The Yes Men of Venus is a wild, tongue-in-cheek science-fiction adventure from Ron Goulart, written in the tradition of classic pulp planetary romances. The narrator begins his story not in space, but falling out of an atomic zeppelin over the Pacific, heartbroken after being rejected by the father of the woman he hoped to marry. What follows is a chain of increasingly impossible events that Goulart delivers with a straight face and a wink.
Dragged underwater by a giant clam, rescued by a mysterious American living among island “natives,” and then treated to a tale of reincarnation, teleportation, and gladiatorial combat, the narrator is swept into a sprawling comic odyssey across multiple planets. Mars is in political and economic crisis. Venus has a hidden civilization inside it. A lost love may be a reincarnated Egyptian priestess. And somewhere deep beneath the surface of Venus, a woman is being held prisoner by a strange society known only as the Yes Men — a group whose eerie obedience hints at something more than simple loyalty.
Goulart plays all of it for fun, pacing the story like a roller-coaster: a cast of oversized aliens, heroic declarations, casual swordfighting, and moments of dead-serious romance delivered in the most earnest pulp language imaginable. It’s both a parody and a tribute — a reminder of how wildly imaginative mid-century sci-fi could be before realism and hard science took over. If you enjoy planetary adventure in the spirit of Burroughs, but with self-aware humor and sly social commentary, this one fits the bill.
Ron Goulart (1933–2022) was one of the most prolific and playful writers of American science fiction. Known for fast pacing, witty dialogue, and a satirical edge, Goulart wrote hundreds of short stories and more than 50 novels across science fiction, fantasy, and mystery.
