The purpose of the study is to identify the content and methods of explication of the macro-concept LIGHT in the novel “The Boy and the Darkness” by S. V. Lukyanenko, interpreted as one of three macro-concepts (LIGHT :: DUSK :: DARKNESS), the opposition of which organizes the conceptual sphere of the novel, modifying the opposition of the basic concepts HOME WORLD :: ALIEN WORLD. The scientific novelty of the research consists in identifying the essence of the author’s modification of the symbolic macro-concept LIGHT recurrent in his creative heritage, the macro-concept significant for the Russian national worldview, by means of cognitive-discursive analysis. It has been determined that the macro-concept LIGHT, conceptualized as an object and subject of action, container and content, is explicated discursively at the levels of the plot, images of characters, self-reflection of the protagonist, supplemented by new cognitive features. As a result of the study, it has been established that the content of the conceptual core of the macro-concept LIGHT, formulated by the author, contradicts its perceptual-sensory and symbolic content. Such a contradiction, forming the axiological layer of the concept, serves as the driving force for the maturation of the protagonist, who proceeds from instinctive acceptance to the conscious choice of Light.