Opening Moves

The Gam3, Book 1

By: Cosimo Yap

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Earth is changing. The alien invasion brought social upheaval, advanced technology, and an armada of peacekeeping robots. But Alan, a college student pursuing a now-useless degree, cares little about all of this. He has only one thing on his mind: the Game.

A fully immersive virtual reality, the Game appears to be a major part of the invading civilization. Alan can't wait to play, recklessly diving into the digital universe. Soon though, Alan realizes the Game is anything but simple, and the stakes are higher than he ever imagined.

©2016 Cosimo Yap (P)2016 Podium Publishing

LitRPG with a real story

Summary:
This is one of the best world building and story boarding books I've ever read. I find it very hard to believe this is Yap's first book, unless Brandon Sanderson edited it. I'll be very interested to see if he can keep up this level of quality. You see a lot of LitRPG books get 4/5-5 star ratings because fans love the genre. But this one is getting a 5 star rating from me for the clean story arc, the excellent character development, and the world-class world building.

What kind of LitPRG is it?
Bagwell <__*_______> Kong
On the LitRPG spectrum, on one side there is Travis Bagwell with Awaken Online. It is character-driven and focuses on story and people. Statistics are there, but what really matters is the people and what they are going through. On the other end of the spectrum is Aleron Kong and The Land. It's much more of a wish-fulfillment (author wrote a story that he'd like to live, and likely based on his own personality) RPG with hours of stats and skill collection. So let's call this the Bagwell-Kong scale. Where Bagwell is 1 and Kong is 10, I think Yap and The Gam3 is around 3 on the scale. He doesn't draw out the emotions of each character as artfully as Bagwell does. But he's much more of a traditional narrative storyteller than Kong is.

Strengths:
1.) World Building - a visualizing reader can see the world in great detail. This is 5/5
2.) Storytelling - It took me 1 chapter to get into the book. But after that, I was well and truly hooked.
3.) Characters - I remember the names and roles of the characters in the book. This is because they are written in a way that they matter and are interesting.
4.) Story Arc - sorry for the pun, but the story arc was textbook. And it is so big and complex that the series could go on forever. Certain story lines will obviously get wrapped up. But it's a huge concept and a practically infinite universe.

Conclusion: This isn't just LitRPG for LitRPG fans. This is galaxy-spanning sci-fi written in the LitRPG format. And it is well worth your time.

A classic opening move by a master

While I liked Opening moves there were some things that bothered me a little. First, though, the set up. One promising feature is that this is strictly as sci-fi story and we really don’t get enough of those in Litrpg today. I’m not complaining about the fantasy stuff, but a huge portion of Litrpg has heavy fantasy elements to it. Sci-fi is almost the purview of our Russian comrades, of course it is odd to say that a genre that features game entry via computers, A.I. elements, and game mechanics is more fantasy based, but you understand my point.

Anyway, (you’ll get that reference once you listen to the book) the game is how aliens conduct their warfare. Humans have been inducted to play the “game” and are granted some leniency from outright attacks until they kind of get their game legs. The MC sort of buys his way into the game by having some money fronted to him. Alan, the MC becomes a machine lord, and has AI that he basically uses as a cheat throughout the book.
That was my biggest problem. Alan isn’t a very deep character, I would almost say that he belongs in flat land because he is a tad one dimensional. There is no character development or growth, he ends the way he starts, so yay for consistency. Also, he comes in with an AI that pretty much helps him route every thing he encounters. The book, however, is action heavy and very fun, and I can easily forgo character development in favor of some good ole butt kickin.
The story does draw you in, and I was pretty much kept on the edge of my seat as the story progressed. I can’t say that the story slowed down or didn’t keep me engaged, because I rode this story like a broken mechanical bull. I couldn’t ride a working one, I’d break my neck. The point is that this was a fun ride.
Surprise, Nick Pohdel narrates this book and does a wonderful job, I have pretty much accepted that he is a master class narrator, but that he still has issues doing women’s voices. That has been, and will be my biggest complaint when it comes to his work. Otherwise, he manages to make the story fun and really picks up the pace when it comes to the battle scenes.
The story has a ton of things going on, like an attempted capture/assassination attempt and some ancient beings offering to assist in the Gam3 if he can prove himself. Again, awesome book, not much in the way of characterization. Also, I will say that Allen’s growth as a player may have felt a little stunted when compared to other similar books. That’s ok, not every player should be OP, and he does have his AI to make up for his limitations.

Overall score is an 8. I thought it was fast paced, full of action, and had a good premise, but the lack of character growth really took it down a peg or two.

As seen on the Litrpg Audiobook Podcast.

