# Lucky Jim Sanders — Short Fiction character guide

> Lucky Jim Sanders in Short Fiction by Frank Belknap Long.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Jim, Jimmy Cricket, Jimmy, Wildly Jimmy

**First appearance:** 0000-the-hounds-of-tindalos

## Snapshot

Lucky Jim Sanders is a broke, magnetic gambler who turns his ruined reputation into a con, betting five thousand he doesn't have on the right to pick his own ship.

## Who they are

Jim has just been trimmed badly, but his face still wears the golden halo of a winner, and he knows it. With Pete's help he stages a drunken brawl in the shipyard, letting the yardmaster see a man too lucky to be trusted and too proud to be cheated. His charm and recklessness drive the early con, but the story keeps asking whether luck is a gift or a debt coming due.

## In the story

### [I: Graveyard of Old Ships](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters/i-graveyard-of-old-ships)

Narrator and protagonist; down on his luck but still confident and reckless; uses his reputation to bluff the yardmaster.

### [Planet Shift](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters/ii-planet-shift)

Jim is the narrator, struggling to maintain his sanity as he observes Saturn instead of Jupiter and encounters a mysterious woman.

### [III: The Mirage Pup](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters/iii-the-mirage-pup)

Narrator of the chapter; experiences a traumatic encounter on the hull and struggles with grief over a mirage of a woman.

### [The Mississippi Saucer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters/the-mississippi-saucer)

The young shantyboat boy who witnesses the flying saucer and is saved from cottonmouths by the disk.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/characters/lucky_jim_sanders
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/characters