The Phoenix Pencil Company

"I loved this wildly inventive novel and its exploration of how technology and humanity can intersect in deeply meaningful ways. Allison King is a talent to watch." - Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The God of the Woods

"Remarkable... Part speculative, part multigenerational family epic, part historical record, part coming-of-age romance, it is, like the mythical titular phoenix, all magic... .King radiantly explores memory, storytelling, archiving, history, and the subjective unreliability of all that we think we know." - Booklist (starred review)

"Powerful ... a poignant magical realist tale that's sure to find fans." - Publishers Weekly

"Software engineer King demonstrates a compelling voice in both literary historical fiction and technological stories with her first novel... . King unifies complex topics into a gripping narrative, exploring tensions amid memory, privacy, history, and technology." - Library Journal

"Exceptional... a real genre-bender, blending WWII-era historical fiction, grounded fantasy, family drama, and queer romance, all with compelling characters and an original and propulsive plot. Readers may also be drawn to the sweet grandmother/granddaughter relationship, close look at Chinese history, and thoughtful exploration of questions concerning data, privacy, and who owns our stories." - Modern Mrs. Darcy

"China, America, generations, and stories connect with literal magic in this suspenseful debut. Marvelous!" - Gish Jen, award-winning author of The Resisters

"A beautiful ode to the warmth of family connection, the power of memory, and the magic of the written word." - Ray Nayler, award-winning author of The Mountain in the Sea

"The Phoenix Pencil Company is a masterful blending of history, fantasy, and romance that sank into my heart the way the magic of its pencils sinks into veins. King has written a stunning debut that pulses with love and loss, regret and forgiveness, and above all, the undeniable, painful, joyful pull of human connection. This book had me smiling through my tears." - Fonda Lee, author of the Green Bone Saga

"Like the emotion infused graphite hearts of the pencils in this tender novel, King has delivered an impressive juggling act of voices that made me feel like I was in on a secret-not merely hearing about familial connection, regret, betrayal, and finding the truth of one's own story, but feeling these lives traveling within my veins. The Phoenix Pencil Company is a rare novel that unpacks the integrity and modes of how we form connections, both through graphite and magic and through digital highways, ultimately asking the question of what really matters when it comes to the people we love." - Sequoia Nagamatsu, bestselling author of How High We Go in the Dark A