The Lightbringer Series Re-read: End of the Month!

For the last month, the Fantasy Inn has been taking place in Orbit Book’s Lightbringer Series Re-Read. Booktuber Daniel Greene kicked off the re-read in June with a couple of awesome videos, and reminded us all of why we should read Brent Weeks’ fantastic series.

And it really is a fantastic series. There are few books out there that feel similar to Lightbringer. It can be political, with lots of subtle maneuverings and verbal traps. It can be action-heavy, with a man literally flying across the ocean on solid magic. And it can be funny, brutal, inspiring, and tear-jerking… somehow all at the same time.

In our re-read of book 2, The Blinding Knife, we were reminded of just how colourful the world of Lightbringer can be. And yes, yes, that’s an awful and an obvious pun, but the point stands. The characters in Lightbringer are so charismatic. It’s impossible not to root for Kip with everything that gets thrown his way. Gavin Guile is a born leader with a wit sharper than any sword. Andross Guile is up there with the likes of Tywin Lannister when it comes to intelligent and powerful antagonists… but he’s maybe even more brutal.

Then there’s drafting. An aesthetically stunning magic system that slowly kills the user, and is capable of eventually turning them into a monster. It can set a man on fire, or turn him into a turtlebear. How cool is that?

And just when you think you’ve got a grasp on where the story is heading, Brent Weeks will throw another twist your way and leave you reeling. Even when you’ve read it before, and you know what’s coming, these revelations still leave a mark. Perhaps even more so, given all the hints and foreshadowing that are easy to miss on a first read-through.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention the outstanding audiobook narration. Having previously read the series in text, we were blown away by Simon Vance’s performance. He adds so much to the story, effortlessly injecting a sense of charisma, intimidation, or fear whenever a scene calls for it. His narration propels Lightbringer into an elite tier of fantasy audiobooks. There are few that are as good.

The Blinding Knife is a great book, but we’d forgotten just how great. This read-along has so far been a hell of a lot of fun, and the good news is that we’re only halfway through.

Coming into August, we pass the torch onto the amazing Kitty G of booktube, who will be championing the re-read for book 3: The Broken Eye. We’ll be following along with Kitty, and we hope you will too! Be sure to check out the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #LightbringerSeriesReRead, and to follow Kitty on Twitter @KittyGBooks.

If you haven’t ever read Lightbringer before, there’s still time! At the time of writing, there is still 84 days until book 5, The Burning White, releases. That’s plenty of time to get stuck in, binge those books, and catch up with the re-read.

If you have read Lightbringer before, and are not-so-patiently waiting for The Burning White, you can pre-order it by following the below links:

• Australia (releases October 24th)
• New Zealand (releases October 24th)
• United Kingdom (releases October 24th)
• United States of America (releases October 22nd)

You can also add the book on Goodreads!