As a self contained story set in 'The Broken Empire' world, somewhere in the first book 'Prince of Thorns' giving the reader a glimpse into a day in the life of Jorg Ancrath it really delivers. It captures the type of person our Jorg is, how he thinks and the kind of devil may care attitude he embodies. It also introduces another main character from the trilogy and in my opinion divulges a twist about the setting of the world that I really enjoyed coming to the conclusion of in 'Prince.'However as a fan of the series I felt let down by this story. There's nothing in it I took away from the read, no new insight, no advantage I feel over other fans who have yet to read it. Or any urge to go out of my way to encourage fans of the series to read it. It felt like baggage from the first book that didn't add anything and so ended on the cutting room floor.Don't get me wrong, it's impeccably written and so brilliantly Jorg but there's no substance, it's just a day in the life of Jorg, any old day, not a special one. If you are familiar with Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series you will find this short story to be a nice reminder of your time with Prince of Thorns as Jorg is once again with the Nuban caught in a difficult situation. Select Mode is a nice read and it felt like much more of the same things I loved about Mark Lawrence's other works. I find his writing style to be very unique and each of his sentences are brilliantly written to grab hold of the readers attention. Jorg is a lovable/hatable character and even in a short story like this one, Mark is able to create a solid background and identity for the killer known as Jorg. Readers will still find themselves loving Jorg even though they subconsciously feel like they shouldn't, and that's a good thing with Mark's writings. If you haven't read Prince of Thorns or any of the books that follow, Select Mode is a nice 10 page intro to the character and setting. I would suggest though that even if you don't like or understand this short story that you read Prince of Thorns as the deciding factor of Mark Lawrence's world. Select Mode is good for the reader who is unfamiliar though and it will peak interest enough to wonder what's going on with Jorg and the Nuban and where does their friendship come from? Select Mode is free on Goodreads but if you want to read other good short stories by great fantasy authors, this short story is apart of an anthology call Unfettered. I have read this anthology and lovers of all types of fantasy would be satisfied with reading it as well.
What do You think about Select Mode (2000)?
Excellent as always. Many thanks for sharing this free pdf with us, Mark! Happy new year!
—Ldtkrv
A short Short Story set in the Jorg universe. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
—Amrit
