Review: Impact Winter, Season 3, by Travis Beacham

Season 3 of Impact Winter, by Travis Beacham, originally published in 2024

We are back for season 3 of Impact Winter, and wow, did I enjoy this installment! The series continues to deliver quality entertainment, through the talent of its voice cast, the imagination of its author, and the quality of its production.

I thought that season 3 was stronger than season 2, with a more engaging and interesting plot, new and unexpected events, and ongoing creative character development – all working together to deliver an exciting and enthralling narrative.

Picking up a short time after the previous season (again around a 6 month time jump), the story once again follows two narrative streams; that of Darcy, imbedded within the vampire council under the guise of being the vampire queen, carefully holding up the ruse and attempting to locate the real queen, and that of Hope, concerned for the fate of her sister, struggling with her place in the world, and caught up in the embrace of young love.

Darcy’s side of the story was the more eventful of the two streams, as it was fun and interesting to have more interactions with the vampire council – these ancient and powerful creatures – exploring their personalities and the tenuous hold on the power they maintain. Thanks to the access Darcy maintains with the real queen’s memories, she’s able to perfectly convince the council, or at least, most of the council, that she is in fact the queen reborn. Leveraging this unprecedented access to the vampiric world order, she tries to work out where the real queen slumbers – for if Darcy can end the queen, she can end the winter. Her subterfuge is complicated by Felix’s arrival, playing into the council’s lingering suspicions – what if she isn’t the queen reincarnate?

Hope’s narrative was eventful in its own right, as the younger Dunraven sister deals with love and loss, believing her sister lost to queen’s spirit, plans to either undo her sister’s affliction or put an end to her. The love and affection shared between Hope and Lydia is endearing, a little bit of light and warmth in the frozen vampiric apocalypse they are struggling through. Hidden health issues and the pursuit of answers drive the characters forward, ultimately setting them on a collision course with Darcy and her adventures.

Between the two narratives, several interesting plot points were introduced – myths of earthbound goddesses with dual manifestations, a sprinkling of Arthurian legend, strange transformations and possible hybridisations all make an appearance – all elements I didn’t anticipate being introduced, but I thought they were included in artful and intriguing ways, and I look forward to seeing where these threads might lead in season 4.

Speaking of season 4, Travis Beacham has announced in a post on Threads, that the fourth season of Impact Winter will conclude the current story, so I am definitely looking forward to the next, final chapter, and excited to listen to the finale of this adventure.

The frozen and frigid hellscape, the monsters and the mystery, the characters and the narrative – all continue to deliver in this brilliant full cast audio production. I continue to recommend this series highly; I recommend this installment and say go have a listen – it’s well worth it!

Background image by Casey Horner on Unsplash