Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Welcome back! I’m looking at the Lightbringer Series, 5 books by Brent Weeks. This is a spoiler free objective intro and overview to help you decide if you want to read this series in full.
This is a Flintlock fantasy of magic and guns, a world on the cusp of the industrial age. We’re talking a great magic system, cool technological inventions, and a crap-ton of excellent action scenes. This is some peak fantasy right here.
There is great writing, like epic plot twists and compelling character arcs and magical mysteries. There is also some weaker writing, like subplots that go on forever without achieving anything, major plotlines that get paused for multiple books, or dropped entirely, or retconned, or replaced by new ideas. It’s not always the smoothest plot work.
And also, there’s a fair amount of content in this series that is problematic. We'll talk about why.
Buy my books here! michaelcronk.com
To support the channel, check out my patreon and my shop:
Patreon.com/CronkTheBookGuy
rainbowspaceunicorn.com
redbubble.com/people/rubyandpearl/shop?ref=typeahead
Instagram @cronkthebookguy
0:00 Intro
1:29 The Elephant in the Room – Problematic Content
5:36 The Concept
7:30 The Worldbuilding
9:21 The Magic System
12:05 Characters
16:25 Big Plots, Sub Plots, and Side Quests
20:53 Noy All Plot Twists Are Equal
22:17 Is this a Christian Allegory, Narnia Style?
24:09 What's So Problematic Exactly?
31:10 Content Warning
32:03 Is the Ending Worth it?
32:40 How Much Should You Try?
32:58 Outro
Welcome back! I’m looking at the Lightbringer Series, 5 books by Brent Weeks. This is a spoiler free objective intro and overview to help you decide if you want to read this series in full.
This is a Flintlock fantasy of magic and guns, a world on the cusp of the industrial age. We’re talking a great magic system, cool technological inventions, and a crap-ton of excellent action scenes. This is some peak fantasy right here.
There is great writing, like epic plot twists and compelling character arcs and magical mysteries. There is also some weaker writing, like subplots that go on forever without achieving anything, major plotlines that get paused for multiple books, or dropped entirely, or retconned, or replaced by new ideas. It’s not always the smoothest plot work.
And also, there’s a fair amount of content in this series that is problematic. We'll talk about why.
Buy my books here! michaelcronk.com
To support the channel, check out my patreon and my shop:
Patreon.com/CronkTheBookGuy
rainbowspaceunicorn.com
redbubble.com/people/rubyandpearl/shop?ref=typeahead
Instagram @cronkthebookguy
0:00 Intro
1:29 The Elephant in the Room – Problematic Content
5:36 The Concept
7:30 The Worldbuilding
9:21 The Magic System
12:05 Characters
16:25 Big Plots, Sub Plots, and Side Quests
20:53 Noy All Plot Twists Are Equal
22:17 Is this a Christian Allegory, Narnia Style?
24:09 What's So Problematic Exactly?
31:10 Content Warning
32:03 Is the Ending Worth it?
32:40 How Much Should You Try?
32:58 Outro
