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Brian Beam
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The Dragon Gem (Korin's Journal Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Brian Beam (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 121
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With nothing to go on but a vague dream which may or may not be memory, Korinalis Karell has spent the last three years searching Amirand for his birth parents. With a Contract to fund his journey and a magic talking wizard cat named Max to keep him company, Korin has tenaciously traveled from one kingdom to the next with no success to speak of.

However, after being hired by Count Galius Firmon to retrieve a stolen gem, Korin finds himself faced with revelations about his past that not only flip his world upside down, but throw him into a fight for his very survival.

With the aid of a mediocre wizard on a dragon hunt, a chatterbox Kolarin thief, and Max, Korin sets out to discover the truth of his past so that he may live to see his future.

Join Korin in this fantasy adventure as he faces a ruthless count, evil wizards, a furious dragon, godsforsaken creatures of death, and even worse, a sarcastic cat.
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 2
    Korin's Journal
  2. Print length
    476 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    November 27, 2013
  6. File size
    1559 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007P02OHU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brian Beam; 2nd edition (November 27, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 27, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1559 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 476 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1494429381
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 121

About the author

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Brian Beam

Brian Beam

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Brian Beam was born and raised in Kentucky and is a proud husband and father. He holds degrees in marketing and nursing, following his passion for writing in his free time. He has way too many cats and likes video games a little too much.

His writing has been influenced and inspired by some of his favorite authors including Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, Jim Butcher, Patrick Rothfuss, and Terry Goodkind.

He currently resides in North Carolina.

http://www.facebook.com/brianbeamauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/bbeams32

http://www.brian-beam.blogspot.com

http://www.twitter.com/brianbeam2

bbeams32@gmail.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
121 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Justin Dockins
5.0 out of 5 stars Solid adventure, magic, and lore
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2014
Verified Purchase
Dragon's Gem was a fun read, and it kept me entertained the whole way through. I am a sucker for classic Sword & Sorcery fantasy, and Beam provides a solid adventure with a fun and diverse cast of characters, who were also full of unending sarcasm that kept the dialog in a good flow.
I have read many fantasy novels, though not as many as some, and never in my delvings have I chanced upon a talking cat who is also a wizard. I won't spoil what happens to the wizard cat, but it's damn adorable. I'll leave it at that!
The dragon is of course an important figure in the story, and I greatly enjoyed his character and the lore surrounding him.
The story ends with many loose ends, and leaves you with only one option: to read the next book in Korin's Journal! If you are a fan of classic epic fantasy, I recommend that you do so.
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L. K. Evans
4.0 out of 5 stars Quick, enjoyable read...
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2014
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Where to start...

I can tell you this book doesn’t lack in action. There always seemed to be something happening. Either the characters were fleeing for their lives or they were fighting. It made it fast paced and kept me interested. For the most part, the fight scenes were play by play. Sometimes I followed, sometimes I didn’t, but it never detracted from my enjoyment. I also liked how Beam kept us close to Korin (the narrator and main protagonist) by letting us in on what pains he was experiencing during all this action. I think it’s odd how in some books when a character fights there’s no connection to pain. Here, Beam connected us with it.

The world was built fairly well and I was satisfied by the information I received. There’s like a billion gods in this world and it was handled with a huge dose of humor. Some might find it annoying (because of how they’re all referenced) but I found it thoroughly entertaining. And I think—or at least hope—that it’ll tie in to some of the dangling story questions, a few of which I’ve developed a couple of theories to solve. This should tell you that the plot is interesting enough to keep you guessing with hints dropped here and there to allow your imagination to work on puzzling it all out. That said, I think Beam relied heavily on the old trope “I can’t tell you yet because it could put you in danger.” Meaning, one character has all the answers, but doesn’t reveal. I’ve never really been bothered by this unless the story and characters are dull. This story was not, so I was fine.

On to Korin, our narrator and main protagonist. I’ll tell you, I liked him more in the beginning. His humor had me smiling often and I liked that he wasn’t always winning. He needed help, or he got the crap beat out of him. That was good. Me likey. However, the further I read, his realism turned into dependency. He was incapable of protecting himself. He never once handled a situation on his own and never once got himself out of it. Sure, he had ideas and thought through some stuff, but in regards to fighting he was a little reliant. I would have liked to see him escape a few situations on his own (without the help of others), just to show he’s as good as he says/thinks he is.

