Fiction — The Book Roads

At Sea

Y.M. Abdel-Magied

Zainab is an expert driller accustomed to working in an industry where women must constantly prove their competence. When she is offered the opportunity to oversee a high-stakes offshore oil rig operation, she leaves behind her pregnant sister and heads out to sea, determined to demonstrate that she has earned her place at the top. But the assignment quickly becomes a test of both her professional abilities and her moral convictions. She is the only woman among a crew of hardened men who resent her authority, and the rig itself is teetering on the edge of disaster. As Zainab investigates the technical problems threatening the operation, she discovers that the danger extends beyond the machinery. Corporate greed, careless decision-making, and the crew’s determination to complete the job as cheaply and quickly as possible threaten everyone’s lives. With her warnings repeatedly dismissed, she must decide how far she is willing to go to prevent a catastrophe. Drawing on the author’s own experience as a drilling engineer, this gripping literary thriller explores sexism, ambition, environmental responsibility, and the human cost of unchecked capitalism. Against the vast and unpredictable power of the ocean, Zainab confronts a world in which professional authority and ethical responsibility are constantly at odds. The novel asks what it means to stand by one’s principles when the people in power refuse to listen.

Sudan 2026