''The Fire Thief'' was written by

Terry Deary William Terence Deary (born 3 January 1946) is a British children's author of over 200 books, selling over 25 million copies in over 40 languages, best known as the writer of the ''Horrible Histories'' series. Since 1994 he has been one of Britai ...

and is the first book in The Fire Thief Trilogy. The book is about

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

, the Greek Titan who, in Greek mythology, is said to have stolen fire from the gods and given it to humans. The story tells of

when he is chained to a rock and about to have his liver ripped out by the Fury, but instead he is freed by the hero Hercules. He grabs the Fury, breaks its neck and runs away after he has been freed from the mountain he was chained to, by his cousin

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

, the Greek god of lightning and ruler of the sky. Zeus sends him on a quest to find a true human hero. He gives Prometheus a ring because he promised that Prometheus will always be chained to that rock. This means that Zeus can always find him as well. Prometheus travels into the future with a pair of magical wings. He lands in Eden City and is helped by Uncle Edward and young Jim, a pair of robbers. The Fury is bent on revenge and Theus must complete this task while avoiding the Fury, who is supposed to eat his liver every day for eternity. There, Jim and Uncle Edward stay at Storm Inn where they meet January Storm. They came to Eden City to steal riches from the Mucklethrift Manor. They usually put a play on and while they are doing it, Jim goes and steals the riches. When Prometheus came, he was strong so he could help the robbers carry the coffin which they put the stolen goods in. They are successful but Mayor Walter Tweed catches them and demands to get 1/3 of the stolen riches. The Mayor makes a fake deal with Uncle Edward pretending that the police would not catch the robbers, Uncle Edward, and Jim. The other two books in the series are '' Flight of the Fire Thief'' (2006) and ''The Fire Thief Fights Back'' (2007).

Poems and rhymes in The Fire Thief

A famous rhyme in the Fire Thief book is chanted by an imaginary mythological character in the book: ''"The boy stood on the burning deck, picking his nose like crazy. He rolled them into little balls, and flicked them 'till he felt hazy!"'' The rhyme is used by the creatures as a joke to taunt Jim. 2005 British novels British fantasy novels Classical mythology in popular culture Prometheus Greek and Roman deities in fiction Macmillan Publishers books {{2000s-fantasy-novel-stub