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Ora

by Richard Rizun

335 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-2733; ISBN 1-4120-2184-7; US$27.00, C$30.58, EUR22.00, £15.50

Some say that they've been here since the time of the dinosaurs. Some say even longer. All say tread warily on Komodo Island...

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About the Book      About the Author      Table of Contents or Excerpts      Catalogue Information

About the Book

In the year 1645, a the helm of the pirate ship, Tempest, Captain Nigel Hawthorne recklessly leads his crew into uncharted territories and lands on an unknown island far south of mainland China. There he plans to hide away a stolen chinese fortune temporarily, not realizing that the island's deadly inhabitants intend on making the treasure, and Hawthorne's crew, permanent additions...

Three hundred and sixty years later, multi-millionaire Sukiman Ahmad, the anonymous financier for a left-wing guerilla faction known as the Barisan Hizbullah, discovers Hawthorne's long-lost secret. Intent on securing the priceless fortune for his organization's cause, Ahmad orders his first in command, General Damar Sali, to take the tiny island of Komodo by force and to hold the local inhabitants and tourists hostage in order to bide the time needed to hunt for the ancient treasure that is hidden there. But the terrorists get more than they bargained for when several of the tourists unwittingly evade capture and discover that Sukiman Ahmad has something much more sinister planned for the island than just a treasure hunt...

As the tourists flee for their lives, an American SEAL team is planning an invasion and the guerillas are taking steps to ensure that failure of the mission is not an option. And all the while Komodo's ancient inhabitants have been lurking in the shadows, some say since the time of the dinosaurs, unwilling to be innocent bystanders...

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Hidden Treasure and Intrigue Combine for Good Summer Reading
by Terry McNamee of the Lincoln Post Express

Fans of adventure stories are in for a treat this summer with the release of a novel by Beamsville writer Richard Rizun. Ora is a tale in the tradition of H.G.Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs, mixing fast-paced action with plenty of thrills and more than a few grisly deaths. In the end, the hero triumphs, and all is right with the world, but the journey is a precarious one filled with dangers from all sides.

The story begins in the 17th century with the theft of an incredible Chinese treasure by pirates. When the pirates are in danger of being unable to escape safely with their loot, they go ashore on an uncharted island in what is now Indonesia to unload their cargo and then sneak away from some Chinese war ships that are in hot pursuit. But they soon discover they are not alone on the island, which is the home of the world's largest population of Komodo Dragons, or Ora. They succeed in hiding the treasure, but things go downhill from there for everyone but the dragons, who find that sailors make a tasty change from their regular diet.

Flash forward to 2010. Komodo Island is a managed tourist attraction, with the giant beasts being fed regularly so tourists can come and watch them. But Indonesia is being threatened by terrorists who want to take over the government. They think they know where the ancient treasure is, and they forcibly take over Komodo Island to get it.

Add a stolen nuclear bomb, a group of tourists (including three resourceful children), a brave, one-legged tour guide, a tough female scientist who is studying the dragons, and the great lizards themselves, who have not been fed in quite some time and are getting considerably irritated by the lack of room service, and you have a situation ready to explode.

Although much of the tale is somewhat predictable, it's a good, exciting read. But the startling twist at the end should catch you by surprise.

The prose gets a little flowery on occasion, especially near the beginning, and there are a few factual errors. But if you are willing to overlook these very minor flaws, this is a book that will keep you turning the page to see who gets captured, shot or eaten next and how the good guys get out of each increasingly terrifying situation.

While the action can be a bit gory (we are talking about giant, meat-eating carnivores, after all), the descriptions are not over the top, so those who are a bit squeamish should still be able to enjoy it.

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About the Author

Richard Rizun was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As a child, he greatly enjoyed collecting comic books and watching movies. The one movie, or rather trilogy of movies, that had a significant effect on shaping his imagination was "Star Wars". The experience of viewing these films opened up the world of science fiction and its limitless possibilities to his blossoming creativity. Other influences aside from reading junior novels in grade school were classical television shows such as "Battlestar Galactica", "Buck Rogers" and "Star Trek".

With so many influences to draw from, Richard felt compelled to create a science fiction universe of his own. In grade five, at the tender age of eleven, he wrote several short stories with accompanying illustrations under the series title of "Struggle for Survival". These stories were eventually compiled into a single hardbound novel with the title of "Space Adventure of 1980". This limited edition run of one quickly became the most signed-out book at the school library and received critical acclaim from his cclassmates and friends. A fire had been lit under him.

In high school, Richard's ambitions grew and he undertook the writing of his first full-length novel which he titled "Stormbreaker". A few years later, he finished the novel using what little spare time he had available outside of school. Priorities such as university forced him to put his novel on the backburner, but it didn't stop him from writing altogether. In his second year of university, Richard wrote and submitted a short story to the school's weekly newspaper which traditionally produced and annual literary supplement to showcase the talents of its students body. Much to his excitement, his science fiction short story, "The Seeding Time, prominently graced an entire two-page spread of the supplement and gave Richard his first taste fo seeing his work in published form. This served to whet his appetite for more of the same.

After seven long years of university, Richard finally graduated from Optometry School and was ready to enter the real world. With four free months to spare between his provincial licensing exams and receiving his license to practice Optometry, he eagerly went to work on organizing the plot for his second novel which had the working title of "Komodo" but eventually became "Ora". His inspiration for the story came from watching a television special that chronicled the lives of the largest lizard species on Earth, Komodo Dragons. The extremely exclusive and remote location of their habitat combined with their endangered status and potential for violent behavior seemed to be a wonderful blend of factors from which to elicit a compelling and entertaining tale. A few years later, once again utilizing his spare time between practicing Optometry and starting his marriage to his amazing wife, Melanie, Richard managed to finish writing "Ora". A few more years of meticulous editing finally yielded a finished manuscript, ready to unveil to the world.

Richard still resides in Ontario with his wife and continues to dream up numerous ideas for other novels, including a fantasy epic titled "The Third Schism" follow-up stories for his first novel, "Void Runner", and several more mainstream tales. His imagination continues to churn and he doesn't anticipate that it will stop any time soon...

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Excerpts

To read excerpts from Ora please visit www.RichardRizun.com

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Catalogue Information

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