The Fire Thief

by Terry Deary

Book Overview

Now available in paperback, The Fire Thief hilariously reimagines the myth of Prometheus, the Greek demigod who stole fire from the gods and gave it to the human race. To escape the gods' revenge, Prometheus travels through time to Eden City in 1858. There, he befriends a young orphan, actor, and petty criminal named Jim. When Jim runs into trouble with the law, Prometheus is torn -- if he uses his powers to get his friend out of trouble, he will...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0753461188
• ISBN13: 9780753461181
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Kingfisher
• Length: 253 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 7.0"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

ReadingInBrooklyn

The Fire Thief is one of the greatest books I've ever read. This is like a mouse trap. It easily traps you inside. All of my friends in fifth grade persuaded me into reading this. The footnotes are hilarious. I say, turn off the TV and read this magnificent book! You'll be glad I told you. Now if you excuse me, I'm off to buy the other two in the series!

Delightful

I have a grandson who loves reading about the Greek gods. I picked this up for him and found myself reading it first. It was so enjoyable. Deary made you laugh while learning about mythology. I am off to order the other two in the series.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

I think kids between the ages of 4th to 8th grade would love this book. It is short and easy to read and the footnotes are hilarious. It begins at the dawn of time with Prometheus, who is chained to a rock because he brought fire to humankind. Theus, for short, was a titan and Zeus, the king of the Gods, made sure that he never forgot what he did. Every morning while chained to the rock, a fury would come and tear out his liver. Of course by nightfall Theus would be alive again. Well, when we start the story, Hercules has arrived and helped Theus escape. Zeus discovers this and challenges Theus to find a hero among the humans. If he does he will be forgiven. Theus sets out and crosses time to 1858 and lands in the murky city known as Eden City. Eden City is very Dickens-like. It is full of zany characters, poor people, rich fiends, and thrilling situations. There Theus meets Jim, an orphan, who has fallen in with a diabolical thief, Uncle Edward. He gets involved with their caper and within twenty-four hours all of the characters lives have changed for the better. Terry Deary, while teaching about Greek mythology, has written a story that is exciting and funny -- which is a wonderful combination. This is the first of three books in THE FIRE THIEF series, and I need to go finish the second one. Go pick up a copy of THE FIRE THIEF. You won't be sorry. Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

Highly entertaining

This book begins with Prometheus (yes the Greek Titan) escaping his bonds of captivity. Then he flies two million years into the future (around 1858) trying to escape the fury of the gods. In this future he meets a boy and his uncle. Jim, the boy, is an orphan that Edward, the uncle, adopted. They are actors (and thieves) whom befriend Prometheus. Will Prometheus be able to escape the wrath of the gods? Will Jim and Edward be able to help him? Find out by reading Fire Thief. I found this book highly entertaining. It had many, many funny parts in it. The footnotes at the bottom of the pages made it even more hilarious*. I also enjoyed how the two stories (Ancient Greece and Eden City 1858) were combined together. It was a fairly easy-to-read book and isn't very big, so I think you should take a few hours and read Fire Thief. Anyone who needs a good laugh should read this book. *Things like this would be at the bottom of the pages, except that they would have something funny written on them. [...]

Footnotes gone wild...

I love this book and the cover! It was very colorful and it attracted my attention. It worked and it is on my bookshelf at home. I really appreciated the saracasm from the younger Jim and the way the fate of Promethus after the end of the book is a good cliff hanger. I could have purchased another book but that book didn't catch my eye such as this one.