"Uummm..." <--thats a spoiler for most of the book

...There CANT possibly be this many "uummmm"'s written down... Can there??

I'm going to have to read the physical book just to find out because this is ridiculous...

Now, I will say this story and world building is fun and vast. Seems like a ton of room to play around in the story itself and in the imagination you take with you beyond the story beats. In this LitRPG genre, this book is less focused on the stats and loot but heavier on the world(s), people, and politics. I happen to love this particular mix of the two

In just about EVERY other audio book I have gotten with Nick Podehl is amazing BECAUSE of him. His talent is undeniable and he easily brings such vivid life to every book he reads, I have started at least 4 different series simply because he was the narrator... That being said...

This particular story, I found his reading of the main character to be bordering on unbearable... He starts damn near every sentence to another person with "Ummmm" for the entire book... Really!, like even in between a single thought with natural breaks for breathing or whatever.

MC: "ummm I know where we are..."
Other character: "You do?"
MC: "ummm, yes"

...That was a literal example...

He's constantly bordering on stammering which makes it seem like he's a half beaten dog crouching down, expecting another hit.

(If this is how the author intended all of this and actually wrote all the "Ummm" that the MC starts almost every statement with and all this perceived skiddishness, then my issue is with Cosimo and not Nick)

Beyond that specific personal tick... I found the MC absurdly unlikable. Aside from the god-tier luck he seems to keep falling into and the A.I. he made to help him, this is the type of guy I couldn't be around for more than 10 min. He's selfish, not that smart, rash with the temperament of a spoiled 13 yr old, and refuses to accept that most everything bad up to this point is from his own doing.

Again... love the world, the story building, and even all the (other) characters and Nick's reading of them. However I am finding it mostly impossible to want ANYTHING good for our MC.

Will return. Seriously TRASH MC. Just not a single redeeming quality.

another mc with little growth

mc showed very little growth during first book only saving grace was the ai that he built based on advanced info given to him

Refreshing LITRPG

I love the LITRPG genre, having read Ready Player One, Alterworld, Awaken Online, and all are very good. But The Gam3 is a bit different. First and most obvious is the setting, more sci-fi in nature than fantasy based. There are still some fantasy based aspects but the sci-fi inclusion opens up some very interesting story lines and abilities for the characters. It works. Secondly is the massiveness of the RPG world, it's big.....really big. I'll let you find that out on your own.

The back story of the alien rpg world, the politics and interactions of the different alien races is unique and fascinating. It really adds a nice touch to the genre. This is a very good start to what I expect will be an epic tale.

The characters are well written and interesting while Nick Podehl does an excellent job bringing them to life. I finished this book in 2 days, easily wanting more when finished.

Nice job Mr. Yap, I look forward to more.

Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Terrible writing. Just awful.

I was cringing from the start. The author jumps right in with the most ridiculous, heavy-handed exposition, and it just doesn't stop.

Every line of dialog in the prologue is one character explaining things to another character that there is NO WAY they wouldn't already know.

Then chapter one suffers from a similar problem with our main character spewing exposition from his thoughts, or the AI doing it for him.

Then he narrowly avoideds a battle by running away... but don't worry, because characters that LITERALLY DESCRIBE THEMSELVES AS "ARBITRARY" are there in the next scene to provide more exposition and tell us exactly what we missed when he ran away.

That was it for me. I don't care how good this plot might have turned out to be. This writing is amateur hour... Painfully bad.

Yep I was skeptical but it’s well worth

I put off buying this series due to some trash raters. Well when I did cave and buy it I ended up buying all on audible and even preordering the next audible. :)

GFG

I've read a lot of cringey characters in my trawling efforts across LITRPG, but good fucking god, this guy... He is weak and weasely and the source of easily 95% of his own problems, which do not get solved by any of his actions, thus redeeming himself. If this is supposed to connect with readers by being like the author imagines his target audience to be, his opinion of his target audience is shit. At least I got it on a 5$ sale...

Main character is lacking

I like the game itself and the worlds around. I think the author did a great job of creating his universe.

My problem is with Alan/Adam. (Some spoilers ahead)

I don't know who the main character should be Alan or Eve.
Alan has no strength, skills, or redeeming factors. He has the emotional maturity of a 13 yr old at times and not that of an adult.
If it wasn't for Eve he would never have been able to do anything.
The only reason he was able to get Eve was because of a universal conspiracy (so basically he has done nothing).

And then there is Eve, she often gets him in the most trouble. She is suppose to be so smart and can compute anything but gets the big ones wrong.

Just a prequel

What did you like best about Opening Moves? What did you like least?

