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Parker Dean 6/7/26 Parker Dean 6/7/26

Parker’s Pages: Dungeon Crawler Carl

Like clockwork, whenever I share what I do here at the Echo, specifically with this column, I am told that I must read and review Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, a Puget Sound native and fantasy and sci-fi novelist. I must admit, it was the title that most intrigued me. I’d certainly played my own dungeon crawler once or twice, and I liked that there seemed to be humor and absurdism baked right into the title. So, after a long wait, I’m happy to announce I have finally cracked open the first book of this 8-book series (with two more on the way), and I am obsessed.

Parker Dean 5/7/26 Parker Dean 5/7/26

Parker’s Pages: Project Hail Mary

Friends, please allow me to peel away from our Puget Sound authors to bring you my latest and greatest obsession: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Unless you’ve been living under a rock—or the spring fever haze here in the PNW—you’ve probably heard about Project Hail Mary (2026), the newest addition to Ryan Gosling’s filmography, and, in my opinion, quite possibly the best space movie of the last decade (sorry Dune). The film adaptation is spectacular (I watched it three times in theaters), and I definitely recommend you check it out when it starts streaming if you didn’t have the pleasure of seeing it on its big screen run.

Gray Harrison 5/6/26 Gray Harrison 5/6/26

Noveltease Illustrates Our Splendidly Fluid Selves with ‘Orlando’

I was obviously intrigued when I heard that Noveltease Theatre, Seattle’s literary burlesque company who blend burlesque, dance, and theater storytelling, were putting on an adaptation of Orlando. I was curious how Noveltease would interpret this dense literary text into visual language and choreography. And yet, speaking with the production’s director, Alyza DelPan-Monley, it quickly became clear how intuitive it was to make a burlesque version of the story.

Parker Dean 4/9/26 Parker Dean 4/9/26

Parker’s Pages: Schrader’s Chord

Author Scott Leeds lives in the Pacific Northwest, and just like many of the other authors I have covered before, his work perfectly encapsulated what it feels like to live and be in Seattle and its neighboring cities. There’s a certain way that writers from the PNW write about the rain, the fog, and the dark. Leeds is no different, and effortlessly brings Seattle to life.

Parker Dean 3/5/26 Parker Dean 3/5/26

Parker’s Pages: A Future of Her Own

A Future of Her Own by Samantha Quamma is a delightful book that combines historical fiction, activism, and a kick-ass heroine to make something positively brilliant.

Parker Dean 11/9/25 Parker Dean 11/9/25

Parker’s Pages: For Today I Am a Boy

For Today I Am A Boy by Kim Fu stopped me dead in my tracks.

The pure poetry in every line feels like something akin to Medeline Miller (The Song of Achilles) or Ocean Vuong (On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous), easy-breezy but powerful, simple and complicated. It is difficult to find a writer quite like Fu, with such command over a narrative, seamlessly moving between past, present, and future without a single falter. Each line felt like its own universe so carefully crafted, and the whole novel moved like a symphony harmonizing in unison.