While Onyenmuo is growing up in Umuozala, a village bound to Ozala and plagued by a murderous monster that attacks every forty years, he displays astonishing cunning and ability. For the residents of Umuozala, living in fear, he is their only hope of escape from the control of the sadistic god Ozala and from the constant threat of death. A remarkable African epic story of innocence, placed side by side with bravery, love and tragedy. It is written in comparison to the role of the divine in the salvation of men.