In a small town in Western Nigeria, four young brothers - The youngest is nine, the oldest fifteen - Use their strict father's absence from home to go fishing at a forbidden local river. They encounter a dangerous local madman who predicts that the oldest brother will be killed by another. This prophecy breaks their strong bond and unleashes a tragic chain of events of almost mythic proportions. Passionate and bold, the fishermen is a breathtakingly beautiful novel firmly rooted in the best of African storytelling. With this powerful debut, chigozie obioma emerges as one of the most original new voices of modern African literature.