Customer Reviews

The Sand-reckoner

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Gillian Bradshaw moved onto my auto-buy list with her previous novels, _The Beacon at Alexandria_ and _Island of Ghosts_. _The Sand Reckoner_ proves that she's only getting better and better with each new work.

_The Sand Reckoner_ is filled with sympathetic characters, high stakes, fabulous historical detail, witty dialogue, and lovely, lovely writing. I saved this book as a reward for completing some unpleasant chores, and then read it all in one sitting, happily absorbed in the world of ancient Syracuse.

This novel is really the story of two men: one a boy genius slowly coming to terms with his gifts; the other, his slave, a proud man torn between his affection for his master and his hatred of his slavery. Along the way, we get glimpses into the restricted lives of Greek women, early Roman warfare, the Museum at Alexandria, and some breathtaking works of engineering genius by an ancient master.

Ms Bradshaw has the rare gift of truly making the past come alive. Her settings are always unusual and her characters are a delight. I look forward to reading her next book. Whatever she chooses to write about next, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

Within the first few paragraphs of The Sand Reckoner, I was whisked into the delightful character of Archimedes, ancient Greek of mathematical genius. I had let the book sit unread for several months because the cover looked so sedate, and the subject matter Ñ a mathematician Ñ seemed rather unexciting, but this book was a breath of fresh air after reading so many other "heavy" historical fictions full of serious battles, treachery, and gore.

What was it about this book that made me eager to gobble it up? For at least the first half of the book, we are immersed in the charming character of Archimedes, a young man who is completely ignorant of his genius. His modesty and occasional social blunders were endearing and he made me smile. His budding romance with King Hieron's daughter, Delia, although not historically recorded, is certainly plausible, and I was wishing it really could have been so.

Besides the fascinating story of Archimedes' development of murderous machines to defend his city of Syracuse, and which he came to depise for their deadliness, we also are treated to the story of his slave, Marcus. Hiding his Roman citizenship, Marcus is confronted with choosing between loyalty to Syracuse or to the Romans who besiege the city. Marcus' character is completely different from that of Archimedes, and nearly as intriguing. As his crisis becomes more intense, we follow him with the same emotional involvement as we follow Archimedes.

The plot interweaves the stories of these two main characters along with the stories and personalities of other characters such as Philyra, Archimedes' sister, who is loved by the slave Marcus, a love which you hope will succeed somehow. King Hieron is a lovable king, who author Bradshaw has imbued with great wisdom in his quest for peace and justice.

The characters that Bradshaw has developed kept making me think that she herself must be a wonderful person...that her own personality must somehow be shining through these characters. There is some danger, suspense, and adventure in this book, but it captured me with its charm, wit, and a general feel-good atmosphere.

At first glance a novel about the greatest mathematician of antiquity wouldn't be a big draw to me - maths certainly isn't my strong suit. But I liked the other books by Gillian Bradshaw that I had read so thought it worth giving this one a go.

How glad I am that I did! The Sand Reckoner is a hugely enjoyable, lighthearted tale about Archimedes and the way in which his engineering projects helped protect his home city of Syracuse. The author has woven a love story between Archimedes and the sister of King Hieron of Syracuse and there is also a side-love story between Archimedes' slave and his sister.

Mathematics does make quite a contribution to this story and works really well. Archimedes is portrayed as a genius sometimes completely lost in his own world with his slave Marcus keeping him safe. The characters all have their own voices and are believable - especially the difficulties that they have over mistakes that they make. King Hieron is almost too good to be true, but a historical note from the author suggests that he really was like that. Let's hope so!

It was also interesting about the differences between the Romans and the Greeks in antiquity and how they saw each other. Although the classics are often studied in schools and colleges this book really brought it to life for me. I highly recommend this book to those who like to transport themselves to other times in history through reading.

Who could imagine, geometry and mathematics are so exciting? When you read Gillian Bradshaw story about young Archimedes you want to follow the steps of the inventor of the modern calculus (not to mention plenty of other things), and attempt to resolve all those amazing theorems you read in school about. Suddenly one, who probably hated all the tough school problems, and couldn't look at his math teachers, becomes a lover of math and engineering.
We follow a fantastic journey of young Archimedes in ancient Syracuse after he comes back from fable Alexandria, and finds his beloved city under the siege (Romans), and his father on a deathbed. Archimedes doesn't have much choice. He becomes an amazing engineer and over night hero loved by all people of Syracuse. The story of love, undying friendship, siege and battles, politics and science are told in a quite simple but exciting language. Bradshaw has a fantastic way to foretell the story, and reader doesn't need to struggle with understanding historic times or geometric issues. Everything is said plainly but richly. I just wish the book continued into old age of Archimedes and his involvement in the Second Punic War, where Syracuse was finally defeated and sacked by Romans. But maybe Bradshaw was right just to write about positive memories and didn't want to endure readers with Archimedes' death