There’s a lot of humor in this book. At the beginning, I was into it. By the end, I was kinda ready for a little more realistic reactions to horrific scenes. I like a book heavy with emotion. I think too often a character doesn’t react appropriately to a terribly sad event. Korin reacted to sad events with emotion, which I enjoyed. However, he switched too quickly between horrible sorrow to his wise-crackish self. Again, it didn’t bother me so much in the beginning, but by the end (as events got darker) I would have liked to keep things serious just a little longer. Furthermore, the later humor of the book felt a little forced, while at the beginning it felt more natural. Here’s a few lines that had me smiling in the beginning:

“So now the stolen gem that I’d stolen had been stolen. Fancy that.”

For this next one, keep in mind that he has a talking cat wizard:

“Not many things can hurt your pride more than being berated by a tabby.”

There was a lovely dose of sarcasm and dry humor that I enjoyed. I liked Korin’s narration. It was entertaining and witty.

So to conclude my ramblings, this was a fast paced, very light, very enjoyable read. I’ve already bought the second book, and Beam has a new fan.
One person found this helpful
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Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth a look
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2012
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Korin has no idea who he is, where he came from or why he's where he is and the story revolves around resolving those issues. He has a wizard who doesn't look like a wizard ( or a person for that matter ) as a sarcastic mentor and posseses an exceptional talent for letting his mouth get him into all kinds of trouble. With Korin the phrase "no good deed goes unpunished" definitely applies. Not only does Korin have a complete set of problems of his own, but so do all the other characters and Korin manages to add his to theirs creating a progressively more and more complicated soup. The editing in the book is very good compared to some I've seen, with only a very few errors so I didn't get that jarring feeling you get when you're reading along and suddenly hit a section of the book that rips your attention away because the words are misused, misspelled, or out of order. It's definitely worth giving this author a try.
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Luv_them_Buckeyes
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, humor, wit, characters = Great read!
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2012
Verified Purchase
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I have read over 480 fantasy type books (yes, I keep a list). I laughed out loud numerous times and didn't want to put it down. I really hope the author offers a follow-on book, I will be watching for one to come available. I don't offer reviews often... Only on books that I really enjoyed and to encourage talented new authors to continue writing. From his brief Bio, I thought it was interesting that his favorite authors are some of mine as well. I believe there were some formating issues that caused abnormally small text (had a select a large text on kindle), and acting like the book was at it's end a few times halfway through some pages that clearly wasn't the end (requiring you to go back to the menu and re-select the book) I have a kindle touch 3G and had not experienced this problem before. Could have been a particular version of the book or my kindle.......
5 people found this helpful
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K. M. Dorsey
3.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing story
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2018
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There’s a talking wizard cat, dragons, magic and quests to name some of the things you’ll encounter in this book. Plus, the beginning of a love story, great danger and heartbreak.
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Top reviews from other countries

Manuel Granados Vargas
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting take
Reviewed in Mexico on October 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
I had not read a first person journal style fantasy novel.
I liked it, fast paced action and enjoyable characters.
I recommend people give it a chance. I will most likely buy the whole series.
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Hilda Sampson
5.0 out of 5 stars I don't often write reviews.
Reviewed in Canada on June 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
It takes a lot for me to write a review but this series caught my attention right from the first chapter. I was constantly saying to myself "I will just read one more chapter." If you like fantasy books this one is for you.
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Wendy
5.0 out of 5 stars What a Great Read!!!!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
This story has the lot......humour, sadness, adventure, excitement, love interest etc, etc. I could just keep raving about this book, I didn't want to put it down. Oh yes. Don't forget the magical talking cat!

In fact, I did something I never do....I PAID for the next book! I only ever download the freebies, and I've read such a lot of rubbish, that I'm glad I didn't pay for the books. So, I'm so glad I downloaded this as a freebie, I enjoyed it so much, I just had to read the next one.

Just a word to the author though......there were a few errors - the odd word missing in a sentence for instance, and grammar - "off of" is definitely a no no! Just needs editing.
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she bought this
4.0 out of 5 stars gripping
Reviewed in Canada on December 21, 2013
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Gripping, with just the right amount of plot twists and foreshadowing. I was lucky enough to get it for free but would have paid 25$ for it now knowing its entertainment value.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars The Dragon Gem
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
What an exciting, page turning, romp of a story! Just when you think things can't get any worse for our unsung hero & his friends, they always do. Yet the story is told with such an endearing narrative voice, that a wry laugh is never far away.

Well worth a read.
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