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  • Opening Moves

  • The Gam3, Book 1
  • By: Cosimo Yap
  • Narrated by: Nick Podehl
  • Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (161 ratings)

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Opening Moves cover art

Opening Moves

By: Cosimo Yap
Narrated by: Nick Podehl
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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

What listeners say about Opening Moves

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Ready Player 1 meets Expeditionary Force

After reading Ready Player 1 and a few other books like it (Off to be the Wizard and Mog World) I wasn't sure anything would be able to hold my interest anything even close to the way Ready Player 1 did. So I was pleasantly surprised that withing the first day I had already listened to half the book.

The A.I. Eve reminded me a little of Skippy from the Expeditionary Force novels by Craig Alanson. But maybe that's just me

Nick Podehl does a great job at narrating and I liked how he was able to perform a range of passable accents and voices for each character. While his voice is not as pleasant as some narrators I have previously listened to I enjoyed his reading.

So if you liked Ready Player 1 and have been looking for another adventure then this is the book for you. Happy listening

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

ready player One mixed with...expeditionary force?

great story, I could barely put it down. felt very much like ready player one but less complete... I guess that's what you get from the first book in a series. The narrator almost sounded like Timon from the lion king but I liked it haha. now onto the next book!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Fresh and unique from typical sword and sorcery

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I enjoyed the world/universe that was built and described. Its easy to get wrapped up in the story. Good pace and development of information, but it seems to be a bit of a rushed story that takes for granted all the usual things that most gamer's enjoy, and just has the decisions made for the MC and overpowered things handed to him on a platter - rather than actually trying and having the possibility of failure and growth.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Well, I don't know if i would pick the MC. He is pretty much a flesh puppet for his AI and is constantly told what to do and when he does interact or make decisions they are juvenile and have no thought go into them. I would guess around 60% of his verbal communications are "umm....ok"

What does Nick Podehl bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Excellent narrator as usual. The book would probably be considerably worse if read by another person or one of your usual fantasy narrators like Derek Perkins for example.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not particularly, the decisions and though process that all other main characters in other books of any kind that help you get more invested and appreciate the story more are completely taken away with the AI doing all the thinking for him.

Any additional comments?

Would be a lot better if the author put some effort into the character development rather than having an AI to make quick fixes to his seemingly random additions of challenges that would - if actually meet by the MC be more interesting and making him seem less OP - are simply foot notes towards...... more of the same?

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect for me

This was my first book in the style (although I had read Ready Player One, but that's just a general sci fi story really), and after reading the reviews sounded like this would be one of the best options, and I'm so glad I did! I'm a gamer and especially love RPGs, so the leveling up element I found really enjoyable. It really makes you want to be able to explore the world in the book. The characters and story were really enjoyable, and the voice acting was top notch! I'm literally buying the second book now to continue the story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great story great narrator

if you like ready player one but also like litrpg then you're going to enjoy this book. nick podehl is fantastic as always. this is my first cosimo yap and I'm a fan of his writing style and will read the sequels

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

awesome

one of the best books I have had the pleasure of listening too.
great story

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • V
  • 30-08-2020

Binged this! Love it!!!

This book immediately drew me in. i couldn't put it down. even though i just finished, i could not wait to start the next book (legit started already, listening while typing this review)

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A mix of lit RPG, Sci fi and ready player one

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very intriguing

Like title say very intriguing story despite the MC’s being a block head most of the time

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

I loved this book.
So much so I stayed up and finished it in a day.
I went looking for the next book -- it's written but not published, or an audio book... I started reading within 1min of the audiobook finishing...
I can't wait for the second book to be published ... and for the audiobook version. I'll definitely buy it!!!

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