Anyone who has read Gillian Bradshaw knows that she is a master of characterization. Here in "The Sand-Reckoner", she brings the complicated mind of the Archi-Mechanic, Archimedes, to life in a simple well-written literary manner that can be compared to Ron Howard's equally marvelous glimpse inside the mind of Nobel Prize Winning Game Theorist John Nash in the film, "A Beautiful Mind". Bradshaw allows the reader to understand Archimedes' distractions, his love of mathematics, his enjoyment of and utter concentration employed in solving a puzzle and his disgust at the practical and barbaric uses of his mind exercises. Better yet, her auxillary cast of characters illustrates through their exasperation and confusion the impact such a different mind has on those it touches. Bradshaw crafts a simple story revolving around Archimede's desire to return to the learned city of Alexandria and his feelings of nationalism towards his home city of Syracuse, now besieged by the Romans during the first Punic War. The interplay of characters and their motives is superb. Marcus, his Roman slave, torn between his love of his adopted 'family' and his ties to his country, contends with Archimedes' lack of practicality-- a lack his mother and sister have grown to understand but find frustrating. King Hierion, tyrant of Syracuse, wishes only to harness Archimedes' great skill in building seige machines and uses Archimedes' patriotism to chain him to the city. Delia, the king's sister and master musician is intrigued by the young genius and finds through him a way to live the life of which she has been dreaming. Great emotions tug at the reader's heart as the story unfolds; each of the characters embodies only the best of ideals. The reader comes away with a sense of touching the great mind of Archimedes himself but also basks in the light of the selflessness of the Marcus character, whose bravery I found myself thinking about days after finishing the novel.

Recommended to all those who love an uncomplicated historical novel with a straightfoward story and unforgettable characters.

Gillian Bradshaw is one of the top writers of historical fiction today. "The Sand Reckoner" proves it by combining a look at history, mathematics, and politics set against one of Rome's most stubborn campaigns: the siege of Syracuse.

To take a mundane (yet significant) historical figure like Archimedes and turn him into an interesting and human character is a major accomplishment.

A beautifully written story about Archimedes of Syracuse, one of the most famous engineers and mathematicians of ancient times. The story begins with the return of Archimedes and Marcus, his slave, from Alexandria back to his home in Syracuse. He finds his father close to death and now must assume his role as head of his small family. His brilliance attracts the attention of the king, Herion, who quickly realizes the value of a engineer for his defense of the city against the ever present Romans.

The story concentrates on the first attempted invasion by the Romans and how Archimedes and his tremendous catapults are used to keep the city safe. However, a major plot line also details the story of Marcus the slave and his feelings for his adopted city versus the land of his birth. This story is beautifully told and adds immeasureably to the story. One of the most fascinating characters is also the king, Herion who seems to enbody the best of all leadership skills. His relationship with both Archimedes and Marcus is interesting to read.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in this time period. The reader actually feels like they have been transported back in time to the streets of Syracuse.

Okay, I must confess to illiteracy in regards to the accomplishments of Archimedes. I read this book because I have loved everything Gillian Bradshaw has ever written. Like her other books, she delves into the history of the period, giving insight into the lives, customs and beliefs of the ancient Greeks. In the meantime, she provides enough character development and interaction that she hooks me into reading about someone in whom I have never been remotely interested. Yet, by the end of the novel, not only had I learned something about this period of time, and Bradshaw-Ball is a stickler for using good historical sources, but I've also thoroughly enjoyed myself. Pick up any of Bradshaw's books--they will not disappoint.

Over the centuries, Archimedes has received due credit for his brilliant mathematical findings and his technological achievements, but sadly, only pieces of the life of one of the world's most brilliant minds remain to us. Gillian Bradshaw, however -- with her usual storyteller's flair and uncanny ability to conjure up the ancient world with words -- weaves these scraps of information together into a compelling tale of genius, love, and duty. She reconstructs ancient Syracuse and its atmosphere beautifully...and the young Archimedes himself comes to life as a slightly rumpled, loving, amazing hero of substance. As in her other novels, I especially enjoyed Bradshaw's use of her own (lovely) translations of Greek poems, as well as her seamless integration of ancient Greek viewpoints, mentality, and culture into her story. Bradshaw doesn't sacrifice technological details and accuracy for the sake of the plot, either! The innovations and ideas of this genius, who might have discovered integral calculus almost 2000 years before Leibniz and Newton, are wonderfully detailed and creatively described. All in all, a great story and a lovely evocation of Archimedes, his work and times.

Archimedes - a mathmetician living in Syracuse on the island of Sicily mightn't sound like the sort of ancient historical figure or setting that could stir up a memorable story but Gillian's beautiful writing, research and imagination (as she is blending fact and fiction) changes all that.

The events within the story are set within the 1st Punic Wars when Rome was a fledgling power(3rd C BC) and Carthage was a threat. Caught in between this is the Grecian influenced city of Syracuse - Archimedes home city. It gives an interesting and amusing view of how the Greek people perceived the Romans. "Amusing" in the sense that the Romans, who regarded most of their Empires people as "Barbarians", were actually held in similar low esteem by people of Greek culture.

Archimedes contribution is his ability to use his mathematical genius and combine it with his engineering know-how to produce war machines to defend his city. But its not so simple when your close friend and slave (Marcus) is a Roman with plenty to hide and whose people are camped outside your gates, you are enamored with the Kings gorgeous sister, some powerfull people close to the King detest you and others would like you to fail at a time you can least afford to.

The King seems a nice ruler, but Archimedes is not sure if the King is

someone to be feared or respected given his ambitions for the future and the Kings seem to clash.

The book is a nice study of the human psyche. How much we wish to follow our own ambitions vs those of others, how we adapt to the conflicting emotions caused by; loyalty vs betrayal, love vs rejection, desire for success vs fear of failure,etc.

The book is not non stop action or endless romance or adventure. Its primary focus is on the thoughts, motivations, and desires of Archimedes and those of the people around him at a time of crisis. Mathematics never was as interestingly used in a novel as in this one and you will actually be surprised how Gillian uses it to create interest in the telling of this tale and in Archimedes himself.

If you havent read this authoresses books before - The Sand Reckoner will give you a favourable appreciation i am sure of her.