I'm Sarah Stegall, and I write novels and reviews. I write in practically all genres; I review mostly science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative fiction, but I might branch out into other genres if something really appeals to me. My reviews have been cited in academic television and cultural studies such as Cult Television, Escape Into the Future, Aliens In America, The Philosophy of The X-Files, Convergence, and Reality Squared (which called these reviews "among the best critical commentary available on the Web"). Many of them are also available on IMdB. I used to be an Amazon Vine reviewer, which means many of my book reviews are now highlighted on the Amazon website; for contractual reasons, those reviews cannot appear here.
I've been on hiatus from reviewing, while I finish writing a novel or two (see below). But I just had to sharpen my critic's pencil again when I saw that Chris Carter had returned to television -- sort of. Read my review of the pilot for The After, and be sure to let me know what you think!
My published works include the young adult science fiction novel Farside, a series of murder mysteries set in San Francisco (Deadfall and Deadwater), and a science fiction novel Chimera, as well as several short pieces. All are available in both paper and e-book form on Amazon, Kobo, and other online retailers.
These are reviews, that is to say, my analysis of why a work succeeds or doesn't. We tend to treat popular culture as ephemera, but I choose to treat it as the artistic expression of our times, and as such I try to approach these entertainments from the attitude that some of what they say matters. These are the art forms of our day, and deserve as much intelligent critique as any painting or symphony. How intelligent or useful these opinions may be is entirely left to the reader. These reviews contain spoilers.
What you will find here are not "recaps" of shows, which summarize the plot, but critiques. I'm more interested in how and why a particular entertainment succeeds or fails (in my opinion) so I tend to get a tad analytical and more than a bit philosophical. That's how I roll. I hope you enjoy it.
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