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''The Sand-Reckoner'' by Gillian Bradshaw is a HistoricalFiction novel focusing on Archimedes as a young man during the First Punic War. Returning to his hometown of Syracuse when it goes to war with Rome, Archimedes offers himself up to the city's tyrant as a military engineer.
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!!Tropes featured include:
* ActualPacifist: At the end of the book, Archimedes has become one, having seen firsthand and been disgusted by what his war engines do to people.
* TheChessmaster: Hieron, the tyrant of Syracuse.
* GeniusDitz: Archimedes, who's apt to be attacked by geometry at a moment's notice.
* HeroicBastard: Hieron.
* HonorBeforeReason: Marcus, Archimedes' slave. [[spoiler: It kills Marcus in the end.]]
* IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat: Archimedes is surprised to realize that he's so much better at engineering than any of the king's actual engineers. Most of his inventions, he thinks, are obvious.
* RagsToRoyalty: Hieron's backstory involves this. He was born poor, made a name for himself in the wars, and eventually ended up ruling the city.
* SerialEscalation: Archimedes' catapults. The one he builds as an audition for the engineer's post throws stones that weigh one talent (60 pounds), which is already larger than any catapult the city had before that. By the end of the book, he's built four- and five-talent catapults.
* SparingTheAces: Hieron of Syracuse to the brilliant Archimedes.
* TheWisePrince: Hieron.
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----
!!Tropes featured include:
* ActualPacifist: At the end of the book, Archimedes has become one, having seen firsthand and been disgusted by what his war engines do to people.
* TheChessmaster: Hieron, the tyrant of Syracuse.
* GeniusDitz: Archimedes, who's apt to be attacked by geometry at a moment's notice.
* HeroicBastard: Hieron.
* HonorBeforeReason: Marcus, Archimedes' slave. [[spoiler: It kills Marcus in the end.]]
* IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat: Archimedes is surprised to realize that he's so much better at engineering than any of the king's actual engineers. Most of his inventions, he thinks, are obvious.
* RagsToRoyalty: Hieron's backstory involves this. He was born poor, made a name for himself in the wars, and eventually ended up ruling the city.
* SerialEscalation: Archimedes' catapults. The one he builds as an audition for the engineer's post throws stones that weigh one talent (60 pounds), which is already larger than any catapult the city had before that. By the end of the book, he's built four- and five-talent catapults.
* SparingTheAces: Hieron of Syracuse to the brilliant Archimedes.
* TheWisePrince: Hieron.
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