Tower of Winds #2: Song of the Abyss written by Makiia Lucier and reviewed by Rebecca Lowe

Summary: In book two of this series, main character Reyna dreams of attaining the rank of master explorer and cartographer but faces a lukewarm reception from others based on her gender. When raiders attack her ship, Reyna escapes and a mystery arises: the ship is later found but everyone aboard has vanished. As the number of ships attacked rises, Reyna must join forces with the handsome prince of a rival country to track down the missing men. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: Romance in these books is an element but arises from mutual respect and is not a driving narrative force. The romance stays within PG bounds. While the first book stayed more in the realm of historical fiction (albeit in a made-up world), book two does include more magical elements.  

The author does not shy away from higher level vocabulary like this second paragraph in the novel "After, they would be all Reyna thought about: two carracks painted scorpion black. No emblem on either forecastle, no pennant flying above the mainmast to hint at a kingdom of origin." 

Teachers will have many opportunities to tie in curriculum since the novel focuses on the importance of cartographers, medieval medicine, isolationist countries, the practice of some ancient kingdoms in interring living people with a deceased ruler, and the terracotta warriors of ancient China.