There were parts of this book I really enjoyed and parts that drove me nuts. Here is this guy that was selected for a super AI, that has an investment made on his behalf, that can accomplish anything, yet he is so obtuse that he can't make basic decisions. He has no friends. He has no relationship with his family. He agrees to everything people ask him to do. This book is more about an AI and it's human servant than a human with an intelligent virtual assistant. It did improve by the end (thank the Bunny Overlords for that!)

My biggest gripe about this book is that it's just a prequel. I invested money and time in a book that sets up a world and a game but never gets past the beginning. It's like buying a video game and realizing all you got was a tutorial.

Any additional comments?

Experience Online Role Playing - Without Playing

As an ex-MMORPGer (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) this book caught my attention by its somewhat novel concept; aliens invade Earth and give us peace and a virtual realty game the whole galaxy is playing. Not the usual outcome of such a scenario that you've probably come to expect. I gave up MMORPGs as I no longer have the time, but miss the fun, challenges and character building. So bear that in mind as it will colour my views.

The author has obviously has played MMORPGs. A lot. The book delights in the player's experience of building a character and is heavy on game mechanics. Heavy yes, but not to the point of being distracting. With an engaging and novel story concept, the reader experiences all the major aspects of what a player has to contend with when playing a MMORPG: character creation; chosing skills; chosing a moral standpoint; decision making - the list goes on.

But before all this sounds somewhat dull, it is presented against the backdrop of a very interesting story concept. Aliens "invade" Earth and stop humanity from tearing itself apart with war, famine, bigotry and the rest. They give us technology. They give us The Game, a virtual reality simulation where players from cross the galaxy interact, trade, do business, fall in love, and go to war. For the game is the only place where war is now fought. Our protagonist, Alan, is a newbie only equiped with an seemingly overpowered AI assistant Eve. He enters this virtual world only to find that there is a lot more to it than he ever inagined and that the actions in the game will have far reaching and devastating consequences back in the real world.

For the first published book by unknown Cosimo Yap, this really was a pleasant and engaging surprise. So much so that I went looking for the print version only to disappointingly discover there is none. It was also disappointing to discover that volume two is not yet available on Audible, simply as it is still being written.

My Audible reading list is already set for the next few months, but when book two arrives - and I really hope it does - it will be bumped to the head of the queue.

Very Good

Bit like the classic Ready Player One but more complex. Dunno how the author is going to get through this story in less than 20 books but looking forward to more

Straight onto the next thank you!

Extremely accessible (not really a gamer), well paced, expanding the richly fabricated world minute by minute. I've seen comparisons to Ready Player One, I enjoyed this a lot more and it is quite different. I'm in for the series, thank you.

Very interesting book. Looking forward to the rest

This is one of the better books I have listened to with regards to the performance of the narrator.
The book itself is interesting, having listened to ready player one and we are legion, we are bob recently I would say it's right up my ally. My problem is that it seems just like it is the beginning of a much larger story. There is little to no middle or end. That being said it was still a good listen and I will definately get the next

Probably better as a book

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The idea of entering a virtual world and levelling up yourself to become more powerful whilst gaining new weapons and armour etc.. was an addictive storyline for any RPG gamer. Entering the Gam3 and meeting multiple races battling over various things brought great depth to the story.

Nick Podehl is fast becoming my favourite narrator, but even he couldn't make the, seemingly endless at times, list of the main character's abilities when he 'levelled up', which was fairly regularly. There ws one chapter towards the end where I think the list took more than 10 minutes to get through. For example: Health +10 points, Armour +5 points, Dexterity + 3points, Agility +20 points. You think this is too much, you wait for when it gets to the sub categories of the specific class of the character like the "ability to communicate with an unidentified artificial intelligence +30". It was so ridiculous it made me laugh,

I enjoyed this book, and will listen to the next if it is released, but if you're also a reader I think this book is best read so that you can skim read the long list of attributes following a level up.

Fantastic!

I'm an avid RPGer, but life seems to get in the way these days meaning I don't get to play anywhere near as much as I'd like.
I stumbled across this book by accident as I'd not heard anything about it and it really was brilliant.
The story was exciting and interesting and the narration was by far the best is heard on any audio book so far.
Really looking forward to the next part!

Newbie to LitRPG

Picked this up because love the VR constructed world in Ready Player One and synopsis sounded interesting. Wow, if all LitRPG is like this, I'm a new genre fan. Beautifully paced, feels epic with likeable characters. Narrated well with each character feeling well defined. Can't wait to see how this unfolds..

great scifi

great story hope the author gets the support to continue the story. good scifi writing which is a different take than most litres which tend toward being in a fantasy world.

great

great book and narration already purvhased the next book in the series a a a

Can't wait for more. Loved it, great performance

Gripped me from the start, can't wait for the next episode next month. Loved it