''Flight of the Fire Thief'' is a novel written by British writer

Terry Deary William Terence Deary (born 3 January 1946) is a British children's author of 351 books, selling over 38 million copies in over 45 languages, best known as the writer of the ''Horrible Histories'' series. Since 1994 he has been one of Britain's b ...

, and is the second installment of The Fire Thief Trilogy. The book continues the story of

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...

, the Titan who stole fire from the gods. Other books in the series: '' The Fire Thief'' (2005) and ''The Fire Thief Fight Back'' (2007)

Plot

It follows on directly from '' The Fire Thief''. Prometheus goes back to 1795 to try to find a hero who is worshipped in a temple in the first book, only to find out he did not travel back far enough. He returns to Eden City to find it under siege against Wild People, just like

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

. He helps a Dr. Dee and his daughter, Nell, to end the siege and help the Wild People get their princess back. However, the Avenger is still looking for him, and has a team of

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, also from Troy, and a monster from the underworld, a 50-headed, 100 armed

Hecatonchires In Greek mythology, the Hecatoncheires (), also called Hundred-Handers or Centimanes (; ), were three monstrous giants, of enormous size and strength, each with fifty heads and one hundred arms. They were individually named Cottus (the furious), ...

. To get past the walls,

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

attempted to repeat the

Trojan Horse In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse () was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer, Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending ...

method, but that failed. Nell eventually sneaked in and launched the spring cannon. The Avenger's team eventually turns on him, allowing Prometheus to escape once again.

Characters

Prometheus: Also called Theus, stole fire from the gods and was chained to a rock and had his liver eaten every day for 200 years.

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

saved him, only to be given the task of finding a human hero. Flight of the Fire Thief is a novel written by Terry Deary, and is the second installment of The Fire Thief Trilogy. The book continues the story of Prometheus, the Titan who stole fire from the gods. Helen: Also called Nell. She helps her father scam with stunts and a flying balloon. They land in Eden City after a failed stunt. After a failed attempt to rob the city, she decides to help the Wild People get their princess out of the city. She returns to Eden City in the year 1857 to wait for Theus. Dr. Dee: A showman and conman. He and his daughter sell cheap food and show stunts to con people out of their money. He comes up with a plan to rob the people of the city, but lands in the plains of the Wild People instead. Running Bear: Young chief of the Wild People. After refusing to give up his people's land, his sister is kidnapped. He then sets up a siege to get her back. Mayor Makepiece: Mayor of Eden City. He tried to drive the Wild People off their land to sell it for a ridiculous amount of money. Sheriff Spade: Sheriff of Eden City and Mayor Makepiece's partner.

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

: Prometheus's cousin. He punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock to have his liver eaten every day. He then gave him a task to find a human hero so to call of The Avenger. Hera: Zeus's wife. She gets bored watching the siege of Troy, and orders Zeus to end it quickly. She then tries to end the siege of Eden City, but her plans are quickly thwarted. Achilles: A Greek hero of the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

. He was killed by Paris and they both are taken to the underworld by the Avenger, only to strike a deal with him to help him find Theus. Paris: Trojan Prince. He is killed by a poison arrow soon after he killed Achilles. He helps the Avenger to hunt down Theus. Hecatonchires: Called Hec for short. Helps The Avenger find Theus, but then helps Theus and his friends get into Eden City and get the princess out. He eventually finds a planet with more creatures that look exactly like him.

References

{{Authority control 2006 British novels Fiction set in 1795 Prometheus