Impact Winter is one of those audiobooks that reminds you why the format exists in the first place. As an Audible Original produced in Dolby Atmos, it’s fully immersive. The sound design, voice acting, and overall atmosphere feel cinematic, almost like listening to a high-budget TV series with your eyes closed. On a technical level alone, it’s excellent.
Story-wise, it delivers. The world-building is compelling, the stakes are high, and the post-apocalyptic vampire setting actually feels fresh instead of recycled. The plot pulls you in quickly and keeps its momentum, which made it easy to continue on to later seasons.
That said, there’s one frustrating inconsistency, and this is where mild spoilers come in.
The female lead is portrayed as extremely capable when she’s still human. She can fight, survive, and even take down vampires.
However, once she becomes a vampire herself and not just any vampire, but an overlord-level one, that strength and dominance aren’t fully reflected in the story. You expect a noticeable shift in power, presence, and threat level, but the audiobook doesn’t consistently demonstrate that escalation. It creates a disconnect between what the story tells you she is and what it actually shows you she can do.
Despite that flaw, Impact Winter remains a gripping listen. The production quality, performances, and overall narrative easily outweigh the frustration with the power scaling. I’ve already listened to Seasons 2 and 3 (Books 2 and 3), which says a lot on its own, and I’ll be reviewing those separately.
Overall, this is a solid 5/5 for me. Immersive, intense, and absolutely worth your time, especially if you enjoy cinematic audiobooks with strong atmosphere and long-form storytelling.
