Impact Winter-Review

Intro

Impact Winter by Travis Beacham is my favorite kind of audible original because it is very good (unlike specific stories I could mention). Still, it’s also a fully-fledged audio drama about a post-apocalyptic work featuring vampires. What more could a man like me ask for?

Writing

Set at some point in the future, a meteor impacts the earth, covering it in endless nights and winter. A perfect environment for vampires right? Well, in Impact Winter’s world, vampires exist and are now the new ruling species in the world. The story follows two sisters, Hope and Darcy, survivors of the impact who struggle to survive in the hostile environment. Their relationship becomes strained from the stresses of living in such an environment, with Hope becoming more sympatric or even envious of the freedom they have. Through a misunderstanding, where Darcy thinks Hope deliberately becomes a vampire, Darcy accidentally becomes one herself.

And what happens next is a tale about family and sisterhood, one that isn’t the most original but one of the better old ones. Darcy struggles to come to terms with her vampirism and the knowledge that her sister and survivor group will kill her. All this is going on while Hope struggles with the guilt of losing her own sister. The drama and the chemistry between the sisters is excellent; I was engrossed in their story and wanted to see how it could resolve. The voice acting and sound effects are excellent; I wish the story were a little scarier, as the setting/monsters/atmosphere suggests. This is more a survival drama as opposed to a horror drama.

I like that Travis Beacham doesn’t paint the vampires as purely monstrous, as their humanity contrasts with their animal qualities. I wish the story was longer, running at only five hours; I feel that the environment, lore, and characters can be expanded. The story ends with what feels like the end of the first part of a larger novel that may not happen. That disappoints me because we have too small a scope for a setting as intriguing as Impact Winter’s. If Travis Beacham decides to do a series of short stories in post-apocalyptic England, I would be very happy.

Conclusion

Impact Winter is a thrilling ride that I wish was longer because it felt like it should have been a novel-length exploring the relationship between humans against a superior foe while examing the world at large. However, what we have here is very enjoyable and compelling, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Acknowledgments

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