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A Novel
by Y. M. Abdel-Magied
A propulsive novel of ambition, greed, and the deadly fury of Mother Nature, as a female driller takes charge of an isolated offshore oil rig with an entirely male crew.
When Zainab, an expert driller, is tasked with overseeing a high-stakes oil rig operation, she leaves behind her pregnant sister to embark on the most challenging assignment of her career. But there's a catch. The rig is teetering on the edge of disaster—and Zainab is the only woman among a crew of hardened men who want absolutely nothing to do with her.
At the helm, but forced to prove herself at every turn, Zainab investigates the issues that have plagued the operation. When all her warnings are ignored, she quickly grasps that the real danger may lie in the cold calculations and base desires of the men determined to finish the operation as quickly and cheaply as possible. As tensions rise and secrets unravel, Zainab races to prevent the looming catastrophe that threatens the rig, the lives of the crew and the welfare of the sea before it's too late.
Haunting, original, and as poetic as it is gripping, At Sea is a thrilling and distinctly modern novel that meditates on science and faith and reckons with ethics, prejudice, and the capitalist endeavors that overlook our humanity—and of Mother Nature herself.
"Drawing on the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil-spill disaster and her own experiences as a drilling engineer from Sudan, like her protagonist, Abdel-Magied offers fascinating technical details, intriguing personalities, and dramatic showdowns within the precarious confines of an oil rig beset by the ever-changing sea and winds. The result is an involving, suspenseful, psychologically intricate, and thought-provoking tale of humankind's hubris and nature's might." —Booklist
"Propulsive and engrossing and deeply fascinating, Abdel-Magied's At Sea is a feat of vivid world-building, of characters sketched with such empathy and with a poet's economy of language. My heart was in my throat the entire time. This story will haunt me forever." ―Safia Elhillo, author of Home Is Not a Country
"With a kick-ass heroine, and moving between Sudan and Scotland, Australia and a rig on the verge of blowout, At Sea captures the high stakes, drama and the claustrophobia of life off-shore in the service of Big Oil." ―Gavin Francis, author of Empire Antarctica
This information about At Sea was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Born in Sudan, Y. M. Abdel-Magied's first job as a teenager was in a coal mine in rural Australia. After graduating with first-class honours in Mechanical Engineering, Abdel-Magied trained and worked as an MWD (Measurement While Drilling) contractor and drilling engineer across Europe, Australia, Asia and the United States. She is the founder of the organization Youth Without Borders and the author of six books (three works of non-fiction and three books for children). At Sea is Abdel-Magied's first adult novel and will be her American debut. She lives in England.
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