In The Sheriff of Nottingham, Kluger has woven an engrossing medieval tapestry that transports the reader beyond the mists of time and legend to witness the struggle of a singular character seeking to act honorably in a time ruled by savage impulse and civil uproar. The boys are treated with respect and kindness by the sheriff and his family until a year later when King John thunders into the castle courtyard at the head of his entourage and, in a fury over a new Welsh uprising, roars at Philip, “Hang the hostages – hang them all – and at once!” How Sheriff Mark responds to this grim command forms the moral core of the novel. Thirty sons of Welsh warlords are consigned to Philip’s castle as royal hostages on the orders of the king to ensure that their volatile fathers behave themselves back in chronically rebellious Wales. Storytelling at its most gripping comes in the novel’s powerfully moving centerpiece. Here are dark intrigue and adroit statecraft, hand-to-hand combat and sharp wits in collision, an avaricious ruler attempting to seduce his sheriff’s wife on Christmas night, and the hatching of the Magna Carta itself at Nottingham Castle one fine September eve in 1213 (along with the reasons why Philip Mark is specifically mentioned in that immortal document). In vital, dramatic colors, Kluger paints a panorama of that England at the dawn of modernity and its principal players and events. Posted to Nottinghamshire in 1208 as the crown’s chief law officer, he is answerable only to King John himself, a monarch who has been handed down to posterity – perhaps not altogether fairly – as an unredeemed tyrant presiding over a tumultuous age. Philip Mark, a soldier of fortune from Touraine in the heart of France and actually cited by name in the text of the Magna Carta as objectionable to the king’s barons, is a complex figure, a man with a heart, a conscience, and deft political instincts. Through a fusion of art and documented fact, Kluger portrays a far different sheriff. Now, with his novel, The Sheriff of Nottingham, Richard Kluger turns the timeless tale on its head in a vivid, compassionate narrative based upon authentic and quite startling history. He remains to this day, fed by Hollywood versions of the legend, the hateful, impotent foil to that celebrated bowman, Robin Hood. The Sheriff's current whereabouts are unknown.Has there ever been a less lovable character in folk literature than that craven creature, the nameless Sheriff of Nottingham? After Robin turned herself in, he went to retrieve the DNA Gauntlet from her in The Cube.īeing tricked by Iniko's device, he was trapped in the jail cell until the very end of the episode, where after the explosion reduced the power, the jail cell door rose just enough for him to escape. Read at your own risk.Īfter Gisbourne activated The Orb, the Sheriff became delirious. Throughout the course of Sherwood, the Sheriff often comes up with schemes to control Sherwood.Ĭaution: This section contains spoilers for important Sherwood endings or plot-twists. He did go to college, with Thomas Loxley. Next to nothing is known about the Sheriff growing up. He treats her as an enemy not only to himself, but to all residents of the Upper City. The Sheriff hates Robin Loxley for frequently putting a stop to his plans, dubbing her the "Insurgent Hood". Knowing Thomas Loxley since college, he gives Thomas some respect, unlike Gisbourne. He often berates him and shows no affection. Though Gisbourne is the Sheriff's son, he treats him as another lackey in his army. He treats his son with little respect, and runs out of patience frequently. The Sheriff is controlling and manipulative. On the back of his head is a patch of metal, the purpose of which is unknown. He wears a dark purple coat with slacks to match. His right eye glows a bright red, while the other is dim.
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