confident, self-described "man of science" who prides himself on his physical prowess and his ability to handle any crisis with a stiff upper lip. He serves as the primary audience for the tales told by others, mirroring the reader's own discovery of these strange worlds.

Lowell Hawthorne is a man of many lives and immense ego. Having lived as an Egyptian priest and a veteran of Indian wars, he is now a wanderer who bounces through dimensions. His primary motivation is the search for his lost love, Isis, whom he insists on finding regardless of the form she takes in her current reincarnation.

Dina Taurus is the Martian incarnation of Isis. She is a brave, independent shopgirl who, despite having no memory of her past lives, finds herself drawn to Hawthorne’s earnest, if confusing, declarations of love.

Joel Lars is a man caught between human civilization and his upbringing among the "Boogdabs," or great apes, of Venus. His struggle to integrate back into human society is complicated by the kidnapping of Virl Yank, a woman he is determined to rescue from the clutches of the Yes Men.

In Its Own Voice

"When I had called for my beloved Joanna on the prior morning her father, the noted munitions tycoon, John Plunderbund Brimstone, had left, not his best wishes for a safe honeymoon but, rather, orders for myself and my Zeppelin to be thrown unceremoniously from the grounds."

The narrator recounts the personal conflict that sets his ill-fated voyage in motion.

"The green men were named Yarl Zun, Zin Yerg and Yex Zurb."

Hawthorne introduces the colorful Martian companions he encounters after his arrival on the Red Planet.

What It's Really About

At its heart, the book is a love letter to the power of pure, unadulterated escapism. It explores the concept of the "eternal return," where characters are doomed—or destined—to repeat their struggles and romances across different planets and eras. The book lightly lampoons the political and social anxieties of the twentieth century by transplanting them into alien settings: Mars suffers from a "great depression" due to excessive social spending, and Venus is home to the mysterious, conspiratorial "Yes Men." Ultimately, the narrative argues that regardless of the setting, the human spirit is best defined by an obsession with "manly virtues," the pursuit of romance, and the stubborn refusal to accept defeat, even when faced with giant clams or arena-bound death matches.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the whimsical, high-octane aesthetic of mid-century science fiction will find this a delightful, quick-moving experience. It reads exactly like a forgotten piece of pulp history, complete with stilted, overly formal dialogue and a relentless pace that never stops to explain the impossibility of its own premise. There is a distinct, warm nostalgia here; the book feels like a Saturday morning serial for adults, where every problem is solved with a jab or a sword, and where the lack of logical consistency is treated as a feature rather than a bug.

It is important to approach the text with an understanding of its period attitudes. The characters are defined by a rigid, often comical performance of mid-century masculinity, and the world-building is intentionally simplistic, reflecting the breathless, rapid-fire style of writers who were paid by the word. Readers might find the abrupt ending frustrating, but it is entirely consistent with the book’s premise as a recovered, unfinished artifact. If you are looking for a story that demands little from your intellect but provides a great deal of humor and high-spirited, planetary adventure, this book is a rare, eccentric gem that refuses to take itself—or the laws of physics—too seriously.